In 1st Corinthians 5:7, Paul clearly states that Christ has become our Passover, "Purge out therefore the old leaven (leaven is symbolic of sin) that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened, For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: " The first Passover is written in Exodus chapter 12. It was to be a commemoration for the twelve tribes of Israel coming out of the bondage of Egypt. They were to take a lamb without blemish (perfect) and place the blood of the lamb on the upper and side posts of the door…. The death angel (last plague) would pass over their house and the firstborn would be spared. There is only one blood that will cause the death angel to pass over you and give you eternal life and that is Christ's shed blood. He became that perfect sacrificial lamb for one and all times (Hebrews. 9, 10). Remember Galations 3:28-29 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
The word Passover is written 76 times in the Bible. It's written 48 times in the Old Testament and 28 times in the New Testament. Every place where Passover is written in the Old Testament, the Hebrew is pesach. Every place in the New Testament where Passover is writing, the Greek is pascha. The word Easter is written one time in the entire Bible (Acts 12:4), but the Greek text reads pas –khah. Could the scribes have made an error? There is an important letter written to the reader in the original 1611 King James Bible. It would be wise to read that letter. It explains to the reader that few errors may occur. For example, "No cause therefore why the word translated should bee denied to be the word forbidden to be currant, notwithstanding that some imperfections and blemishes may be noted in the setting forth of it. We are to know truth by the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses. There is no 2nd witness to Easter in the scriptures; there isn't even the word in the manuscripts, its Passover. We are blessed today because of works like the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. It allows a student of the Scripture to take every word in the King James Bible back to its original Hebrew, Greek or Chaldee language for a better understanding.
You can read about the pagan origins of the word Easter in any good encyclopedia. Easter takes its name from Ishtar, the Babylonian and Assyrian goddess of love, sex and fertility. To the Phoenicians she was known as Astarte, sister and consort of Baal, a god that was worshipped in much of the Middle East and Mediterranean. Astarte spread through Europe, becoming Ostara, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, fertility, and the rising sun. The Old English word for Easter, "Eastre" refers to Ostara.
Around the second century AD, Christian missionaries seeking to convert the tribes of northern Europe realized that the time of the crucifixion of Jesus roughly coincided with these pagan fertility celebrations. While trying to convert them, the Christian churches gradually absorbed the heathen symbols. Eggs and rabbits have ancient associations with spring and fertility. It's a shame that heathen practices have crept their way into the highest holy day in Christianity. We can read of this Ishtar (Easter), queen of heaven in the book of Jeremiah chapter 7:18 and 44:16-19.
God reminds us over and over in His word about how He feels when his children pollute that which is pure. Is it a small thing when we bring heathen celebrations into the day when our Savior was crucified for our sins? One example of how God feels when His children change that which He set forth into their own is in Isaiah chapter 1:13-14. "Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I can not away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth: they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them."
Timeline
The common teaching of the crucifixion on Good Friday and then the resurrection on Sunday morning doesn't hold up to scripture. Friday evening to Sunday morning won't give you three days and three nights in the tomb as was the sign of Jonah (Jonah 1:17 – Matt. 12:40). The days started at sundown. Christ was crucified on what would be our Wednesday (The Passover) and placed in the tomb later that day.
Appendix 156 of the Companion Bible
1st day - Wednesday sundown to Thursday sundown
2nd day - Thursday sundown to Friday sundown
3rd day - Friday sundown to Saturday sundown
It was sometime that night He rose from the dead, as they found no body in the tomb Sunday morning. What happened to Jonah was given as a prophetic sign of what would take place with our Savior. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so Christ would be three days and three nights in the earth (Matthew 12:38-42).
What did Christ do during those three days?
Our Father is fair! Since the crucifixion we have remission of sin upon repentance through Jesus Christ. Those who had passed on prior to the crucifixion never had the opportunity as we do today through Christ. It is written in Luke 16.19-31 that when our flesh dies our spirit returns to God; there is a gulf (a great divide that one can't pass over) between those who are with God in death and those who missed the mark. The souls on both sides of the divide await the great white throne judgment of God at the end of the millennium (Rev. 20), some for rewards and others for punishment. During those three days it is written in 1st Peter 3:18-20 and 1st Peter 4:5-6 that Christ went and preached to those on the other side of the gulf, to those who never had a chance as we do today in Christ to believe upon Him.
The word Passover is written 76 times in the Bible. It's written 48 times in the Old Testament and 28 times in the New Testament. Every place where Passover is written in the Old Testament, the Hebrew is pesach. Every place in the New Testament where Passover is writing, the Greek is pascha. The word Easter is written one time in the entire Bible (Acts 12:4), but the Greek text reads pas –khah. Could the scribes have made an error? There is an important letter written to the reader in the original 1611 King James Bible. It would be wise to read that letter. It explains to the reader that few errors may occur. For example, "No cause therefore why the word translated should bee denied to be the word forbidden to be currant, notwithstanding that some imperfections and blemishes may be noted in the setting forth of it. We are to know truth by the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses. There is no 2nd witness to Easter in the scriptures; there isn't even the word in the manuscripts, its Passover. We are blessed today because of works like the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. It allows a student of the Scripture to take every word in the King James Bible back to its original Hebrew, Greek or Chaldee language for a better understanding.
You can read about the pagan origins of the word Easter in any good encyclopedia. Easter takes its name from Ishtar, the Babylonian and Assyrian goddess of love, sex and fertility. To the Phoenicians she was known as Astarte, sister and consort of Baal, a god that was worshipped in much of the Middle East and Mediterranean. Astarte spread through Europe, becoming Ostara, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, fertility, and the rising sun. The Old English word for Easter, "Eastre" refers to Ostara.
Around the second century AD, Christian missionaries seeking to convert the tribes of northern Europe realized that the time of the crucifixion of Jesus roughly coincided with these pagan fertility celebrations. While trying to convert them, the Christian churches gradually absorbed the heathen symbols. Eggs and rabbits have ancient associations with spring and fertility. It's a shame that heathen practices have crept their way into the highest holy day in Christianity. We can read of this Ishtar (Easter), queen of heaven in the book of Jeremiah chapter 7:18 and 44:16-19.
God reminds us over and over in His word about how He feels when his children pollute that which is pure. Is it a small thing when we bring heathen celebrations into the day when our Savior was crucified for our sins? One example of how God feels when His children change that which He set forth into their own is in Isaiah chapter 1:13-14. "Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I can not away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth: they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them."
Timeline
The common teaching of the crucifixion on Good Friday and then the resurrection on Sunday morning doesn't hold up to scripture. Friday evening to Sunday morning won't give you three days and three nights in the tomb as was the sign of Jonah (Jonah 1:17 – Matt. 12:40). The days started at sundown. Christ was crucified on what would be our Wednesday (The Passover) and placed in the tomb later that day.
Appendix 156 of the Companion Bible
1st day - Wednesday sundown to Thursday sundown
2nd day - Thursday sundown to Friday sundown
3rd day - Friday sundown to Saturday sundown
It was sometime that night He rose from the dead, as they found no body in the tomb Sunday morning. What happened to Jonah was given as a prophetic sign of what would take place with our Savior. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so Christ would be three days and three nights in the earth (Matthew 12:38-42).
What did Christ do during those three days?
Our Father is fair! Since the crucifixion we have remission of sin upon repentance through Jesus Christ. Those who had passed on prior to the crucifixion never had the opportunity as we do today through Christ. It is written in Luke 16.19-31 that when our flesh dies our spirit returns to God; there is a gulf (a great divide that one can't pass over) between those who are with God in death and those who missed the mark. The souls on both sides of the divide await the great white throne judgment of God at the end of the millennium (Rev. 20), some for rewards and others for punishment. During those three days it is written in 1st Peter 3:18-20 and 1st Peter 4:5-6 that Christ went and preached to those on the other side of the gulf, to those who never had a chance as we do today in Christ to believe upon Him.
Christ our Passover
That time long ago when God’s true love came down,
*Mankind in their rage placed on Him a thorny crown.
Mocking Him so, they draped our Jesus in a scarlet robe,
*If only they knew it was against The Living God they strove.
They spat on Him and beat Him, but willing He went,
The Just for the unjust, in God’s infinite wisdom salvation was sent.
With the spear of a soldier Christ was pierced in His side,
*Fulfilling more scripture of how our Savior would die.
*Sealed in a rich man’s tomb just as the prophet Isaiah foretold,
*He Then preached to many spirits imprisoned from days of old.
At the end of three days the tomb of Christ lay bare,
Conquering death for all who accept Him the scriptures declare.
We have forgiveness of sins when we repent in the name of Christ,
*He was, for one and all times, that perfect sacrifice.
* Matthew 27:27-31(Psalms 2:1-3)
*Col. 2:9, John 14:9,20:28, Heb. 2:14, Isa. 7:14,43:11, 9:6, Rev.1:8,2:8……
*John 19:31-37, Exodus 12:46, Num. 9:12, Ps. 34:20
*Isaiah 53:9, Matthew 27:57-60
*1st Peter 3:18-20, 1st Peter 4:6
*Hebrews 10, 1st Corinthians 5:7
That time long ago when God’s true love came down,
*Mankind in their rage placed on Him a thorny crown.
Mocking Him so, they draped our Jesus in a scarlet robe,
*If only they knew it was against The Living God they strove.
They spat on Him and beat Him, but willing He went,
The Just for the unjust, in God’s infinite wisdom salvation was sent.
With the spear of a soldier Christ was pierced in His side,
*Fulfilling more scripture of how our Savior would die.
*Sealed in a rich man’s tomb just as the prophet Isaiah foretold,
*He Then preached to many spirits imprisoned from days of old.
At the end of three days the tomb of Christ lay bare,
Conquering death for all who accept Him the scriptures declare.
We have forgiveness of sins when we repent in the name of Christ,
*He was, for one and all times, that perfect sacrifice.
* Matthew 27:27-31(Psalms 2:1-3)
*Col. 2:9, John 14:9,20:28, Heb. 2:14, Isa. 7:14,43:11, 9:6, Rev.1:8,2:8……
*John 19:31-37, Exodus 12:46, Num. 9:12, Ps. 34:20
*Isaiah 53:9, Matthew 27:57-60
*1st Peter 3:18-20, 1st Peter 4:6
*Hebrews 10, 1st Corinthians 5:7