Lent. Wednesday Mass. Maundy Thursday. Good Friday. Resurrection Sunday! Candy! Eggs! Egg Coloring! Toys! Baskets! Chocolate! Jelly Bean Garden! the ‘Gobbling’ Cudbury Bunny! THE EASTER BUNNY!!!!!!!!

The majority of devout Christians observe the Easter season as a time to honor the resurrection of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus), rather than as an opportunity to indulge in candy or admire rabbits; at least that’s what we’ve been lead to believe. They mark His death on Good Friday and His resurrection on Easter Sunday, recognizing that the resurrection of our Lord is the most significant event in our faith.

1 Corinthians 15:13-14 | But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Messiah has been raised; and if Messiah has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

Inevitably we arrive at the question, ‘Do Messianic believers celebrate Easter then?’ It’s a bad question, with a complicated answer. Messianic believers most certainly take Paul’s advice in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14, recognizing the resurrection of our Lord, but not on Easter.

To many Christians, this may come as a surprise, that Messianic Believers do not observe Easter. This is because we do not see Easter as one of the Lord's appointed times or "moedim" mandated in Scripture. Instead, we view it as a substitute holiday that has been put in place of what God has instructed His people to do in the Spring. Celebrating Good Friday and Easter Sunday can give the impression that Yeshua died as a random man or a common criminal on the cross at Golgotha (Calvary), in a general manner for the sins of humanity. This view does not necessarily acknowledge Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel, who comes in fulfillment of our Heavenly Father's appointed times; Yeshua died at Passover, and He rose on the Feast of Firstfruits. Furthermore, the common celebration of Easter often ignores how Yeshua is the blameless Passover Lamb who was slain for our sin, and the unleavened, sinless Bread of Life who was scourged for our iniquities. Neither does the common viewpoint of Easter acknowledge the prophetic element of the Passover found in the story of the First Exodus.

What does God have to say about this?

It's natural for believers to feel compelled to honor God during the spring season. Spring is a beautiful time of year when new leaves emerge on trees, flowers bloom, grass turns green again, and the weather warms up in anticipation of summer. This time of year serves as a reminder of new beginnings and new life. In the Hebrew month of Aviv or Nisan, believers celebrate the Passover as a part of their springtime traditions. Detailed instruction is given about how the Passover was originally to be observed in commemoration of the Ancient Israelites’ flight from Egypt.

Exodus 12:3 | “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household’”

Exodus 12:6 | “You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.”

Further details are given regarding the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

Exodus 12:18 | “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening”

Exodus 12:17 | “you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance”

In Hebrew, "Permanent ordinance" can be translated as "חוקת עולם" (chuqat olam), which the NIV translates as "Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come." These commandments are intended to be remembered and not easily forgotten.

The two holidays of Passover and Unleavened Bread were further codified among the appointed times in Leviticus.

Leviticus 23:5-14 | The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’” The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

As His people, it is innate for us to desire to celebrate new beginnings and mark significant events in the Springtime. This is precisely why our Heavenly Father has instructed His people to observe Passover and Unleavened Bread. As Messianic Believers, we not only commemorate the Ancient Israelites' Exodus from Egypt, but also the prophetic fulfillment in Messiah that these festivals represent. Through Yeshua's salvation, we experience a liberation from slavery to sin, and find new life and freedom in Him. As the Passover Lamb, He was sacrificed for us, and just as the unleavened matzah bread, He was striped, pierced and bruised. We have the opportunity to contemplate these spiritual truths in a genuine and practical way during the Passover season, particularly as we partake in the sedar meal.

But that was the ‘Old Testament’, what does the ‘New Testament’ say?

1 Corinthians 5:7 | “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed”

Here the Apostle Paul makes a strong correlation between Passover and Unleavened Bread and salvation through Messiah Yeshua. Leaven here is representative of sin, and as Believers in Messiah we are told to clean it out, as the verb ekkathairō (ekkaqairw) means “to remove as unclean, clean out” (BDAG) and “to cleanse out, clean thoroughly” (Thayer). This demonstrates how serious it is for us to get the sin out of our lives. Why are Believers told to do this?

1 Corinthians 5:8 | “Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”

Why are people of faith instructed to clean out the leaven in their lives? So we can all properly celebrate the feast. In 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, it is emphasized how crucial it is for those who have been reborn in faith to commemorate Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. These designated seasons were instituted by God long before the coming of the Messiah, and they serve as a framework for understanding how the Messiah became our spotless Passover Lamb, providing atonement for our sins. Additionally, they demonstrate how the Messiah fulfilled the prophetic portrayal of Isaiah 53:5 as the sinless Bread of Life who was beaten and scourged.

Isaiah 53:5 | But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.

The prophecy in Isaiah 53 refers to the suffering Messiah as the Servant. The unleavened bread or matzah, with its lines and small holes, serves as a visible and tangible reminder of Yeshua's suffering on our behalf. In Hebrew, a "scourge" or chaburah (hrWBx) is defined as a "stripe, blow, stroke," which "cuts in" (BDB). During the week of eating matzah, we should pause and contemplate how He was ridiculed and beaten, especially as the sinless Son of God (Mark 15:16-20; John 19:1-5).

Mark 15:16-20 | And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters),[a] and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.

John 19:1-5 | Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”

Paul affirms in Colossians 2:17 that the festivals established by God in the Torah "are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ" (ESV). By recognizing these festivals as shadows, we can perceive how they provide an outline of the prophetic fulfillment of Yeshua's First and Second Comings, as the ultimate sōma (swma) or "substance" is found in His redemptive work. Through understanding occasions like Passover, we can gain a deeper comprehension of God's plan of salvation history.

As Messianic Believers, we strongly believe that the Lord established the appointed times for a purpose. He gave them to us to demonstrate the reality of Messiah Yeshua and to testify about His plan for order in Creation. Yeshua's First and future Second Coming are not arbitrary events on the calendar, as some Christians might believe. Instead, they are ordered occurrences that take place according to the Father's "appointed times" or moedim.

So where did ‘Christian Easter’ come from?

After Yeshua's last meal, He was apprehended at the Garden of Gethsemane, brought before Pontius Pilate, subjected to scourging and beating by the Roman soldiers, and ultimately crucified to atone for humanity's sins. He rose from the dead three days later and ascended to the right hand of the Father in Heaven after forty days. While this account may seem familiar, it can gain fresh insights and greater depth when considered in light of the significance of God's appointed times.

How did Christianity come to celebrate Easter Sunday, a holiday that appears to be disconnected from Passover? During Passover, the emphasis is on eating unleavened bread and focusing on the lamb, whereas on Easter Sunday, it's common to have yeast rolls and hams. In the context of Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread, leaven symbolizes sin, and consuming swine, an unclean animal, is deemed "an abomination unto you" by God (Leviticus 11:10, 11, 12, 20, 23).

It's important to note that the Apostles and early Believers did not celebrate what we now refer to as "Easter." Instead, they continued to observe the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread, honoring the Messiah within these traditions. The holiday of "Easter" as a separate celebration was not established or mandated until the Council of Nicea several centuries later. Later Church councils, such as the Council of Antioch (341 CE) and the Council of Laodicea (363 CE), made it unlawful for Christians to participate in the Sabbath or Passover.

Susan E. Richardson’s Holidays & Holy Days suggest this…

…In A.D. 325, the Council of Nicea set aside a special day just to celebrate the Resurrection. The problem with an official day was deciding whether or not the Resurrection should be celebrated on a weekday or…on a Sunday.

“Many felt that the date should continue to be based on the timing of the Resurrection during Passover. Once Jewish leaders determined the date of Passover each year, Christian leaders could set the date for Easter by figuring three days after Passover…

“…As Christianity drew away from Judaism, some were reluctant to base the Christian celebration on the Jewish calendar.”

“Since Easter is a celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection, you would think there wouldn’t be room for paganism. However, Easter is one of the holidays most intertwined with pagan symbolism and ritual.

“The origin of the word easter isn’t certain. The Venerable Bede, an eighth-century monk and scholar, suggested that the word may have come from the Anglo-Saxon Eostre or Eastre—a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility…”

This should essentially confirm the fact that the Church of the Fourth Century wanted to establish a holiday largely separate from anything “Jewish.” Commemorating the resurrection of Yeshua three days after the Passover, on any day of the week other than Sunday, was just unthinkable.

Let’s crack some more Easter Eggs before wrapping up.

Artemis of Ephesus | was a ‘goddess’ worshiped in Ephesus, now present-day Turkey. The temple to Artemis was destroyed in 401 AD, but until then was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Artistic depictions of Artemis’ statue suggest she has ‘eggs’ on her chest and torso. Depending on which scholars are listened to, those ‘eggs’ are either bull testicles or breasts. Although they do suggest the worship of fertility, there are zero primary ancient resources to suggest that there is any connection between Artemis of Ephesus and either Passover, Easter, or Messiah.

Ishtar of Mesopotamia | Easter has no connection to the word Ishtar, neither etymologically, historically, or grammatically. Although Ishtar was associated with fertility in Mesopotamia, neither Easter, nor bunnies, nor eggs have any relationship with Ishtar in Mesopotamia.

Eostre | The name Easter was adopted in the medieval period and it came from the name of the month (Eostre) in which the holiday (Christian Easter) was celebrated. The name of the month (Eostre) does come from the name of the ‘deity’ Eostre. There is one primary text in all of antiquity that refers to the ‘diety’, Eostre. As mentioned above, Bede, an eighth-century monk and scholar explains that the name of the holiday (Easter) comes from the name of the month (Eostre) which comes from the name of the ‘diety’ (Eostre) and that it was celebrated with feasts. And that is the grand total of what history records of the ‘diety’ named Eostre. Any further correlation between the feasts and celebrations of Eostre and any similarity between Passover or Christian Easter is folklore and/or fiction.

Pesach!!!

Exodus 12:17 | Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.

Luke 2:41-42 | Now His (Yeshua, Jesus) parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast;

Luke 22:15 | And He (Yeshua, Jesus) said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;

Matthew 26:17-19 | Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

Mark 14:12-16 | On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples *said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He *sent two of His disciples and *said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’

We’ve been given a written code of conduct on how to live perfectly obedient to the commandments and will of our Heavenly Father, made physically manifest by our savior Yeshua Messiah. There is nothing rightly observed in Easter that is not observed in Messianic Passover. And Passover is what we are commanded to keep for all generations to come. We should abandon the egg hunts, chocolate, and chasing rabbits. Instead let us heed the instruction of our Lord and observed Pesach, the Passover.