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Ask The Pastor
January 4, 2002
Frank,
You can thank the early western (Roman dominated) Church for
Easter. It was largely an attempt to remove any Jewish vestiges
from Christianity. But through the years, Easter has become so
entrenched in the (western) Church that most folk care little for
its origin.
> Are only Saturdays in the Jewish belief, Sabbaths?
The Jewish weekly Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and
concludes at sundown Saturday.
The weekly Sabbath was only one of many Sabbaths in ancient
Judaism. The day of atonement was a Sabbath. The first and the
eight day of the feast of tabernacles were Sabbaths. Then you had
the Sabbatical year. There are others, but this will give you an
idea of the variety of Sabbaths in ancient Judaism.
The word Sabbath does not mean seven. It simply means rest,
or cessation from activity.
> Are there other days that are taught to be
observered as Sabbaths.
Sabbath observation is not relegated in the new covenant. If a
person chooses to do so, it would simply be a matter of choice,
but it should never be looked at as a requirement, or as a mark
of spirituality. The Old Testament Sabbath regulations pointed to
God's Messiah. When Messiah came, the forms and shadows
were put aside. They no longer serve a covenant purpose.
> Please give Bible Scriptures.
Paul gives the conclusive Scripture for Christians; "Therefore no
one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect
to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day -- thins which are a
mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ."
(Colossians 2:16,17)
Paul's point is that all these varied observances lacked the reality
that would be found in Christ. Jesus is our Sabbath rest. We no longer
need the shadow when we have the reality.
> My objective is Easter. If Christ entered the
grave on Friday He
> was not in the grave Three days and three nights.
Here it get complicated. The early Christians simply celebrated
the resurrection of Christ at the same time as the Jewish Passover.
Again, it was the Roman Church that took this to task. Even the
word Easter is pagan in origin.
But I suggest caution be taken in this regard. It is possible to get so
sour on the misapplication of religious festivals, etc., that we begin to
lose our love and harmony in Christ. Paul said that "Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies." (Cf. 1Co8:1)
Hope this helps.
Bro. Buddy
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