Are you an Easter Feaster?

Traditionally people of the Christian Religion have been celebrating Easter, the Sunday following the Good Friday that marks the end of the forty-day Lent. But is this celebration Biblical? Is such a festival mentioned in the Scriptures? Did the early Apostles, disciples of Christ and believers in Church of God celebrate this annual festival? Come, let us probe, obviously, from our Bible.

Jesus, the Son of God, the very image of the invisible God (Col 1:15), the brightness of God's glory and the express image of His person (Heb 1:3), was born among mankind in the likeness of sinful flesh. He lived as a perfect Man for about thirty-three and a half years in Judea of the Middle East. He gave Himself as a perfect sacrifice for the sin of the world and died on the cross for me, for you and for all mankind. God's wrath over sin and the sinful mankind was appeased by this gory sacrifice resulting in Salvation for everyone that believes in this redemption plan of God. Jesus the man died by offering Himself through the eternal Spirit;He was risen from the dead on the third day by the power of God. He appeared to His disciples, followers and more than five hundred believers post His resurrection. He then ascended to heaven leaving with them a promise that He will return again to take them with Him where He is going - to the Heavenly Father.

There are ample evidences to this His-story than there are evidences for Julius Caesar or any other celebrity of Jesus' time (even before or after Him in that century).

While the historicity of Jesus and His life on earth are well recorded in the scriptures, nowhere in the Bible do we find Christians keeping a forty-day fasting, mourning on the Good Friday and celebrating on the fortieth day every year. These rituals came into the Christian religion (not Christian faith and the true Church of Jesus Christ) many centuries afterwards. These became the Roman Catholic church traditions as the centuries rolled by.

The forty-day fasting and the celebration of the fortieth day were imported from pagan (non-Christian) religions, the people of which refused to let go their festivals and other abominable religious rituals, soon after the whole empire was declared Christian by the then emperors Constantine and those who followed him. The tradition of glorifying goddess Ishtar became the Easter and the sweet flour that was paid as tribute to the idol became the hot-cross Easter buns. (This is synonymous to the tradition followed by today's Tamils and Hindus when celebrating their Mariamman Nombu and the Maavu urundai offering). The translators of the KJV of the Bible who belonged to the King James times made a blunder in mentioning the Passover day as Easter in Acts. (In fact, it was another pagan tradition and festival that the Jews adopted from the pagan nations that perverted the original festival of the Passover. (It is the very shadow of the real sacrifice of the the Lamb of God Jesus Christ Who died for the sake of delivering the people of the world from death- eternal separation from God).

Tammuz (Tamizh?) was the son born to Ishtar who claimed that her husband Nimrod (Marudhu / Murugan) himself was born to her on that day of celebration. This is Ishtar or Easter.

The forty- day long fasting is mentioned in the Scriptures in a different context. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. He did not eat anything during those forty days. (The Bible does not mention whether he drank anything at all;He might have, because He was a perfect man with flesh, bones and blood). He overcame Satan's every temptation and sent him away with a rebuke before He launched His public ministry. None of His disciples or Apostles were asked to emulate Him and keep a forty-day fast. Yes, the believers of Jesus fasted in the past and they still do, but certainly not strictly for a continuous forty days (or another such continuous period). Trying to find a suitable reason to continue this unbiblical practice (bringing the body under control by denying it its passion(s)) is trying to fool oneself, others and God by scoring a brownie point from God for this self-righteous activity).

Dear brother / sister in Christ, are you making the word of God of none effect through your tradition? (Mark 7:13). Are you an Easter feaster, throwing away to the winds all moral conduct on this day?

1) Remember that Jesus died for your sins and believe in this Salvation plan of God. Repent and come to Him for forgiveness. He will receive you with open hands.

2) Remember that Jesus rose from the dead to give you hope of eternal life. You receive His life here when you put an end to your old life and receive Him as your life hereafter. This is being born again.

3) Remember to submit yourself to Him, keep fasting and praying to God the Father to know His will for your life; continue to trust in His word for your everyday sustenance here on earth and beyond.

4) Remember His words that He is coming again to take you along with His people to your everlasting dwelling with Him.

5) Remember to share the good news of the death, burial, resurrection and the soon-coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with your neighbours, friend, relatives, colleagues, classmates, Teachers and all those you come in contact with - even your maid, taxi driver and the neighbourhood shopkeeper.

Celebrate His resurrection everyday of your life. Happy Resurrection day!