Easter

1
Easter

• A Celebration of the
• Resurrection of
• Jesus Christ

2
Easter in North America

• Easter, increasingly called Resurrection Day by
  Christians, is their most important holy day.
• North American Easter practices and customs
  include both Christian and
• non-Christian elements.
• The events of Easter are
• historical, that is,
• they happened in a
• particular time and place,
• so they are not just symbolic.
• In this presentation, first look at the
  historical events surrounding the Resurrection.
• Then look at non-Christian elements that were
  added later to the celebration.

3
What is Easter?

• An annual celebration of the Resurrection of
  Jesus Christ (His rising from the dead)
• A moveable feast (festival, not held on the same
  date each year) that can come as early as March
  22 or as late as April 25
• The First Nicene Council
• in 325 AD decided to use a
• lunar basis to set the date
• the first Sunday after the first full moon
• on or after March 21
• (the Vernal Equinox beginning of Spring)

4
Jesus of Nazareth

• lived for about 33 years (4BC 30AD) in Israel
• The Bible indicates that He was called
• the Christ (in Greek), meaning
• the Chosen One or
• the Anointed One.
• This title identified him
• as the long-awaited
• Messiah (in Hebrew).

5
Old Testament Prophecies

• Hundreds of predictions revealed aspects of the
  life of this special Servant of God. He would
  be
• Gods unique representative on earth.
• the leader of Gods people.
• the Lamb of God who would
• personally take the consequence
• of mankinds evil and
• disobedience on Himself.
• Gods punishment for evil and
• disobedience was death. Jesus willingly
• chose to die as a substitute sacrifice for
  others.
• God required a perfect sacrifice. Because Jesus
  was God in human form, He kept Gods Law
  perfectly, and thus was the only one able to meet
  Gods requirement.

6
Holy WeekThe week before Easter

• Palm Sunday a week before Easter
• Jesus entered Jerusalem for the Jewish feast of
  Passover
• the crowd welcomed Him by placing their coats and
  palm branches on the road and
• shouting loud praises of
• Hosanna! Blessed is He
• who comes in the
• Name of the Lord!
• Monday Thursday
• Jesus preached and taught
• in and around the Temple in Jerusalem
• Wednesday
• The plot against Jesus was formed

7
Holy WeekThe week before Easter

• Maundy (or Holy) Thursday
• the night Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with
  His 12 closest followers and mandated the
  Communion (eating bread and
• drinking wine to remember His
• broken body and shed blood)
• the night He was betrayed
• by Judas Iscariot, one of the 12

8
The Crucifixion

• According to tradition Jesus died on a Friday.
• He was executed by crucifixion, the common form
  of death for criminals in the Roman Empire.
• Roman soldiers severely beat and whipped,
• then mocked Him.
• Then they nailed His hands and feet to a
• wooden cross. Two other criminals were
• crucified at the same time.
• Death usually came after a prolonged and
• agonizing time on the cross, even up to
• two or three days.
• Jesus died after only six hours, not needing for
  His legs to be broken to hasten His death.
• The Bible says that Jesus death is sufficient
  payment as punishment for all mankinds evil.

9
Good Friday

• the day Jesus died on a cross
• Initially Christians celebrated the Crucifixion
  and Resurrection as one event,
• but in the fourth century they
• began to focus on the
• Crucifixion separately and it
• gradually became known as
• Good Friday.
• It is good because
• God kept His promise to remove
• the punishment of all people for evil and
  disobedience, through Christ and His death.

10
Burial

• Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, friends of
  Jesus, wrapped His body in a linen cloth and
  buried it that same afternoon
• in an above-ground grave
• (a cave) called a tomb.

11
Luke 241-8

• On the first day of the week, very early in the
  morning, the women took the spices they had
  prepared and went to the tomb. They found the
  stone rolled away
• from the tomb, but when they
• entered, they did not find the
• body of the Lord Jesus.
• While they were wondering
• about this, suddenly two men
• in clothes that gleamed like lightning
• stood beside them.

12
Luke 241-8 (continued)

• In their fright the women bowed down with their
  faces to the ground, but the men said to them,
  Why do you look for the living among the dead?
  He is not here He has risen!
• Remember how He told you,
• while He was still with you
• in Galilee The Son of Man
• must be delivered into the hands
• of sinful men, be crucified and
• on the third day be raised again.
• Then they remembered His words.

13
The Resurrection

• The Bible indicates that after three days Jesus
  rose physically and literally from the dead.
• Over the next several weeks
• He showed Himself to His
• followers. His body had the
• same physical features,
• including scars from the
• wounds He received at His
• death. He also had physical
• capacities, demonstrated when
• He ate while with them.
• But because of the Resurrection, He also had a
  spiritual body one that would never die.

14
Good News of Forgiveness

• Jesus said that because of His death and
  Resurrection, people all over the world
• could now
• be forgiven of their sins
• establish a relationship
• with God through Him
• know that they would see God
• and be with Him when they die
• (eternal life!)

15
Forgiveness

• This message of forgiveness is for anyone who
  would believe or put their confidence in Jesus
  Christ. It was good news
• then, and remains good news
• for people today.
• Forgiveness and relationship
• with God give Christians their
• motivation to spread the message
• of Jesus Christ.

16
More Good News

• Forty days after His Resurrection, Jesus ascended
  from the earth and returned to Heaven.
• Details of these accounts
• can be found in the Bible in
• Matthew (chapters 26-28)
• Mark (14-16)
• Luke (22-24)
• John (18-21)
• Acts (11-11)

17
Origin of the word Easter

• The word Easter is not in the Bible.
• Easter comes from Eostre, the name of a
  Teutonic (ancient Germanic) fertility goddess,
  and the festival, called Eostur, that
  celebrated her and the new life of Spring.
• When Christians came to Europe,
• they replaced this ancient festival
• with their Christian celebration
• of the Resurrection of Jesus and
• kept the name of the old festival.
• In some countries, Christians use the same name
  for Easter as the Jewish holiday, Passover.

18
Easter Symbols

• Easter became both a Christian holiday and a more
  general celebration of Spring.
• Many North American Easter symbols
• come from Europe and from
• the pre-Christian festival.

19
Symbols

• The Easter Bunny
• Ancient Egypt - rabbit represented new life from
  birth, and was a symbol of the moon
• Lunar calendar, rabbit ? Easter symbol
• Germany a woman hid
• Easter eggs for her children
• during a famine. When the
• children found the eggs,
• a big rabbit hopped away,
• so they thought the rabbit
• brought the eggs.
• Lily, a large white flower,
• symbol of the Resurrection
• Flowers of all kinds are used to celebrate Easter
  and Spring

20
Easter Eggs

• From very ancient times eggs have represented the
  new life that returns during the Spring.
• Ancient Persians and Egyptians dyed
• their eggs in spring colors and
• gave them to friends as gifts.
• Christians in Mesopotamia first
• adopted this custom of coloring
• eggs as part of the Christian
• celebration. They changed their
• meaning and used them to celebrate
• new spiritual life at Easter.
• Egg decoration colors and styles differ slightly
  from country to country.

21
Easter Eggs in the US

• Use dye, wax symbols or stickers to color and
  decorate hard-boiled eggs
• Buy or make chocolate
• or other candy eggs
• Fill hollow plastic eggs with
• jelly beans or other sweet treats

22
Easter Customs for Children

• Easter Baskets
• given to children on Easter Sunday morning filled
  with decorated eggs, chocolate rabbits, jelly
  beans or other candy
• Some parents say that
• the Easter Bunny delivered
• them and some parents say
• they are giving them

23
Easter Customs for Children

• Easter Egg Hunt
• Parents hide eggs in the yard or inside in the
  rooms of the house.
• Children are given baskets
• and told to find as many
• eggs as possible. The one
• who finds the most eggs wins.
• These egg hunts are sometimes
• done in large community groups
• or at schools or churches. 

24
Special Food

• Hot cross buns
• bread with the mark of a cross on the top.  These
  also predate Christianity, but Christians in the
  Middle Ages used them to celebrate the
  Resurrection.  They were given to the poor, but
  now everyone enjoys them.
• Pretzels
• A snack now eaten anytime, but
• from the fifth to nineteenth centuries
• they were eaten only during the 40-day
• fasting time (called Lent) before Easter.
• Common legends indicate the folded
• pretzel's shape looks like the arm positions
  taken by monks in prayer and the three holes
  represent the Trinity (God the Father, Son, and
  Holy Spirit).

25
Easter Clothes

• In the early centuries of the church, people
  often became official members of the church
  through the ritual of baptism on Easter.
• People would wear new white
• clothes for their baptism and
• a few days following.  Later,
• everyone began to wear
• new clothes on Easter,
• but white was just for those
• being baptized.  After the church service,
• everyone would go for a walk in their new
  clothes,
• a kind of parade.

26
Easter Clothes

• Today, people often wear new clothes for Easter,
  especially children who have outgrown last
  Spring's clothes.
• In some places it is important
• for a girl or woman to have
• a new Easter bonnet (hat).
• Some people join in a parade
• with no religious significance.

27
Movies on the Life of Jesus

• Well-known movies are shown on TV or can be
  rented from video stores during the Easter
  season
• Jesus
• Jesus of Nazareth
• The Robe
• Ben-Hur
• The Greatest Story Ever Told
• The Passion of the Christ

28
Easter Worship in Church

• Because Easter is a special day, most churches
  have a special church worship service.
• usually have a lot of special music
• may have guest musicians
• churches are often
• decorated with lilies
• Churches may have an
• additional service at sunrise
• calling it a Son-Rise service.
• The Bible names Jesus
• the Son of God (Luke 135) who would rise from
  the dead (Acts 173), and early in the morning is
  the time when people first saw the empty tomb of
  Jesus Christ.

29
Easter Worship in Church

• Some churches have pageants during the week.
  These are dramas in which people act out the
  story of Holy Week and Easter.
• Some people go to church
• on Easter (and Christmas)
• who don't usually go to church,
• so churches are full and
• guests are usual.

30
Summary

• Next is a brief summary from the book of the
  Bible called the Acts of the Apostles.
• In chapter 10, Peter,
• the first major teacher
• of the church, talked
• to a group of people
• who were not Jewish and
• who wanted to know more
• about the event that Christians
• now celebrate as Easter.

31
Acts 10

• Then Peter said, Now I understand that God
  doesn't play favorites.  Rather, whoever respects
  God and does what is right is acceptable to Him
• in any nation.  God sent
• His word to the people of
• Israel and brought them
• the Good News of peace
• through Jesus Christ.
• This Jesus Christ
• is everyone's Lord.

32
Acts 10, continued

• You know what happened throughout Judea.
  Everything began in Galilee after John spread the
  news about baptism.  You know that God
• anointed Jesus from Nazareth
• with the Holy Spirit and with
• power. Jesus went everywhere
• and did good things, such as
• healing everyone who was
• under the devil's power.
• Jesus did these things because God was with
  Him.  We can testify to everything Jesus did in
  the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem.

33
Acts 10, continued

• People hung Him on a cross and killed Him, but
  God brought Him back to life on the third day.
  God didn't show Him to all the people. He showed
  Jesus to witnesses, apostles He had chosen.
• We apostles are those men
• who ate and drank with Jesus
• after He came back to life. He
• ordered us to warn the people,
• God has appointed Jesus to judge the living and
  the dead.  In addition, all the prophets testify
  that people who believe in the one named Jesus
  receive forgiveness for their sins through Him.

34
Hope

• The Bible says
• He has risen!
• The Resurrection of Jesus
• is the center of the
• Christian message.
• That if Jesus is still dead
• and buried, His followers
• have no hope,
• nothing to believe.

35
More Hope

• Since no one has ever found Jesus body, the
  Resurrection is proof for His followers that the
  God of the Bible is true and real.
• Easter is the yearly celebration
• of all that Jesus followers
• hope for and believe.