Easter is an annual celebration in which the church honors Christ resurrection in a special way.
However, in practice we end up in a special way recognizing and remembering Jesus Christ birth, life, sacrificial death, burial, resurrection, and ascension with the emphasis on his resurrection more so.
Christian holidays are considered by Christians to be special holydays. So let no one judge you as to their validity if they are intended to honor and glorify God and you do not violate any biblical sound doctrinal principles.
For Colossians 2:16-17 says “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come….”
Easter is not functionally intended to be the Mosaic Passover (hereafter simply Passover) set forth in Exodus 12. Easter’s traditions and celebratory elements do not align with the Passover in form or time. However, Easter generally approximates/overlaps the Passover as both occur in the March/April timeframe depending on the year.
Also, Christ is the Christian Passover under the New Covenant as set forth in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8. Additional scriptures concerning the Christ as our Passover include Isaiah 53:1-12; John 1:29; Acts 5:30; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 7:27; and Hebrews 9:28.
1 Corinthians 15:20 says: But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. This means Christ was the first person resurrected from the dead foreshadowing the future resurrection of those in Christ.
There is a relationship between Easter and a Leviticus 23 feast named Feast of First Fruits whose law is defined in Leviticus 23:9-14. There is a relationship between Feast of First Fruits and the Mosaic Passover. The first month of the regular Hebrew year is called Nisan or Abib. Passover occurs on the 14th day of this first month per Leviticus 23:4-8. These verses also describe the seven-day feast named Feast of Unleavened Bread which occurs Nisan 15-21.
The Feast of First Fruits is defined to occur on the day after the first sabbath after Passover. This feast involves the priest waving a sheaf of first fruits marking the start of the spring harvest. There is controversy as to whether this sabbath is to be the High Sabbath, that is Nisan 16 or the weekly sabbath.
Easter takes the view that the sabbath is the weekly sabbath. Therefore, the 1st day of the week is the day for the Feast of First Fruits. Christ believed to have resurrected on the first day of the week is said to have fulfilled the Feast of First Fruits.
Feast of Weeks is another feast that is mentioned in Leviticus 23:15-22. Feast of First Fruits marks the start of the harvest season. Feast of Weeks marks the end of the grain or wheat harvest. (A later feast called the Feast of Booths per Leviticus 23:33-44 marks the end of the harvest season.).
In Leviticus 23, there is a relationship between Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of First Fruits and Feast of Weeks. The relationship between Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread and Feast of First Fruits was discussed above.
Feast of Weeks occurs 50 days from the Feast of First Fruits.
The relationship between Easter and the dual feasts of Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread has been discussed. We also have discussed the relationship between Easter and Feast of First Fruits. Now let us look to the relationship between Easter and Feast of Weeks.
Let us first note that in the New Testament Feast of Weeks is referred to as Pentecost. The reason for this is unclear. I discuss this in my article entitled The Words Feast of Weeks and Pentecost. Here we simply note that Pentecost is equivalent to Feast of Weeks.
In Bible days it is reasonable to assume that Pentecost of Acts 2:1 occurred in coordination in time and function and form as defined in Leviticus 23. This is because the early disciples were mostly Jews/Israelites who followed their traditional practices and customs regarding feasts and associated laws.
For Gentiles who seemingly comprise most of modern day and post bible days Christianity, Pentecost is not based on the Leviticus 23 Feast of First Fruits but is based on whenever Easter Sunday occurs.
Easter may or may not occur in alignment with the Leviticus 23 Feast of First Fruits depending on the year. This means Pentecost may or may not occur in alignment with the Leviticus 23 Feast of Weeks.
This lack of alignment is seemingly intentional on the part of early Christianity authorities in order to erect a wall of separation between Gentile Christian practices or customs and Jewish/Israelite Christian practices or customs. The same thing was done regarding the Sabbath as I discuss in my article entitled The Sabbath Question – A Historical Perspective.
The apparent concern was that Gentile Christians would be drawn into being Judaized. Judaized means becoming focused on following the law customs of the Jews/Israelites even those Gentiles are not commanded to follow under the New Covenant as affirmed in Acts 15:22-24 and Acts 21:23-26. Now Acts 15 and Acts 21 are not saying Gentiles are relieved from obeying all of God’s laws for certainly that would make no sense at all. I discuss Judaizing in my article entitled An Intentionally Divided Christianity
Just as in the case of the Sabbath, it is my view that the early church leaders unwisely responded to the Judaizing concern that Gentile Christians would be drawn into Jewish customs. In my view they should have kept the functionality of the Sabbath on the Sabbath. Also, they should have kept Pentecost aligned with the Leviticus 23 Feast of Weeks. Accordingly, they should have simply aligned Easter with the Leviticus 23 Feast of First Fruits.
All that would have required was to teach the congregation about the purpose of the original Feast of First Fruits and that under the New Covenant it is fulfilled in Christ and on that date we celebrate Easter in honor of Christ resurrection.
Additionally, they should have included the Mosaic Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread as part of Christianity Holydays, not as binding but as commemorative of what God did for the Israelites. This would have been in recognition of God’s deliverance of the natural human body on earth in a multitude of ways in anticipation of his deliverance of the human body in the afterlife for all eternity. That should have been a simple thing to do if a more holy attitude to have unity between Gentile Christians and Jew/Israelite Christians had existed instead of erecting the wall of separation that Jesus removed per Ephesians 2:14 and Hebrews 10:19-20.
See Celebration of Easter for more details on Easter.
To God Be the Glory!
