RESURRECTION SUNDAY 2009
Today we will be celebrating Easter Sunday again, when we remember the sacrificial death of Jesus, our Savior. This is really the highlight of the year for the church, when all eyes are focused on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Good Friday rallies have been very memorable times in the past, when the Saint John Ministerial sponsors a combined rally in one of the larger church sanctuaries in town, but Sunday morning has always been the most important day of all.
In the past few years I find more and more attention given to "chocolate bunnies" and "Easter eggs", and very little given to the story of Jesus. This has become more frustrating to me each year! How did the church ever fall into this completely non-scriptural tradition? It seems there was a pagan holiday that always occurred in the early spring, when all of nature was starting to come back to life after lying dormant over the winter months. The god called "Estar", who they believed was the god of "fertility", was worshipped at this time of year, and because it was always near the date of "Passover", it seems the church gradually chose this pagan holiday to celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. This would account for the emphasis on eggs and bunnies, since they represent signs of "fertility".
Maybe 2009 could be the year that Christians rose up and refused to use the term "Easter", which is taken from the pagan fertility god named Estar, and start to use the term "Resurrection Sunday". This is certainly a scriptural term, and loaded with powerful meaning for us believers. This word is found in many scriptures like (Acts 23:6), where Paul used it to bring confusion between the Pharisees who believed in a resurrection, and the Sadducees who didn't. The word is taken from the Greek word [anastasis] which means, standing up again, restoration to life, or rising from the dead. It seems to me that "Resurrection Sunday" is a much more appropriate name for the most important day on the Christian calendar, than Easter Sunday!
How do you think we could go about redeeming this day from the pagans and making it into the "Holy Day" that it should be, instead of a day to honor some ancient fertility god? If anyone has a good idea how we could do this, maybe you can contact me. Let's strive to make it a day to honor and respect the memory of our Savior who deserves our best!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
1 comment:
I'm a little late to the game, but I love this Idea and I am going to remember it for next year! I'm going to Twitter it and blog it and use everything else in my power to promote it. I'm sick of Easter and chocolate and eggs and bunnies too. I still remember early on in grade school while everyone else was busy drawing and coloring eggs, I was hard at work drawing and coloring a gray cave and on the back side, a cross with light beaming from it. I love a good easter egg hunt, but I think you're right gramp, it's getting ridiculous! Micah
Post a Comment