Easter is one of the most important celebrations for Christians. It commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus when He purchased the salvation of the world with His blood. Easter originates from the Jewish Passover or pesaj. This Jewish event celebrates the ancient freeing of the Jews from Egyptian slavery. It also prefigured, for centuries, the death of the Lamb of God on the cross. When Jesus died and was resurrected on the Jewish Passover in 31 AD, the Jewish Christians had two reasons to celebrate: the liberation of their ancestors from slavery and their current liberation from sin because of Christ’s death on the cross.

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Holy Week

Easter also finalizes the liturgical week of Catholic celebrations remembering the events leading up to Easter. Called Holy Week, it includes commemorations of what Jesus did each day of the week before His resurrection, including: Palm Sunday (the triumphal entry to Jerusalem), Holy Thursday (the Last Supper with His disciples), Holy Friday (arrest, torture and death on the cross), and Glorious Sabbath (rest in the tomb). All these celebrations culminate in the great reality of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday.

Is Easter Mentioned in the Bible?

The word “Easter” is found once in the Bible and only in the King James Version. Acts 12:1-4 says, "Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) 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."

Since this holiday was not called Easter until thousands of years after the time of the early Christians, a truer translation of this verse is, “intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people (ESV),” as rendered by almost all other translations, including the New King James Version.

Interestingly enough, the Jewish Passover mentioned in Acts 12 (44 AD) was celebrated on a Thursday, not on a Sunday, as has become traditional practice for Easter. This is because the date of the Jewish Passover varies according to the Jewish lunar calendar. It happened that the day that Jesus resurrected fell on a Sunday, but according to the Jewish calendar, Passover falls on a different day each year, just as your birthday or that of a family member falls on a different day of the week each year. But according to a decision by the Catholic Church, the Christian Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the spring equinox. But the actual commemorative date of the great event that assured our salvation and future home in heaven often occurs on a day that is not Sunday.

What Is the True Meaning of Easter?

Besides celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus, various pagan practices have been added to the celebrations of Easter. Many of these practices are a deviation from the Bible truth and the great sacrifice that Christ made for us.

For example, during some reenactments of the passion of Christ, it is believed that certain individuals should commit immoral acts to approximate the sins of the traitor Judas. And in certain areas the idea exists that God loses His power for a time and that a select group of people must protect all humans and the entire world until God recovers his faculties. These ideas are not based on the Bible nor on the truth of an omnipotent God who never sanctions premeditated sin and who can save us without any human help.

In other areas, pagan customs have arisen such as decorating and searching for eggs, eating chocolate eggs and buying Easter decorations that include eggs, bunnies and baby chicks. These pagan symbols are often incorporated into celebrations of Easter. They come from the pagan idea that spring is a time of rebirth and fertility. The word Easter actually comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Eostre, the name of the pagan goddess of spring. Rabbits, eggs and chicks are symbols of fertility and have nothing to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. These and other customs only serve to distract us from the beautiful reality of what Christ did for us on the cross. Christians involved in Easter celebrations should ask themselves, “Is this activity in which I am now participating an accurate representation of what Christ did for me at Calvary?”

Contemplating what Jesus did for us, we are amazed by His great love for us. He was incarnated as a baby and lived among us as a human. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Living among us, He interpreted the love of God for us by His life of service and His great sacrifice on the cross. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

But if it had not been for His resurrection, we would not have the hope of a future life. Paul says, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). Thank God we have the hope of something better! Jesus has a plan for, not only forgiving our sins, but also for taking us to live with Him in heaven. “So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28). This is the true hope of Easter! Will you be ready to receive Him when He comes again?