The true meaning of Easter

The word Easter is defined in Webster's New Encyclopaedic Dictionary as:
"...from the primitive root 'EOSTRE', goddess of dawn, whose festival was celebrated at the spring equinox."

The Oxford English Dictionary, writes:
Easter had a pre-Christian origin, namely a festival in honour of Eostre, the Teutonic
dawn-goddess, and as Usha or Ushas, the Hindu dawn-goddess. This Eostre was also known to be the
spring goddess and the goddess of fertility. Thus, another form of Sun-worship, another variant in the
form of a dawn-deity, Eostre, also called Eastre, Eostra or Orstara, became fused with Christianity. This same
dawn-goddess was also well known in the Greek Classics (Homer, Hesiod) as Eos (the Roman Aurora)
and the Assyrian Ishtar, goddess of the morning. In classical mythology Eos was an amorous deity and the
idea of fertility with its fertility-symbols of eggs and rabbits was to be expected. Any reference work will
testify to the fact of the origin of Easter eggs and the Easter rabbit or bunny, because "Easter" was not only
goddess of dawn but also goddess of spring with all its fertility-symbols and fertility-rites.

Our female hormone ESTROGEN derives from this aforementioned goddess' name. Is it any wonder that true followers of Christ would object to the misuse of a pagan word in regard to the time of His very death and resurrection? Why do we call it Easter instead of Passover? Passover is the name for another Jewish holiday, commemorating another of God's miracles, observed concurrently with Jesus' death on the cross, but not representing it. For if it did, there would be no Jewish religion remaining, but only Christianity. Passover is distinctly Jewish. The Resurrection is for all peoples, everywhere. It seems, then, we should probably refer to this time of commemoration as Resurrection Sunday, rather than Easter (Sunday). To not do so insults the sacrifice of One who died so that all of us who believe on Him, might live, despite our inability to be perfect. Through belief in His death and resurrection, we who believe receive the imputed perfection of one who was sinless yet died on eh cross in Jerusalem, 2000 years ago, as if He had sinned, thus permitting us to be called children of God. The horrible way This One was tortured and put to death might be of further interest to those who may take any of this lightly. Some of you might even consider dying yourselves for someone you loved. But few if any of you would consider dying in the manner Christ did, for the eternal lives of the multitudes, past, present and future, who hate you....

Below, I am offering multiple hymns appropriate to this time of year for Christians, and ones which were inspired by the pages of scripture which foretold of this supernatural event, seven hundred years before the Romans even thought of crucifixion. And I further offer to you, that while Christmas is a holiday celebrated joyously and almost universally - - the reality of a baby Jesus threatening no one - - the reality of His resurrection represents something else altogether. Many people grow uncomfortable with the prospect of an adult Jesus, allegedly dying on a tree, 2000 years ago, offering Himself as a sinless sacrifice before God, and willingly, so that all who believe on him may be saved. Many more cannot abide His multiple admissions of deity. This he did PUBLICLY, by the way, in front of multitudes of Jews and other nationalities alike who had come to Jerusalem to observe Passover - - many of whom recorded their experience, many of whom had no interest in Jesus or Judaism but merely wrote about what they saw in Jerusalem at that time, historically. His crucifixion is, therefore, to this day, a matter of historical record, both Jewish* and Roman**. Further, the resurrected Christ, scars and all, was witnessed by over 500 people during the first month after Passover, eating, drinking and teaching, for a period of no less than forty days.

Now, all who believe on Him and His completed work on the cross, therefore, should give careful consideration concerning the co-mingling of pagan customs with Christian history. All who have not heard of Jesus Christ, Son of God and God, should study the pages of the Bible - both Old and New Testament - - to see what is written there concerning Him, and concerning such a seemingly benign blending of traditions, and, finally, to read about this God-man called "the Christ" who appears throughout the entire Bible--from the first book of Genesis to Revelation; from the beginning of time itself until its end--and not just 2000 years ago on a hill far away in Jerusalem.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God; He (Jesus) was with God in the beginning..."(John 1:1)

'In the beginning...' pre-dates all other events in time; all other would-be-gods; all of creation. If your god has died and was raised from death as a substitute and sacrifice for your own sins, bring him forth. Jesus Christ claimed oneness with God, the true Creator,
when confronted by His own people when He responded,
"Most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." (John 8:58)

I AM is the holy name for God, Himself. Jesus also stated His willingness to be crucified to all who had ears...
(P.S. He could have escaped at any time!)
"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.
No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
This command I have received from My Father." (John 10:17)

Because of His willingness to become the propitiation for our sin and our separation from God (since Adam's fall), our substitute, taking punishment (see below) we deserve (even if we have led spotless lives, which we can't) - - because of His unparalleled gift given to us for free, all who believe on Him may be saved, that is, spared from death and God's righteous judgement; a gift we could never possibly earn.

"Truly I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."(John:8:51)

"And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be saved."
(Isaiah 50:5, Acts 2:21)

My God, My God, O Why Have You Forsaken Me? (Psalm 22)
Words & M:usic: “Kingsfold,” English melody; arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906 (MIDI, score).

My God My God, O why have you forsaken me, O why?
Are you so far from giving help and from my groaning cry?
By day and night my God, I call; your answer still delays,
And yet you are the Holy One who dwells in Israel's praise

Our fathers put their trust in you; from you their rescue came.
They begged you and you set them free; they were not put to shame.
But as for me, I am a worm and not a man at all.
To men I am despised and base; their scornings on me fall.

All those who look at me will laugh and cast reproach on me,
Their mouths they open wide; they wag their heads in mockery
"The Lord was his reliance once; now see what God will send.
Yes, let God rise and set him free, this man that was his friend."

You took me from my mother's womb to safety at the breast
Since birth when I was cast on you, in you, my God, I rest.
When I proclaim my praise of you, then all the church will hear,
And I will pay my vows in full where men hold Him in fear.

Words: Attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, 1153 (Salve caput cruentatum); translated from Latin to German by Paul Gerhardt, 1656 (O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden), and from Latin to English James Waddell Alexander, 1830.

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown;
How pale Thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish, which once was bright as morn!

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners? gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ?Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

Men mock and taunt and jeer Thee, Thou noble countenance,
Though mighty worlds shall fear Thee and flee before Thy glance.
How art thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How doth Thy visage languish that once was bright as morn!

Now from Thy cheeks has vanished their color once so fair;
From Thy red lips is banished the splendor that was there.
Grim death, with cruel rigor, hath robbed Thee of Thy life;
Thus Thou hast lost Thy vigor, Thy strength in this sad strife.

My burden in Thy Passion, Lord, Thou hast borne for me,
For it was my transgression which brought this woe on Thee.
I cast me down before Thee, wrath were my rightful lot;
Have mercy, I implore Thee; Redeemer, spurn me not!

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

My shepherd, now receive me; my guardian, own me Thine.
Great blessings Thou didst give me, O source of gifts divine.
Thy lips have often fed me with words of truth and love;
Thy Spirit oft hath led me to heavenly joys above.

Here I will stand beside Thee, from Thee I will not part;
O Savior, do not chide me! When breaks Thy loving heart,
When soul and body languish in death?s cold, cruel grasp,
Then, in Thy deepest anguish, Thee in mine arms I?ll clasp.

The joy can never be spoken, above all joys beside,
When in Thy body broken I thus with safety hide.
O Lord of Life, desiring Thy glory now to see,
Beside Thy cross expiring, I?d breathe my soul to Thee.

My Savior, be Thou near me when death is at my door;
Then let Thy presence cheer me, forsake me nevermore!
When soul and body languish, oh, leave me not alone,
But take away mine anguish by virtue of Thine own!

Be Thou my consolation, my shield when I must die;
Remind me of Thy passion when my last hour draws nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee, upon Thy cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfolds Thee. Who dieth thus dies well.

STRICKEN, SMITTEN, AND AFFLICTED
Words: Thomas Kelly
Music: “Wo ist Jesus, mein Verlangen,” Geistliches Volkslied

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted, see Him dying on the tree!
Tis the Christ by man rejected; yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He!
’Tis the long expected prophet, David’s Son, yet David’s Lord
Proofs I see sufficient of it: ’tis a true and faithful Word

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning, was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning, foes insulting his distress
Many hands were raised to wound Him, none would interpose to save
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly, nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate
Mark the Sacrifice appointed! See Who bears the awful load!
’Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed, Son of Man, and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation, here the refuge of the lost
Christ the Rock of our salvation; Christ the Name of which we boast
Lamb of God for sinners wounded! Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded who on Him their hope have built.

Jesus keep me near the Cross
There a precious fountain
Free to all, a healing stream
Flows from Calvary's fountain

In The Cross, in The Cross,
Be my glory ever
Till my raptured soul shall find
Peace beyond the river

At the Cross I stood one day
Love and mercy found me,
There the bright and Morning Star
Shed Its beams around me

In The Cross, in The Cross,
Be my glory ever
Till my raptured soul shall find
Peace beyond the river

Near The Cross, O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me
Help me walk form day to day
With its shadow o'er me

In The Cross, in The Cross,
Be my glory ever
Till my raptured soul shall find
Peace beyond the river

Near The Cross I'll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting ever,
'Til I reach the golden strand
Just beyond the river

In The Cross, in The Cross,
Be my glory ever
Till my raptured soul shall find
Peace beyond the river

There is a hill though far away
Where I once saw My Savior's face
And though they'd nailed Him to a tree
He looked down and smiled at me

And as I watched His eyes meet mine
I felt my heart e'er reconciled
And all my years of shame released
When He looked down and smiled at me

There was no sorrow on His face
Just Love's pure light for me to taste
And I did fall down to my knees
When He looked down and smiled at me

Upon His head they shoved a crown
And o'er His brow my life ran down
Through His own blood my soul came clean
When He looked down and smiled at me

When I am lonely, fearful be
When this world's hunger shadows me
When I am wretched, wicked, weak
Then He looks down and smiles at me

The 200 lb. cross (more or less) is placed on the ground and the bloodied, dehydrated, exhausted subject, a man, is quickly thrown backwards with his bloodied shoulders pressed against bare wood. The legionnaire (soldier with hammer) feels for an appropriate depression at the front of the subject's wrist. He then drives a heavy, square wrought-iron nail through the wrist deep into the wood. Nails through the hand (which contain many tiny bones) would too soon rip through flesh, unable to support the sagging weight of the entire body, so nails are driven in at the median nerve, between two long bones of the arm, below the wrist. Quickly the legionnaire moves to the other side of the subject and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flex and painful movement (part of the intended torture). The cross is then lifted into place. The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, another long, square spike is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees flexed. The victim is now crucified. As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain -- the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves, causing the thumbs to retract spasmodically. As he pushes himself upward to avoid this searing, stretching torment, he places the full weight on the nail hammered through his feet. Again he feels the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the bones of his feet. As the arms fatigue, cramps sweep through his muscles, knotting them in deep relentless, and throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. He fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen. Hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against rough timber. Then another agony begins: a deep, crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart. It is now almost over. The loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level. The compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues. The tortured lungs are making frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. He can feel the chill of death creeping through his tissues as he slowly, torturously suffocates to death, limbs tearing from their sockets as his body releases its last fluids all over itself in front of curious, mocking onlookers.

All this the Bible records with the simple words, "and they crucified Him" (Mark 15:24).

*In Rome, in the year 93, The Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, published his lengthy history of the Jews. While discussing the period in which the Jews of Judea were governed by the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate, Josephus included the following account (this account has been given validation of 98% accuracy as of 1999 per "The Coincidences of the Testimonium of Josephus and the Emmaus Narrative of Luke", G. J. Goldberg, The Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha; pp. 59-77):

"About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared. "

Jewish Antiquities, 18.3.3 §63
(Based on the translation of Louis H. Feldman, The Loeb Classical Library.)BACK to TOP

**Crucifixion of Christus; per Roman Historian, Cornelius Tacitus, Annals 15.44

[In 64, Rome was destroyed by a great fire. The emperor Nero blamed the Christians, and Tacitus explains their origins.]

"But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. "