It is commonly believed that Jesus Christ came to abolish the law of God. Many think that the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath command in particular, and the holy days have no relevance for Christians. Christ did indeed take issue with the observances, customs and laws of the first century religious establishment in Judea, but His complaints with the religious leaders of the day should not be construed as a disagreement with any of the laws of God, including the Sabbath.

Christ defied the legal system of the Jews in the first century. He and His disciples openly flouted Jewish law. We need to recognize, however, that He never broke any of the Ten Commandments. He often spoke of the need of man to live by every word of God (Mat 4:4), to keep the commandments (Mat 19:17) and to teach others to keep them (Mat 5:19).

Christ had a problem with human law that interfered with obedience to the law of God in its original intent. By the first century, the Jews had built an enormous structure of laws around the law and word of God. This additional body of law had been created over the centuries in an attempt to protect the law from breakage. The human tradition added to the law became a burden to the common man, yet those who enforced those laws seemed to have immunity from them. Christ said, "Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers." (Luk 11:46)

He accused the Pharisees of negating the law of God through their own traditions. When the Pharisees accused Christ and the disciples of ignoring tradition, He turned the tables on them"

MAT 15:3 But he (Christ) answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

These men had taught their own regulations on a par with the word and commandments of God, yet their laws often contradicted God's. They had not relied exclusively on the word of God for guidance but had leaned heavily on their own understanding to establish doctrine.

Modern Christianity has fallen into the same trap as the Jews of the first century. It has substituted tradition and custom for the word and commandments of God. Indeed, some branches of Christianity place more emphasis on their traditions and the teaching of their elders than on the Bible.

The celebration of Easter is one of these traditions that has found its way into Christianity. The Bible nowhere even mentions Easter. The word does appear in Acts 12:4, but only because of an incorrect translation of the Greek, "Pascha", meaning Passover. The Bible in both the Old and New Testaments commands the observance of Passover, not Easter.

The Jew's Passover, since the 15th century B.C., was always about the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The symbolism of the slain Passover lamb pictured Christ dying for the sins of many. Christ's death fulfilled the symbolism of the Passover lamb perfectly. John, the Baptist, referred to Christ as "The Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world. That statement was little, if at all understood until Christ gave us His life on our behalf. Christians, even gentile Christians, continued to keep the Passover after Christ's death, but with a greater understanding of it's purpose and significance than had been possible before Christ became our Passover Lamb.

Easter, on the other hand, is not commanded or even mentioned in the Bible. It is a tradition of men, one that was adopted in an attempt to eradicate "Jewish" practice from the Christian Church. In the early centuries of this era, a controversy raged in various factions of Christianity. This dispute was about the celebration of the Passover rather than Easter. Conservative church leaders insisted on continuing to celebrate Passover on the 14th day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar, as commanded in Leviticus 23. Rome insisted on celebrating Easter instead. If you do a web search on "Quartodeciman Controversy" you will discover the surprising facts about the origin of Easter.

Easter was a pagan holiday predating Christianity by thousands of years, It was celebrated in honor of Astarte, Oester, or Easter, the Mesopotamian Goddess of fertility. Easter, Christmas, and the other holidays of modern Christianity are not Biblical. They are only the traditions of men. If Christ was walking the earth today, He would be attacking our religious observances as energetically as He did those of the first century. They confuse and frustrate man's attempt to worship the true God as surely as the regulations of the lawyers and Pharisees of Christ's time. Christmas and Easter obscure the plan of God for man's salvation. Christ would say of us today, "In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men."

There are observances commanded by the Bible that reveal, rather than hide God's intent for man. Click HERE to learn about the Holy Days that reveal what God is doing on the earth.

Learn about "GOOD FRIDAY"

Go To Fridaysunset Home