On what day is Easter?

Well, another year has gone by and we've arrived at the first "religious"
holiday of the year, Easter Sunday. I have some strong thoughts about this
day and I hope that I don't "rain on your Easter Parade" but I'd like to
share them with you. Right out of the gate, I'll state my opinion about the
special significance of this particular Sunday. There is no "special"
significance! As far as the Gospel is concerned, it is no more significant
than any other Sunday. Much of the "religious world" celebrates it as
"special" only because man denotes it as such.

Now I'll admit that Easter does have some noteworthy meanings to me. It
means long waits for a table at the restaurant, highways crowded with
travelers, recreational facilities crowded and having to pay higher prices
due to "holiday rates." Plus many opportunities to spend money on gifts
appropriate to the occasion or new clothes. (Can't go to church once a year
in old clothes, can we?)

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that when man makes up a special
holiday a purchase of some sort is necessary? I'm sure this is just a
coincidence, aren't you?
What it doesn't mean to me is any kind of "special" religious significance.
It has no more significance than any other Lord's Day and requires no more
or less observance on our part as Christians. It certainly is NOT the one
day a year that I feel I should attend a worship service. Nor are there any
different acts of worship necessary to be observed than those we observe
every Sunday.

I indicated above that the Easter Sunday that the religious world has set
aside as a "special" Sunday was created by man and not according to any
scriptural command or inference. The Bible simply tells us that the church
met on the 1st day of every week and conducted the appointed acts of
worship.

Man has not only made one particular 1st day of the week as a "special
convocation" but has added several other "special" days surrounding it. He's
made the 40 days prior to Easter Sunday a "special season" and named it
"Lent." Then he's created "special convocation" days that he's named "Ash
Wednesday," "Palm Sunday," "Maundy Thursday," and "Good Friday" just to name
some of them.

As an indication of man "adding" to the Gospel Word, these days are called
"Holy Days of Obligation." In other words, man has determined to "obligate"
members to worship on these "special" days too. I see this as running
counter to the words of Christ in John 4:24 where He defines what true
worship is. That we are to worship God "....in spirit and in truth." To my
understanding, that means "truth" as God presents it and not as man does.

Well, someone may play the "devil's advocate" here and ask "What's wrong
with making the "first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal
Equinox" (how man arrives at which Sunday is "special") a very "special"
holy day for everyone to observe? Did you pick up on the fact that this
"special" Sunday is a different Sunday every year? Last year Easter Sunday
was "Holy" three weeks later than this year.

My answers to the "devil's" question are thus: first off, from a temporal
view, I turn to the commercial aspects of Easter. Earlier I mentioned the
gifts, the clothes, the inconveniences, but let's add some other
materialistic things that man has tacked on to this "special" day. We now
have "passion plays" and "sunrise services" for which we are required to
purchase tickets in order to attend.

I've actually seen denominational churches in our area, expecting so many
attendees on Easter Sunday that aren't usually there, splitting their
services and requiring tickets to attend them. It just seems to me that, as
sure as night follows day, when man "obligates" something religious, there
is money to be made surrounding the observance of that "obligation." That's
just my observation.

However, my foremost opposition to there being "special" Sundays such as
Easter, is that it is not scriptural. It is neither commanded nor inferred
in the Scriptures to be set aside as any different from all other Sundays.
And, in effect, by man creating this "special" Sunday, he has lessened the
significance of the other Sundays of the year. Therefore, people see them as
not being as important and then they have no compunction to observe them.
They can just save their religious activities to this one "special" Sunday.

And then we see these man-made observances becoming "traditional," don't we?
In thinking about this, I'm reminded of something Jesus told the Pharisees
in Mark 7:6-13 where He was condemning them for their "vain worship"
practices. That they were "teaching for doctrine the commandments of men."
That they were holding "the tradition of men" as obligations for everyone.

But here's the crux of the matter. Notice how He wraps up His condemnation
of their practices with these words in verse 13: "Making the word of God of
none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such
things do ye."

I don't know about you, but I certainly do not want to be seen by God as
being Pharisaical. I want to follow what the Gospel DOES command and
celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Christ EVERY first day of
the week. Every Sunday and not just on one "special" Sunday of the year.

I think that these "traditions" of men also has another effect upon
"religion." Perhaps their intent is to cause people to be MORE "religious,"
at least for a short time on this "special" holy occasion, but I see it as
having just the opposite effect. I see this "tradition" as making people
LESS "religious" the rest of the time. In so doing, I see this as
identifying with the Pharisees and "making the word of God of none effect."

Well, as our lesson has been about the observance of man-made holidays and
their religious significance and, having last Sunday fresh in my mind, let
me close today's efforts with one more comment offered in a more
light-hearted vein. I got a chuckle out of this little story when I read it
and perhaps you will also.

"An atheist was heard complaining to a Christian that they had special
holidays such as Christmas and Easter. That Jews have their special days
too, like Passover and Yom Kippur. That most all religions seem to have
their holidays, but we atheists don't have any recognized national holidays.
It's not fair. It's discrimination."

The Christian replied, "Well....why don't you celebrate April 1st."

"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God" Psa.
53:1

Ron Covey