Resurrection Sunday and Easter
- Ken Kalis
- Apr 18
- 8 min read
When I was 5 or 6, I wanted to be one of the Roman soldiers guarding Jesus' tomb.
Why? Their helmets were cool, and my big brother was one.
He outgrew this Easter drama and gave his life to preaching the good news, That Christ arose!
And not only did He arise Himself but gives us power to be sons of God as well.
Today's article shows Jesus is alive! Don't be like that foolish Roman soldier who wants to keep Him dead.
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The Resurrection is the greatest miracle since creation.
Everything turned on this marvelous event, Jesus* (4BC-30AD) breaking the bonds of death because, as Luke says, Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. - Acts 2:24
An asterisk* after a name means the person is in SPIRITUAL LIVES.
In the fresco above, Jesus is shown arising from the grave, but He is not alone. When He died, He "descended into Hell" say both creeds, no doubt drawn from the New Testament:
the gospel preached also to them that are dead, 1 Peter 4:6
He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth. Ephesians 4:9
This is not the Hell prepared for the devil and his angels, but the Hell Jesus describes in His parable of the Rich mand and Lazarus. The Greek word is Hades, the place of the dead.
There is a great gap there between those enjoying time in "Abraham's bosom" and those "tormented in this flame." When Jesus defeated death and Hell He brought with His those righteous souls who had died in their faith. As St. Paul* (5-67) cites the Psalm, "he led captivity captive" in the words of David* (1085-1015BC).
John Wesley (1703-1781) says, He triumphed over all his enemies, Satan, sin, and death, which had before enslaved all the world: alluding to the custom of ancient conquerors, who led those they had conquered in chains after them.
The Resurrection validates the divinity of Jesus as the Son of God explaining why the death of One Man atoned for the whole world. It also shows the power He has to "save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." --Hebrews 7:25
This event, this Resurrection, took place almost 2,000 years ago, and its impact on us all endures today.
"This Holy Week, Melania and I join in prayer with Christians celebrating the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ—the living Son of God who conquered death, freed us from sin, and unlocked the gates of Heaven for all of humanity.
"Beginning with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and culminating in the Paschal Triduum, which begins on Holy Thursday with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, followed by Good Friday, and reaching its pinnacle in the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night. This week is a time of reflection for Christians to memorialize Jesus’ crucifixion—and to prepare their hearts, minds, and souls for His miraculous Resurrection from the dead.
"During this sacred week, we acknowledge that the glory of Easter Sunday cannot come without the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross. In His final hours on Earth, Christ willingly endured excruciating pain, torture, and execution on the cross out of a deep and abiding love for all His creation. Through His suffering, we have redemption. Through His death, we are forgiven of our sins. Through His Resurrection, we have hope of eternal life. On Easter morning, the stone is rolled away, the tomb is empty, and light prevails over darkness—signaling that death does not have the final word.
"This Holy Week, my Administration renews its promise to defend the Christian faith in our schools, military, workplaces, hospitals, and halls of government. We will never waver in safeguarding the right to religious liberty, upholding the dignity of life, and protecting God in our public square.
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Theological significance
The Resurrection is the chief tenet of the Christian faith.
Paul writes that, for those who trust in Jesus's death and resurrection, "death is swallowed up in victory". T
Peter say God has given believers "a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead".
Christian theology holds that, through faith those who follow Jesus
are spiritually resurrected with him so that
they may walk in a new way of life
receive eternal salvation,
and can hope to be physically resurrected to dwell with Him forever.
Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, the Last Supper. He identified the bread and cup of wine as his body, soon to be sacrificed, and his blood, soon to be shed.
The Apostle Paul builds on this telling the Corinthians "Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed." This completes the allegory of Jesus as the Passover lamb.
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Easter is something else!
The word occurs in Acts 12:4 in describing Peter's imprisonment: intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. Of course what he meant was Passover, because the word "Easter" would not be created for another 700years.
I realized this but never thought it was a big deal. Albert Barnes (1798–1870) thought it was "an unhappy" translation:
The translation is not only unhappy, as it does not convey at all the meaning of the original, but because it may contribute to foster an opinion that such a festival was observed in the time of the apostles.
The King James translators were following the king's guideline to stick to familiar names and words, and that explains why they used Easter.
According to the Venerable Bede*: (673-735), Ēosturmōnaþ (Old English for 'Month of Ēostre', translated in Bede's time as "Paschal month") was an English month, corresponding to April, which he says "was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month"
The Resurrection of Jesus is central to the celebration of Easter, and it has inspired many of the customs we practice today. In contrast to Lent, the Easter season is a time of celebration and feasting.
Easter traditions include:
· sunrise services or late-night vigils,
· exchanges of Easter greetingsl greetings,
· flowering the cross, wearing Easter bonnets.
· decorating Easter eggs is symbolic of the empty tomb.
· Displaying theThe Easter lily, prominently in the church.
Traditional Easter foods vary by region and culture. Other fun activities and games include egg rolling, egg tapping, and cascarones or confetti eggs. Easter is commercially important, seeing wide sales of greeting cards and confectionery such as chocolate Easter eggs.
In the Nordic countries, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday are public holidays,and Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays.
Easter in Italy is one of that country's major holidays, both Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are national holidays as is also true in the Netherlands.
Good Friday and Saturday as well as Easter Sunday and Monday are public holidays in Greece where public sector employees receive Easter bonuses as a gift from the state
In Commonwealth nations, Easter Sunday is rarely a public holiday, as is the case for celebrations which fall on a Sunday.
In the United Kingdom, both Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays, except in Scotland, where only Good Friday is a bank holiday.
n Canada, Easter Monday is a statutory holiday for federal employees.
In the Canadian province of Quebec, either Good Friday or Easter Monday are statutory holidays
In Australia, Easter is associated with harvest time; Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays across all states and territories.
In the United States, Easter parades are held in many American cities, though not sponsored by any government, involving festive strolling processions.
Photo of Lilium candidum at VanDusen Botanical Garden Date July 2005Source Own work Author Stan ShebsStan Shebs, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publishes it under the following licenses:
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation |
Easter food
Preparing, coloring, and decorating Easter eggs is one such popular tradition.
Lamb is eaten in many countries andcommemorates the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.
A hot cross bun is a spiced bun usually made with fruit, marked with a cross on the top, which has been traditionally eaten on Good Friday.
On Holy Saturday, families in Sweden and Denmark traditionally feast on a smörgåsbord of herring, salmon, potatoes, eggs, and other kinds of food.
In Finland, it is common to eat roasted lamb with potatoes and other vegetables.
Paskha (also spelled pascha, or pasha) is a Slavic festive dish made in Eastern Orthodox countries which consists of food that is forbidden during the fast of Great Lent.
Easter eggs
The custom of the Easter egg originated in the early Christian community of Mesopotamia, who stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at his crucifixion.
The Easter egg symbolizes the empty tomb. The oldest tradition is to use dyed chicken eggs.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church Easter eggs are blessed by a priest[196] both in families' baskets together with other foods forbidden during Great Lent and alone for distribution or in church or elsewhere.
The celebrated House of Fabergé workshops created exquisite jewelled Easter eggs for the Russian Imperial family from 1885 to 1916.
Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season.
All of these interesting and beautiful traditions help us value and enjyou our annual celebration of Son of God more, and we have a duty to explain these connection to our children and grandchildren, lest they grow up to be cultural Christians and miss the great salvation Jesus has won.
The essential element of all this verbiage can be summmed up in two words: Christ Arose!
1 Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNERhj7bk3g&ab_channel=ClassicHymns
waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!
Refrain:
Up from the grave he arose;
with a mighty triumph o'er his foes;
he arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
2 Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior,
vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord! [Refrain]
3 Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior;
he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord! [Refrain]
We sang this when I was a boy at Emmanuel Pentecostal Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey. We sang the first verse seated and jumped to our feet on the chorus sing, He Arose!
We sat for the second verse, which the ladies sang, and jumped to our feet on He Arose!
We sat for the third verse, which the men sang seated and everyone jumpled to our feet on the chorus. He Arose!
This still gives me chills, 70 years later. Praise God. He Arose!
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