“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”  (Luke 24:5b-7)

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The Biblical timeline of Easter is closely linked to the Jewish festival of Passover. All four Gospel writers mention the imminence of the festival in their accounts of the crucifixion.

The timing of Passover (Pesach) is set by God and given to Moses at the time before the final plague and resulting Exodus from Egypt. “You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your companies out of the land of Egypt: you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a perpetual ordinance. In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day, you shall eat unleavened bread.” (Exodus 12:17-18) This festival is to occur on the 15^th day of the month of Nissan.

For the 1^st few hundred years of the Christian church, congregations simply used the calendar of neighboring Jewish congregations to determine the timing of Easter. As Christianity spread, there were more and more Christian communities that had no Jewish neighbors, creating an interesting guessing game regarding festival time.  Added to that challenge was the variety in calendars in use at the time. Each culture had developed its own system of keeping dates.

The gathered bishops at the 1^st Council of Nicea in 325 AD tried to standardize the festival date using a lunisolar calendar. Of course, that decree took a few more centuries to catch on and There also was not unanimity in that decision. Following the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western churches, the dispute over the calendar is reflected in the differing dates used by the Roman and Orthodox churches and respective offshoots to this day.

Our current moveable date was not finalized until 664. The Western celebration of Easter is held the first Sunday after the full moon following the Vernal (Spring) equinox. Numerous movements over the years have attempted to move the festival to a fixed date to no avail. Rumor has it that another attempt across denominational lines is underway.

Despite the controversy of the proper date of Easter, its preeminent status across the Christian Church is undisputed. The crucifixion and resurrection of Christ is at the heart of Christian theology.

God gave His Son to die for our sake and raised Him from the dead. God showed the world that He alone controls life and death. He alone reigns over all things in heaven and on earth. Absolutely nothing can or will stop God’s Will from being done. And… His Will is to give life to His people.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Christ’s resurrection is a vibrant reminder of that promise. Death was not final for Jesus. Sin and evil did not extinguish His light. Death is not final for Christians. Death is not final for you. Sin and evil do attack and they will try to destroy you, but they cannot succeed. Christ has conquered over anything and everything that tries to separate you from His love. His Spirit does dwell in you. His power protects you. His life is given for and to you. You too rise with Christ.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed and so are we! Alleluia! The grace and peace of God which surpass all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the crucified and risen Christ Jesus through all the seasons of the year and your life. Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Carla

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. (Romans 8:11)