Easter History - part I

I wonder about the people who say "Easter is pagan." I wonder if they do anything at all besides rehash Herbert Armstrong’s old material and Google up "Easter" in order to find other people to say what HWA said? Goodness knows I didn’t while I was a true Armstrong believer. I only wanted to find what I already believed.

As it turns out, a lot of people observe Easter. So, I figure I’d better find out all I can about it if I’m going to condemn people as unsaved pagans for keeping it. But what happens when you find out something you have so much invested in is not true? Well, read on and find out.

This will be part one of a two-part study into Easter. In this part, we will investigate the details of Passover and Jesus’ death. We need to look at this first because in part two we will investigate how these things tie in to Easter.

What is Easter anyway?

Easter is the day on which most Christians celebrate the death and resurrection, but mostly the resurrection, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Easter day, also called Resurrection Sunday, is the New Covenant Passover. In the old Catholic traditions, the traditions that spread through Europe, Easter is more than just a day, it is a “season” that continues 50 days until Pentecost.

Origins of Easter

We can read in Exodus about Passover, where the Israelites were spared from the 10th Plague of God on Egypt by putting the blood of a lamb on their doorways.

This from a Judaism 101 article on “Pesach: Passover”:

“The name ‘Pesach’ (PAY-sahch, with a ‘ch’ as in the Scottish ‘loch’) comes from the Hebrew root Pei-Samekh-Cheit  , meaning to pass through, to pass over, to exempt or to spare. It refers to the fact that G-d ‘passed over’ the houses of the Jews when he was slaying the firstborn of Egypt. In English, the holiday is known as Passover. ‘Pesach’ is also the name of the sacrificial offering (a lamb) that was made in the Temple on this holiday.”

It should be obvious to Christians that the lamb and its blood represented the body and blood of Jesus, who is our Passover Lamb (I COR. 5: 7).

So, this Pesach, which is Hebrew, is called Pascha in Greek and Latin. Easter to this very day is called Pascha in most places, and always has been.
This is taken from the first paragraph of the online Catholic Encyclopedia article on Easter:


"The Greek term for Easter, pascha, has nothing in common with the verb paschein, "to suffer," although by the later symbolic writers it was connected with it; it is the Aramaic form of the Hebrew pesach (transitus, passover). The Greeks called Easter the pascha anastasimon; Good Friday the pascha staurosimon. ... The Romance languages have adopted the Hebrew-Greek term: Latin, Pascha; Italian, Pasqua; Spanish, Pascua; French, Pâques. Also some Celtic and Teutonic nations use it: Scottish, Pask; Dutch, Paschen; The correct word in Dutch is actually Pasen Danish, Paaske; Swedish, Pask; even in the German provinces of the Lower Rhine the people call the feast Paisken not Ostern. The word is, principally in Spain and Italy, identified with the word "solemnity" and extended to other feasts, e.g. Sp., Pascua florida, Palm Sunday; Pascua de Pentecostes, Pentecost; Pascua de la Natividad, Christmas; Pascua de Epifania, Epiphany. In some parts of France also First Communion is called Pâques, whatever time of the year administered."
Holweck, F. (1909). Easter. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved April 16, 2010 from New Advent:http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm


When the early Christians spread Pascha into northern Germany sometime before 700 AD, the Germans renamed the day to Eostre. Since English is a Germanic language, we adopted that name rather than Pascha, and the English version of Eostre became Easter. We’ll go much deeper into this in part two.

Easter is Pascha; Pascha is Easter. So, let’s look into Pascha.

Timing of Passover

Passover, as we can see in Leviticus 23: 5, is a seven-day long Festival which begins at the end of the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan and continues into the 15th. Keep in mind that in Hebrew tradition, days begin at sundown.

In Armstrongism, Passover has been separated into its own day, and the seven-day celebration which the Jews call “Passover” is called by Armstrongists the “Days of Unleavened Bread.” Thus the whole thing would appear to be an eight-day celebration. But this is not as it should be. Let’s look in to that a bit, because it becomes important to point out a few things.

(LEV. 23: 4-8) 4 These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. 5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD’s Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. 8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.

Verse 5 says the Passover is on the 14th. But "Passover" refers to the slaughter of the lambs. There is no single day celebration called Passover in these verses. This was done late in the day on the 14th, not at the beginning of the day. This is how we see things play out in Jesus' time, and this is the way things continue today.

I have heard so very many and complicated explanations in Armstrongism for why the Jews do not keep their own celebrations correctly. These same Armstrongists rely on the authority of the Jews to declare the correct timing of the weekly Sabbath, however. So the Jews are wrong (when they contradict HWA) and the Jews are right (when they agree with HWA). This should not be done!

It is true that many of the Jews in the Diaspora keep an eight-day Passover. But this doesn’t change the fact that Jesus was in Jerusalem before 70 AD, and there was no eight-day festival there. So Armstrongism is without an excuse here.

The Passover lamb was chosen on the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan/Abib (EXO. 12: 3), the lamb is tested for blemishes for four days just as Jesus was questioned by the leaders of the Jews and declared without fault by Pilot (LUK. 23 4), the lamb was then slaughtered late on the 14th day at twilight (EXO. 12: 6), and the meal is eaten early on the 15th day.

In Hebrew tradition, the evening comes before the morning, so the evening of the 15th starts at sundown (roughly 6 PM), not at midnight. To most western minds, this would look to us like the lamb was slaughtered and eaten on the same day, but that is because we are thinking that the 14th ends at midnight, when in the Hebrew mind it ends at sundown and after sundown it becomes the 15th.


To be more exact about the timing of sundown, Luc has verified this for us:

"Passover / Pesach in 2010 will commence at exactly 7:00:37 P.M. on Monday, March 29, 2010, and end at exactly 8:14:12 P.M. on Tuesday, April 6, 2010 (Source: MyZmanim.com). Although sunset or sundown ("shkiah ha'chama" in Hebrew) at sea level occurs at exactly 7:18:37 P.M."

So that's about as exact as a person can get. Keep in mind, however, that in the 30's AD, things were done in a much less scientific manner, often by sight, and there were several strings attached that we won't get into here. So even though we know precisely when sundown is today, that doesn't tell us exactly when the Jews determined sundown to be at that time.

Did Herbert Armstrong get the timing right?

The odd thing is that the Armstrongists observe Passover one day too soon – at the beginning of the 14th or in other words, on the night that the 13th of Nisan becomes the 14th. (Look at any Holy Day calendar from any Armstrongist splinter group and compare that timing of Passover to any Jewish website.) But if we do that, the lamb would have to be killed on the 13th. There is no command to kill a lamb on the 13th. If one has ever roasted a whole lamb (or any animal for that matter), one knows this cannot be done quickly, so to assume the lamb was killed, cooked, and eaten after sundown at the beginning of the 14th is nonsensical. There is no way the Armstrongist view can be possible, except if the Jews eat the Passover meal in the middle of the night, and that simply isn’t the case.

Remember, the lamb was to be killed at twilight (late afternoon). Twilight comes late in the day, before sundown, not early in the night after sundown. Hebrew days begin after sundown, so the twilight hours of a day come late, towards the next day. We know that the lamb was killed late on the 14th, usually between 1:30 and 3:30 PM. There was no cooking allowed on the 15th, so all of this had to be done by sundown on the 14th. I mention that because Armstrongists observe Passover immediately after sundown at the beginning of the 14th. This is improper as this is before twilight.

Additionally, ask yourself this question - if Passover is on the 14th and the first Day of Unleavened Bread is on the 15th, as Armstrong taught, why observe the Passover with unleavened bread when it simply isn’t time yet?

Timeline of events:

Nisan 13	Nisan 14	Nisan 14	Nisan 15
Day	Night	Day	Night
Prepare Last Supper.	Eat Last Supper & arrest. Start de-leavening.	Trial, crucifixion & burial. Finish de-leavening. Slaughter of lambs.	Passover Seder.

Armstrong’s version:

Nisan 13 (Tue.)	Nisan 14 (Tue. – Wed.)	Nisan 14 (Wed.)	Nisan 15 (Wed. – Thu.)
Day	Night	Day	Night
Finish de-leavening. Slaughter of lambs & prepare Last Supper.	Passover Seder which is Last Supper.	Trial, crucifixion & burial.	Night to Be Much Observed.

Armstrongists argue this timing strenuously, as they do all calendar issues, but this “14th/15th controversy” is particularly potent and divisive among them. The 15th group is correct, although they are by far the minority and run contrary to HWA’s teachings. Frankly, I would never have said that two years ago, and this is more for party loyalty than any understanding I had on the subject. For all of those times Armstrongists judge and condemn a billion+ Christians for getting the timing of Easter wrong (and I was right there with them), they act hypocritically in that they are wrong, too.

Our own standard of measurement will be what God uses to measure us with.

What about the Night to Be Much Observed?

To make things more confusing, HWA cites Exodus 12: 42 and created another special night called the “Night to Be Much Observed” (Night to be Much Remembered) at the beginning of the15th. In other words, after the 14th ends at sundown and the 15th has begun, when the Jews are eating the Passover, Armstrongists are eating another meal entirely. If we think about the timing, the Israelites ate the Passover at night, and left Egypt the next day. However, according to Armstrongist timing, the Passover is observed and the next evening there is another observation.

It should be pointed out that just because Exodus 12: 42 appears in the text after the story of the day Israel left Egypt, that doesn’t mean the night to be observed comes chronologically after the day Israel left Egypt. Verse 42 could very well refer back to the Passover again, since the entire chapter is about the Passover and the next verses have clearly returned to the Passover. The Jews have no such corresponding festival as Armstrongists observe. It is extremely likely that HWA simply missed the boat on this one.

Matthew 26 and Mark 14

Some people may take issue with this timing, citing Matthew 26: 17 and Mark 14: 12.

(MAT. 26: 17) Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus

(MAR. 14: 12) Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb…

It would seem like there is a contradiction in the Bible here. And it might seem that this contradicts what I said about the timing of the Last Supper. But there is a valuable clue if we go backwards a bit to Matthew 26: 2 and Mark 14: 1.

(MAT. 26: 2) You know that after two days is the Passover…

(MAR. 14: 1) After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

We've gone back in time one day. So, we see that these verses claim there were two days until Passover. Matthew 26: 17 and Mark 14: 12 are obviously one day later. They are still one day previous to Passover, and one day previous to Passover is the evening on which the Last Supper was held.
Now let's see another clue if we go forward in time again.

(MAT. 27: 62) On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation

(MAR. 15: 42) Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath

The “Sabbath” was a High Day. Nothing says it was not also a weekly Sabbath. Both authors say the day Jesus died was the preparation day; the day before the Sabbath. So we know they are not saying that day was "High Day" in Matthew 26: 17 and Mark 14: 12.

So, what are Matthew and Mark talking about, then? They are saying that the 14th was the preparation day, which was the first day that leavening was to be removed from the households and all of the other preparations for making the home and possessions “de-leavened” had to be accomplished. What they are saying is that this day was the first day without leavening. They are not saying this day is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Leavening had to be completely gone before the lambs were slaughtered or everything would be defiled. Matthew and Mark are referring to the start of the 14th, because on the 14th at twilight they killed the lambs, and that is why the killing of the lambs is mentioned in Mark 14: 12. Matthew and Mark are not even remotely trying to say that say that very day was one and only High Holy Day known as the “first day of Unleavened Bread”, even if the name is capitalized in most translations.

To introduce some possible additional evidence here, a close look at the Greek in Matthew 26: 17 leaves Luc and myself with the impression that the first day of Unleavened Bread was approaching, rather than already arrived. That would seem to fit the facts.

It is also reported that the Galileans according to their tradition at that time always finished de-leavening by the sundown that ended the 13th and began the 14th. This might explain why Jesus and the Apostles prepared on the 13th.

Was the Last Supper the Passover Seder meal?

There is an interesting puzzle hidden in here. When did Jesus eat the Last Supper, and was it the Seder meal?

If the Passover meal was eaten on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the 15th of Nisan, then the night Jesus was arrested was a High Holy Day. Jesus would never have been crucified on the High Holy Day (MAT. 26: 5). 
Rather, we know it was either a Preparation Day (MAT. 27: 62; MAR. 15: 42; LUK. 23: 54; JOH. 19: 14, 31, 42). The first day of the seven-day Passover often is on the weekly Sabbath, so the Holy Day and the Sabbath can easily be the same day.

Now, read John 19: 31 closely:

(JOH. 19: 31) Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

Here we have Jesus already dead, and it is still the Preparation Day before the Holy Day, which the Armstrongists would refer to as the first day of Unleavened Bread. We can only conclude from this that Jesus died at the time the Passover lambs were being slaughtered, which is only proper because He is our Passover Lamb. And that can only mean the Last Supper was a day earlier than the Passover Seder. Jesus can’t quite be killed as the Passover Lamb, and afterwards eat the Seder. Instead, Jesus ate it one day early. This makes a great deal of sense when we see the Last Supper is never mentioned to have included lamb.

But does that mean Jesus intended the Last Supper to be the Passover Seder meal?

(LUK. 22: 8) And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.” 

So, according to Jesus, the Last supper was His Passover supper.

As an interesting side-note, Jesus was the first-born son of His family. There was a tradition that He was to fast on the day before Passover to commemorate the 10th Plague. As we understand it, a final meal for the first-born sons was typically started towards the end of the 13th, and carried on after sundown into the 14th. There is a chance the Last Supper was this last meal before Jesus’ fast would have begun. So, it was carrying a double-meaning for Jesus.

To add fuel to this dating fire, we know from Christian history that in the first centuries there were groups called “Quartodecimans.” Quartodeciman comes from the Latin word “Quattuordecim” which means “fourteen.” These people insisted that the Lord’s Supper could only be observed on the 14th day of Nisan, because that was the time Jesus ate it.

This is also the tradition of the Apostles. Eusebius records for us that (in about 150 AD) when Anicetus, Bishop of Rome, championed a different day because following the Hebrew calendar was prohibitive, Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and student of the Apostle John, went to visit him and claimed the 14th was the time taught to him by the Apostles (Eusebius, “Church History”, book V, chapter 24, verse 16).

Eusebius also relates to us that one Polycrates, leader of the Bishops in Asia, specifically mentioned that the Lord’s Supper was “observed the day when the people put away the leaven” (Eusebius, “Church History”, book V, chapter 24, verse 6).

So this adds credence to the idea that the Last supper was a day earlier than the Seder.

So, was it the Seder, then? It depends on your point of view. Jesus knew He was going to die, and opted to eat with His Apostles rather than miss a meal that obviously had so much meaning for Him (LUK. 22: 15). So, in that regard it was the Seder. But in another sense, Jesus was instituting something radically different and never before seen – the New Covenant. He did it with different symbols and at a different time. So in that sense it is not the old Seder.

My point in this is to show that there is a clear discrepancy between the law and what Jesus did. Why point that out? Because the battle cry of Armstrongists is, “The law! The law!” Oh how very many times I have heard, “the law is eternal!” Yet they are not keeping the law, are they? Certainly not! They cry out ever and anon “Jesus didn’t change the law!” Oh, but He did!

So Armstrongists are torn between following the letter of the law and following Christ’s example. To compensate for this, some Armstrongists claim that Jesus had the date correct and the Jews had it wrong. Some go off on multi-part sermons with vivid scenarios and deep studies into the “real” meaning of the Hebrew word “evenings” and et cetera. They are trying to marry Jesus back to the law again. But this is impossible.

If Jesus ate the Passover on the “correct” time and the Jews did not, then that would also mean that Jesus died a day after the “correct” slaughtering of the Passover lambs - and the symbolism is completely ruined. If Jesus intended to show the “correct” timing of the Seder, then the “correct” timing of the slaughter was before the Last Supper on the 13th, and that is contrary to the law. Ergo, Jesus is not the Passover Lamb. So this argument tears Jesus down to set up the law. It is simple to excuse Jesus for eating the Seder a day early since He knew He was going to die (and why not, people eat it weeks later when they cannot eat it at the proper time), but to blow the whole symbolism of the lamb is harder to excuse. Or else it means the Hebrew calendar is wrong by a day, the 13th is actually the 14th, Friday is actually supposed to be the Sabbath, and both the Saturday and the Sunday proponents are wrong. But that is simply ridiculous!

The simple and unavoidable fact is Jesus ate the Lord’s Supper one day early, law or no law. The Lord’s Supper is on the 14th, while Passover is not. And even though the Armstrongists observe what they do on the 14th, they say what they do is in keeping with the Old Testament, and it most certainly is not. And that is also why the “Night to be Much Observed” is such a mystery. Armstrong’s view of timing is wrong. There is no separate “Night to be Much Observed” on the 15th of Nisan; there is only Passover.

So follow Jesus into the New Covenant, or follow the law into the Old Covenant. You decide.

For all the times I participated with other Armstrongists in blaming and condemning all other Christians for getting the timing of Passover wrong, Jesus ate Passover on a different day, too. So, if we are going to claim over and over that “we must do what Jesus did” then we also must not condemn others over the timing of days.

(COL. 2: 16-17) 16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 

Is our remembrance of the Last Supper exactly like Passover?

Easter is Passover, but it is also a departure from Passover. Just look at this regulation regarding the Passover:

(EXO. 12: 43-49) 43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. 44 But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. 46 In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. 49 One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.

At that time, the Gentiles would most certainly not be allowed to participate in Passover. Now we know that Gentiles most certainly are allowed to take part, and we also know circumcision and the law of Moses are not a requirement for participation (ACT 15: 1-29).

Jesus instituted the bread and the wine, which are not the main part of the Passover Seder, as opposed to lamb. He said that the bread was His flesh, and the wine His blood. This certainly is not part of Passover. Then there was the concentration on service, illustrated by the foot washing. There is no precedent for that in Passover.

Finally, we have these words:

(LUK. 22: 19) …do this in remembrance of Me.

Not in remembrance of Moses nor of the Exodus nor the 10th plague, but in remembrance of Him (I COR. 11: 24-26). That makes the biggest difference of all.

For all the people who demand what we are to do is continue in the Old Covenant observance of Passover, this is simply not accurate. Jesus fulfilled the law (MAT. 3: 15; 5: 17; LUK. 22: 44). He has made the Old obsolete (HEB. 8: 13); behold all things are new (II COR. 5: 17)! All of these things point to Him (COL. 2: 17). This is the New Covenant. A New Covenant in His blood.

(MAT. 26: 28) For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

(MAR. 14: 24) And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. 

(LUK. 22: 20) Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.

Summary

In part one, we have seen that the Jews do observe Passover correctly, on the 15th of Nisan, but Jesus made the decision to eat the Last Supper a day earlier, on the 14th. Herbert Armstrong’s view of the timing of these things is an awful mess.

The correct timing of Passover starts at the sundown which begins the 14th of Nisan, when the leaven was to be removed from the Jewish homes. The14th is the Preparation Day before the Holy Day. This is the night on which Jesus ate the Last Supper and was arrested. Night comes and goes. At about the time of the daily sacrifice, 9 AM, Jesus was scourged. Then He was declared blameless by Pilot – just like a Passover lamb - and sent to die. He was hung on the cross around noon.  After noon was the slaughter of the Passover lambs. During that very procedure, our Lord died to fulfill the symbolism and He became our Passover Lamb. No doubt the priests were still slaughtering lambs when the earthquake hit and the veil was torn in two. The lambs were roasted and the Seder meal prepared while Jesus’ body was being prepared by Joseph of Aramathea and Nicodemus to go into the tomb. He was laid into the tomb before sundown, just as the Seder meal had to be finished by sundown. Sundown is roughly 6 PM, so at this point He was already dead for about three hours. As sundown came, the15th of Nisan began, and now it was fully “Passover,” the first day of Unleavened Bread.

On Sunday, the first day of the week, our Lord was found risen from the tomb.

(I COR. 11: 23-26) 23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

************

It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom.

Acts 17:11

************