The significance of Easter

The significance of Easter

Yemi Olakitan

Easter, like many of the major festivals of the Christian faith is one of the most popular holidays in the world. Easter is also very important to many Christians. However Easter has been argued in some schools of thought to be of pagan origin. Denominations such as the Seventh Day Adventist, The Jehovah’s witnesses have refused to celebrate it. However, Easter remain a global Christian festival that commands huge following. Pentecostal, Protestants and the Orthodox churches such as the Catholic Church celebrates Easter every year. Yemi Olakitan, Senior Correspondent takes a look at the issues. He examines the importance of Easter to the Christian faith as well as the origin. Should the origin of Easter dim its importance to the Church?  Is Easter still relevant today?

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Easter is one of the major festivals of the Christian church in which the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated on the third day of his Crucifixion. In the Christian calendar, Easter follows Lent, the period of 40 days before Easter. Easter is immediately preceded by the Holy Week, which includes Monday, Thursday, the commemoration of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples; Good Friday, the day of his Crucifixion; and Easter Saturday, the transition between Crucifixion and Resurrection.  Easter is perhaps the most sacred day in Christian history, Why, is Easter so important? In a chat Abiodun Davies, of the United African Methodist Church, (UAMC) he said, ‘‘there would be no such thing as Christianity if it was not for Easter. The death and resurrection of Jesus is the basis of everything in Christianity. Christ’s death allows us to be reunited with God.  His resurrection gives us hope that we too will live again, after death. The book of (1 Corinthians 15:13-17) says, “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).’’

Speaking further Davies said, ‘‘Easter is significant to the Christian faith because it refers to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, no matter what people say about the origin that remains in the past. Today, Easter is a celebration of our Lord Jesus. He died, he rose and we lived. That to me is far more important for a Christian to celebrate and remember.

According to the American Book of Days, Easter, has many traditions which are derived from folk customs. An example is the Easter eggs, which is said to have started in the 12th century. The Easter eggs is said to be popular among Christians in Europe and the United States. It is part of the celebration just like Christmas trees, Father Christmas, Christmas lights, decorations, and the exchange of Christmas gifts. The egg, an ancient symbol of new life, has been associated with pagan festivals celebrating spring. From a Christian perspective, Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection. One explanation for this custom is that eggs were formerly a forbidden food during the Lenten season, so people would paint and decorate them to mark the end of the fast and eat them on Easter as a celebration. Easter egg hunts and egg rolling are two popular egg-related traditions. In the U.S., the White House Easter Egg Roll, a race in which children push decorated, hard-boiled eggs across the White House lawn, is an annual event held the Monday after Easter. The first official White House egg roll occurred in 1878, when Rutherford Hayes was president.

One of the denominations that rejected Easter are the ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’. In an official statement on Easter, It says  Easter is a pagan holiday and they prefer to observe the last Super instead, ‘‘we observe the  Memorial of Jesus Death as he commanded each year on the anniversary of his death according to the Bible’s lunar calendar.’’ —Luke 22:19, 20.

Pastor Paul Adefarasin, Senior Pastor of House on the Rock Church, during a communion service held at the Rock Cathedral, Lekki, in Lagos said he preferred to call Easter by another name, ‘‘Resurrection Sunday,’’  because of the origin.

Reverend Andrew Akinsuyi on the other hand said, ‘‘it is foolish to condemn Easter on the basis of customs which are clearly not related to paganism anymore. We should focus on the significance of Easter. Are we still pagans today? The answer is no. Whatever people use to celebrate Easter today is done in honour of Christ resurrection.’’ 

Reverend Father, Vincent Serpa of the Catholic, in a Church Question and Answer publication said, ‘‘First of all, who do you know that worships Christmas trees? Nobody that I know; that’s for sure! Just as people can be Christianized, so can their customs and celebrations. Christianity is a powerful thing because it is the power of God on earth. Catholic Christians have always believed this. So they Christianized trees at Christmas and eggs at Easter. Who remembers the Christmas tree or Easter as pagan things? One has to dig deep to find pagan worship in them. It is better to rejoice that they have become vehicles for celebrating the love of Christ.

In a chat with Bamidele Mathew of the Catholic Church, our Lady of perpetual Help, Lagos, he said, ‘‘people should look at the importance of the Easter festival today. It is possible that People were celebrating Easter to honour their pagan gods, many years ago. Today, it is no longer so. Easter is now a celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. We should rejoice at this instead of focusing on history that has been buried by the truth and the light of Christ. There is nobody that celebrates Easter today in the name of paganism but in the name of the true risen Christ. This, to me, is more important than tracing the history of Easter. Its relevance, its significance, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus is what is more important and that is what Easter reminds us of today. Whatever it meant for ancient pagans no longer matters today, for Christians, Easter is the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection. The fact that when it was first celebrated the feast of the Resurrection coincided with pagan rites doesn’t mean it was derived from them. The Jewish Passover (on which Christ was crucified) also coincided with such celebrations, yet this didn’t mean it was pagan.’’   

In another discussion with the Venerable Thomas Adebayo Fagbayi of African Church Cathedral, Bethel, Broad street, Lagos, he traced the history of Easter to the Bible. According to him, the significance of Easter is far more important than its origin. ‘‘Easter is one of the Christian festivals in Christendom that is just as important as Christmas. If you look at Christmas as well, some people have claimed that Christmas is of pagan origin. This is foolish.  In the scriptures, you will see that the children of Israel celebrated the Passover which is a remembrance of how God delivered them from Death and bondage in the land of Egypt. God commanded them to kill a year old lamb and put his blood on the doorsteps so that the angel of death can pass over their homes as he goes about slaying their Egyptian enemies. They followed the instruction and they were delivered.

 The Israelites have continued to celebrate Passover to this day as God commanded them.

 Jesus Christ is the greater lamb. John the Baptist who was the forerunner of Jesus saw Jesus for the first time and referred to him as the lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. The one year old lamb which was slaughtered by the Jews symbolized Jesus.  If the Jews celebrated the Passover? Christians should celebrate the greater lamb who took away the sins of the world.  He was slain for our transgressions and his blood connects us back to God. He resurrected and he gives us hope of eternal life with him. Is that not worth celebrating? Do you know of anyone else who resurrected in the history of man?  This is why we celebrate Easter. At Christmas, we celebrate his birth and at Easter, we celebrate his resurrection. If some people celebrated Easter as a pagan event in the past, that is past. Today, it is no longer so, Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of the son of God, It is a celebration of life’’ he said.