EASTER OR PASSOVER?: Is it time to worship or time to party and eat eggs?

By Katlego Rammusa:

There is a lot of debate around the Passover and questions around whether it is Passover or Easter. Some people believe it is Easter and Christians believe it’s Passover. Perhaps it’s high time to answer and explain how the Passover come about?

It was during that time in Egypt when the angel of death was to pass every household and when the angel saw the blood of the Lamb on the doorpost, he passed over that house (Exodus 12:23).

Passover comes a long way. In the Old Testament, it was about commemorating the safety that the blood of the Lamb brought (offering the Lamb as a sacrificial offering). The New Testament is about commemorating the Blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross 2000 years ago. It is about commemorating the death, the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The minute someone says Easter, they start to talk about Easter eggs, so it belittles the whole purpose of the Passover to eggs and chickens. However, the word Easter means the same thing as Passover – it’s just that the secular world wants to put eggs into the idea just to belittle the whole purpose, hence Christians prefer the term Passover. There is an account of Easter in the Book of Acts 12:4.

As Passover is approaching in a few days, a lot of Christians will be going to different gatherings in large and small numbers. Someone said it’s a mini Christmas, a lot of people go all out, and some travel to faraway countries to worship. This is a serious Christian event. It begs the question: When people go to these gatherings, do they understand the meaning and the significance of Passover?

It is a celebration around the fact that Jesus Christ died and on the third day He rose again and he is now sitting at the right hand of the Father in heavenly places. You can go to Jerusalem to Jesus’s tomb, but he is not there; he has risen. Some people go to Jerusalem and pray at the tomb. Well, he is not there anymore; he is omnipresent, meaning he is everywhere at the same time.

When Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman at the well (John 4-42), He prophesied that there would come a time when true worshippers would worship the Father in spirit and in truth. He further said Jerusalem will not be the only place of worship; people will worship everywhere. Someone once said why would Africans worship a Jewish man? They forget that the term Jew infers the one who prevails with God.

They also forget that there is an account of some Africans going to Jerusalem to worship, the Eunuch under the Queen Candace of Ethiopia, who was met by Philip the Evangelist on his way from worship in Jerusalem (Acts 8:26).

So the argument which says Africans in general from the Stone Age have been traditionalists and have been worshipping ancestors is a little thin because there is an account of Africans going to Jerusalem to worship. Even the myth which says the Bible is a ‘white man’s book’, how is it a White man’s book, whereas Moses, who was born and bred in Africa in Egypt, wrote the first Bible called the Pentateuch or the five books of Moses.

Prior to Moses, there’s an account of Ham, the son of Noah, whose name actually means Egypt, who worshipped God in Africa; there’s an account of the Tabernacle of Ham (Psalm 78:51).

Easter celebrations have come a long way. As we are headed for Easter celebrations, let us remember the initial purpose. Some people just want to party and drink alcohol the whole Easter weekend, not understanding the main purpose, which is to celebrate Jesus Christ as our Passover Lamb, a Lamb that was slain before the foundations of the world.

In South Africa of the past, Ascension Day was a holiday, when Jesus ascended to Heaven after 40 days of his resurrection to be with his Father.  You would want to ask yourself, as we call it, if our country is a Christian country, why was that holiday removed? However, let us go there and celebrate our Lord.  –@NewsSA_Online

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