19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luke 22:19
24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
1 Corinthians 11:24
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
1 Corinthians 11:25
The above verses are the only ones in the Bible that instruct the believer what to do in order to remember the Lord Jesus Christ and His death on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection from the dead. Commonly known as Communion, the congregation takes part in a ritual in which unleavened bread or crackers is given to each person, along with a tiny cup of red berry juice, which is consumed as a reminder of the Last Super recorded in the New Testament accounts of Jesus’ last meal with His disciples.
Where in the scriptures do the disciples or early church leaders instruct Christian followers to participate in a yearly celebration called Easter in which children hunt for colored eggs supposedly put in the garden by a bunny, adults buy new outfits, and in some settings, women adorn their heads with brightly colored hats, and the sturdy in mind and body get out of bed before daylight and go outside to watch the sun rise in the East? Where did this celebration come from?
Most Christians seem to read their Bibles for speed. If a set number of verses are read everyday, the reader can go through the entire Bible in a year, in six months, etc. depending on the quantity of verses read each day. However, this practice may not lend itself to the reader developing an understanding of the content of those verses. So it may surprise most Christians to find that Easter is indeed mentioned in the New Testament.
1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. 2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) 4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
Acts 12:1–4
Here is a pagan king, a cruel and blood thirsty king, who has just killed an innocent Christian because he wanted to be politically correct and please his constituency of Jews who wanted the Christian church destroyed and who had plotted to kill and succeeded in killing Jesus via crucifixion at the hands of the Roman military. Hmm! This begs a repeat of the question, “Is Easter Christian?” Consider the facts, and you decide.
Where did Easter come from and why was Herod and the people celebrating it? What exactly does the word, Easter, mean?
Easter is the name of an ancient pagan celebration referring to spring and to the goddess of the dawn or Queen of Heaven. It often occurred near the Jewish celebration of Passover. In the verses above, there is a distinction between ‘the days of unleavened bread’ which was most likely Passover and Easter. Another name for it is Ishtar. Easter always occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox. Why? Because it is a pagan holy day originating after Noah’s flood and the time and date is set by the story of Nimrod and the sun, moon and stars. Passover, on the other hand, has a specific yearly date as recorded in Exodus chapter 12. Easter can occur during Passover or be as much as three weeks apart from Passover depending on when the full moon occurs.
Other names for Easter are Inanna and Astarte. According to Wikipedia, Inanna was the goddess of “love, beauty, sex, desire, fertility, war, combat, justice, and political power. She was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians under the name of Ishtar. She was known as the ‘Queen of Heaven …”
Easter also commemorated the resurrection of the god Tammuz who was worshipped as the “only begotten son” of the moon goddess and the sun god Nimrod. These characters have their origin in the book of Genesis in the Bible. See Genesis 10:8-10. Noah’s son Ham had a son named Cush. Cush married Semiramis and their son, Nimrod, became a powerful king ruling Babel and the surrounding area. Nimrod married his mother, Semiramis, after his father died and he became a type of god to the people he ruled. She apparently became a Babylonian queen.
To make this story short, Nimrod was killed and his body cut into pieces and sent to various parts of the kingdom. Semiramis collected the parts and started a mystery religion that continues to this day. Nimrod was supposed to ascend to the sun and become Baal, the sun-god, whose presence on earth was in the form of a flame when used in worship. (What churches have lots of burning candles as part of their worship?)
Semiramis started the Easter egg connection associated with Easter today because she taught that the moon was a goddess with a 28 day fertility cycle and that the moon ovulated when full, resulting in a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates River. She became known as Ishtar, her son being conceived after Nimrod’s death by the rays of the sun-god Baal. His name was Tammuz.
The rabbit or Easter Bunny connection associated with Easter today was because Tammuz was reported to like rabbits, and they became sacred critters in the ancient religion. Tammuz was a hunter like his father but was killed by a wild pig. After his death, Semiramis claimed that Tammuz was ascended to his father, Baal, and that they were to be worshipped as father, son and spirit. She was to be worshipped as the mother of god and the Queen of Heaven.
The story goes on and on, but the above information should be enough for you, the reader, to decide if you want to research this further and if this pagan day has anything to do with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ that is recorded to have occurred at the Jewish celebration of Passover. Perhaps some questions should be asked.
- Could it be that paganism has infiltrated the “Christian” churches and the celebration of Easter has just become an accepted church doctrine with no scripture to support the activity?
- Could it be that the example recorded in the book of Acts showing the fact that the early church fathers and the Christian believers were not celebrating Easter along with King Herod make the reader question the validity of celebrating Easter today?
- Could it be that the church today has forgotten what the Bible tells us in John 4:24? “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” And could it be that Easter eggs, rabbits, and sunrise worship services have nothing to do with what is taught in the Bible and everything to do with the ancient pagan religion of Mystery Babylon?
- Could it be that participating in the customs of Easter that honor Baal, the sun-god, might bring the wrath of God upon “children of disobedience” because they are trying to make pagan customs Christian with no Biblical commandment to do so? Ephesians 5:6 “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.”
- Could it be that today’s Christian has forgotten the commandment give by God in Jeremiah 10:2? “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them.” What are the signs of heaven? Genesis 1:14 “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” Could it be that participating in a sunrise service where the object of people’s attention is a God created sign is in violation of the commandment in Jeremiah?
- Could it be that since there is no teaching in the New Testament encouraging the church to celebrate Easter that to do so is sin? You decide. Is Easter Christian?