Does the Day Matter?

I grew up in a church that taught Easter was pagan, therefore we didn't celebrate it. Don't get me wrong - we believed in Jesus' resurrection - just not that it occurred on Easter Sunday. I used to hear about the pagan origins of Easter - Bede ("The Venerable"), a late-seventh-century historian and scholar said the name came from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, associated with spring and fertility, and celebrated around the vernal equinox, but there is no evidence outside of Bede for the existence of this Anglo-Saxon goddess.

You know what? - I am 44 years old and I still don't know if Jesus actually rose on the day we now call Easter. I have other questions too:

- If Jesus predicted that He would rise three days later, how does Good Friday to Sunday equal three days?

- What in the world do Easter eggs and bunnies have to do with the Son of God defeating and conquering sin and death once and for all? (Parents, please do a better job of educating your kids about this)

- What's the deal with the Hebrew calendar being changed to make it more convenient to celebrate? (The Hebrew calendar and the Gregorian calendar do not coincide the same days of observance. The name for the Christian celebration is derived from the Greek word Pascha, which comes from pesach, the Hebrew word for Passover).

- Does the exact day really matter?

Here's where I am on this: The resurrection of Christ is the central theme of Christianity. The commemoration of Christ's death and resurrection is not derived from paganism. Even if the name "Easter" is, who says that my heart is observing a pagan holiday? I am observing and worshiping the risen Christ lest someone has the "gift" to judge my heart and intentions.

Romans 14:5 tells us, “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” Rather than remembering Christ's death on a certain day, once a year, the Bible instructs us to remember Christ’s death by observing the Lord’s Supper. First Corinthians 11:24-26 declares, “...do this in remembrance of me...for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”

Should we allow our children to color eggs and go on Easter eggs hunts? This is a question both parents and church leaders struggle with. There is nothing essentially evil about painting and hiding eggs and having children search for them. What is important is our focus, which ultimately must be on Christ!

Of course, the Christian commemoration of "Easter" rests not on the title of the celebration but on its content—namely, the remembrance of Christ's death and resurrection. It is Christ's conquest of sin, death, and Satan that gives us the right to celebrate, not just one day a year - but EVERY DAY!