Resurrection Sunday?

The other day I received a postcard from the Nazarene Church in town inviting me to their “Palm Sunday Celebration, Good Friday Service and Resurrection Sunday” services April 14-16. It goes on and says “We invite you and your family (and friends) to join us as we celebrate Jesus, our Risen Lord, this Easter season.” I imagine it will be an elaborate affair with a chorus, singing groups, egg hunt and pageantry. For many people who claim to be Christians. the observance of Christmas and Easter are the heights of their religious observance. But I'm reminded of what the Holy Spirit and the apostle Paul command the Christian in Colossians 3:17.

There is no “name of the Lord” or Scriptural authority in these festivities. You may read the Holy Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you find no mentioned of a special day out of year in which to remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ. History records that the observance did not begin to appear until the middle of the Second Century A.D. (during a time of growing apostasy) or over one hundred years after the church of Christ was established in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 2) in 30 A.D. Which means that none of the apostles, or any other Christians mentioned in the New Testament, had ever heard of or practiced “Resurrection Sunday” and its accoutrements. Yet Paul, by the Holy Spirit, wrote the Thessalonian brethren, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle” (2 Thessalonians 2:15). We can only conclude that “Easter” was not one of those inspired traditions.

When may we remember our Lord’s resurrection? We start by being baptized for the remission of our sins (Acts 2:38; (Colossians 2:12). The act of baptism or immersion in water, is not a symbolic gesture we do after we are saved from our sins. And it is not based on the faith of someone else, like a parent or “godparent.” It is a spiritual act in which we obey Him, come in contact with the sin cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and are resurrected from spiritual death – no longer a sinner but a Christian (cf. Acts 22:16; Romans 6:1-6).

Dear reader, are you ready for the resurrection and judgment? Forget about “Easter Sunday” and all the unauthorized attempts to “celebrate” a man-made holy day (Matthew 15:9). Obey Christ’s plan of salvation, and rejoice in His resurrection every day of the year! —Roelf L. Ruffner

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets