Why do people celebrate Jesus' resurrection when the Bible says to remember & celebrate his death?

Question

Would someone please give me there serious answer to this question. I follow the bible & the bible clearly states to remember his death, to celebrate his death not his resurrection. He DIED for us, why not remember his death not his resurrection, even though that was important, but thats not what he said to do. And whats w/the bunny & eggs? And why do majority of religions celebrate it always & only on Sunday. If i died on a Sun. one year, the following year that day would be on a Mon...This is soo fake to me, & people are actually following this. Makes no sense to me. Do people really read & follow the bible the way they should & not just follow what they are told by man, & tradition??

What I meant was that the bible says to remember & celebrate his death. I didnt say that the bible doesnt say anything about his resurrection, its not what i was trying to put out there. I know his resurrection was important, but his death is what I choose to celebrate & remember yearly.

Answer 1

You are obviously a thinking person.
Although the resurrection is highly important, Jesus instructed to commemerate his death.
What you see happening all around you is testimony to the hypocrisy of christendom.
It is christendom that has let in all these pagan customs, even encouraged them.
Please, never confuse christendom with Christianity.

Answer 2

Due to corrupted religious teachings mixed with pagan teachings, and because many people are such good "sheeple", these traditions that you speak of keep on going on and on, year after year. If people would take the time to actually "read" their Bibles, they may actually discover that many traditions that are practiced are not necessary.
Easter comes from the name "Eastre" who is a female goddess of fertility. This belief was practiced by the pagans of Northern Europe and other areas. For the Catholic church to convert them, the church would have to use military force. Instead, an easier tool would be used. They "Christianized" the beliefs of the pagans and this brought them into the fold. So came their beliefs, with the Easter bunny, Christmas trees, Halloween (All Saints Day), etc. In time, these beliefs changed to become what we practice today.
You are right in regards to Jesus. During the last supper, Jesus spoke of the passing of the bread and wine and to "do this in memory of me." That was the tradition that was supposed to be practiced. Nothing more.
Also Jesus is a Greek name. His real name from old Hebrew is "Yeshua." He had no "Christ" as a last name, being that people like to call himJesus Christ. It should be Yeshua the Christian. I guess it's too much trouble to change all those textbooks of today.

Answer 3

You are entitled to your own belief. But you must also understand that most people would believe that it is more important to celebrate a 'positive' thing - the triumph over death, because that it what most people are afraid of - death, not sin. His death triumphs over sin and that is actually the most important event and it culminates the very existence of Christianism. However, the Church celebrates his resurrection 'more' because it marks the beginning of the 'Church Year' ) forgot what it was called. But it is right for you to give more importance and meaning to his death, rather than his resurrection, although they are most likey of equal value.

Just so you know the term Easter comes from Eostre, a northern european ancient goddess whose festivities happen at this time of the year - attuned with the phases of the moon. That is why the dates differ. Christianism came during those times and tried not to wipe out the worship, instead, infused its own beliefs so that the 'pagans' would not reject it outright. The rabbit was her animal, as symbol of her powers of fertility, same as the egg - which was the symbol for birth and renewal. I for one believe that this is one of the more powerful goddesses, since she survived everything, even Christianism, and her name resounds in almost every culture - Astarte, Eostre, Ishtar, even Aphrodite. Just a trivia :)

Happy Easter! :D

Answer 4

Simple - Tradition over spirituality.

People rather follow tradition and be accepted by others in the world. They are afraid of being seen as different. But they fail to realize that Jesus said that his people would be hated by the world just as he was. So following the world is not showing yourself to be a true servant of Christ after all.

But I agree. Celebrating his death the right way, instead of using bunnies and eggs who actually symbolize a false goddess, would be a good start.

Answer 5

Well....there are many customs and traditions laid down in today s Christian society which is a must to be followed....even if we do tend to argue , debate or reason out about it we become an exclusion...and people think that we lack faith and trust in Jesus.. but that is not it..everyone is different and everyone has a different point of view...But what really matters is believing Jesus and Keeping the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit in mind ,heart and soul..and being a good human being...in life..helping others..and being a good person in the eyes of God...!!

Answer 6

First of all, I assume you are referring to Easter. The only mention of Easter in the Bible is in reference to passover. The word was never used to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus. However, we partake of the Lord's supper every Sunday in the which we are commanded to remember His death by partaking of the bread which represents His body and the cup which represents His blood. In this way we do show forth His death until He comes again. We cannot have any hope whatsoever if we do not remember His resurrection because His resurrection gives us that hope that we also will rise again if we are His children. We remember the Lord's death burial and resurrection every Lord's day.

Answer 7

I think Easter should be celebrated on a Sunday, say maybe the last Sunday of the month or something. What bothers me is how the date is determined. It is the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the first day of spring. I believe the reason for the bunnies and eggs is that it is a re-birth type of thing. Easter is in the beginning of spring, when things come back to life, like Jesus did.

Answer 8

As I recall, Jesus specifically asked us to remember him in the breaking of bread, not his torture. The gospel accounts are very terse, saying only, "He carried his cross," "They crucified him," "He gave up his spirit." The gruesome details are filled in by the dramatic desires of Christians. The letters of Paul emphasize only two facts about the life of Jesus: he died AND was raised. Where is the distinction made between these events and their memory?

The death of Jesus is well remembered by Christians of every kind. But everyone dies. By itself it makes Jesus just another foolish prophet. The Resurrection is an extraordinary event that confirm's Christ's divinity and informs every Christian's belief in their own resurrection. That is Christ's "good news" which he did direct his apostles to spread. It is the means by which he guarantees that "I will be with you always". It would not make sense to not celebrate it as well.

The celebration of the Resurrection on a Sunday was a result of the desire to clearly separate that celebration from the Jewish Passover, as well as an acknowledgement of the longstanding tradition of the Sunday fellowship meal, which effectively celebrated the Resurrection every week. The construction of the Christian liturgical calendar was intended to provide time for adequate reflection and observance of all the important events of the Christian tradition. That tradition recalls that Christ died on a Friday, the eve of the Jewish sabbath, so his death is commemorated on a Friday. Christ rose on the first day of a new week, so that's when it is celebrated.

Your concern about a calendar date is complicated by the question, which calendar? Easter observance is predicated on the luni-solar Jewish calendar, which always begins Passover on 14 Nissan. But that date jumps around a six week period in the Julian/Gregorian calendar. To which calendar should the observance be faithful? The Orthox Church follows a different calendar than Western Christianity, often celebrating the Passion and the Pasch on different days than the West. Which one is getting it wrong?

Christ's death and resurrection are bound together in one sequence of events. It transcends the notion of human day-numbering and an anchor point in a calendar. It is "kairos" time, the right time, and it applies to ALL ages. By concerning ourselves with a calendar date, we would be consigning it to the dusty files of history, rather than accepting it as something meaningful to me, here and now. Card, candy, basket and hat makers would love to have a standardized date for smoother market planning, but that would drain the vitality of the commemoration, making it just another holiday.

The bunny and eggs are obviously adopted pagan symbols for the renewal of Spring. (They didn't celebrate just on Sundays.) Christians have reinterpreted the egg as a symbol of resurrection, a live bird breaking out of an apparently lifeless egg, but it has no further religious significance. It's simply easier to depict than an empty cave.

There are spiritual tensions between the secular acknowledgement of a revival of nature and the significance of God's renewed covenant with humanity. We are free to choose how much of either event we wish to acknowledge. It's sad to hear how "fake" everything feels to you. But without the Resurrection, the "sacrifice" of Christ's death becomes "fake" as well, just the execution of a fool. God doesn't care about a date, only the event itself. We can choose to celebrate it anytime.

Answer 9

Did I read your post right, that you read the Holy Bible?

Jesus taught us many things. Where are you reading..."the bible clearly states to remember his death, to celebrate his death not his resurrection."

We (Christians) do remember Jesus' death. It was the most horrible death a person could go through. He also came to live for us as well as die for us.

We celebrate the resurrection because Jesus beat the grave!

As for bunnies and eggs, that pagan from Nimrod (See Genesis 10) and his wife. Long story but I'll put the website below so you can read it for yourself.

http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t020.html

As a Christian, I celebrate Holy week, Palm Sunday, Passover, Good Friday and the Resurrection.

Peace be with you.

Answer 10

The commandment of Christ is to "do this in memory of Him", i.e. commemorate His sacrificial death which was, in fact a victory, as it conquered death and made atonement for sin. That was why He cried out: "It is finished" before dying. But the death itself is only part of the picture. 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 - "Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is empty, and your faith also is empty. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we witnessed against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep."
The answer is, therefore, that we have to remember both His death and His resurrection. The two go hand in hand and each must be seen in the context of the other.

As far as the day of the week is concerned, one thing we do know is that the resurrection happened on Sunday. The Holy Spirit also came on a Sunday at Pentecost. Whether we should have our weekly day of rest on a Sunday rather than on the Sabbath is a matter of debate, as is whether we should be following the western calendar rather than keeping pace with the Jewish calendar. And as you rightly point out, tradition has much to do with it. My own reading of the Bible leads me to believe that the crucifixion occurred on a Wednesday, but for so long has the church agreed to observe Good Friday that I don't think I'm going to get anywhere with labouring this point. The main thing is that one day is set aside for this purpose. We are not commemorating the exact anniversary of events nearly two thousand years ago, but days which have been agreed to be observed to mark those events. These dates are useful for focusing our attention on the crucifixion and the resurrection, but really and truly Christians should be remembering those things every day of their lives.

As far as following the Bible is concerned, the Jews were told to observe certain feasts and fasts at specified times. Christians are not required to follow this pattern, any more than they are required to follow a kosher diet or abstain from wearing mixtures of materials in their clothes.

The bunny and eggs are not Christian symbols, but pagan ones. The rabbit is the pagan symbol of fertility. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. However hard one tries to convey a Christian meaning to them (and rabbits and eggs are part of God's creation), they remain pagan symbols, a vestige of the old Spring solstice celebrations.