Easter Sunday

The Festival of the Resurrection

On Easter Sunday, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus rising from the dead is the most important historical event ever recorded (1 Corinthians 15:16-20).

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, Christianity is no better than any other religion. But because Jesus did rise from the dead--the only religious leader ever to have done so, appearing to more than 500 people to prove it--he is the only way to get right with God, and Christianity is the only true religion.

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, we would have to wonder whether he could keep his promise to forgive our sins. But because Jesus did rise from the dead, we can be absolutely certain that our sins are forgiven. He said so, and he has the power to keep any promise.

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, we would have to wonder about the existence of life after death. But because Jesus did rise from the dead, we have a first-hand account of life after death, a life that Jesus promises we will share (John 11:25,26; 14:1-6).

It’s not a metaphor or a parable or a fable. Jesus rose from the dead. We can believe the Bible, we can trust that our sins are forgiven, and we too shall rise. Glory be to God!.

Trinity's Easter Services

• Sunday, April 4, 8:30 and 11:15 am

Easter History

Easter was the first festival consistently observed by Christians.  The whole period from Easter to "Pentecost" was fifty days of rejoicing.  One scholar notes, "This continued observance of Easter, together with the weekly commemoration in the services of the Lord's day, combined to make the fact of the Resurrection a dominant note in the life and thought of the early church and gave a joyful though reverent character to early Christianity."  (Luther Reed in The Lutheran Liturgy.)

The thought process of the early Church was completely focused. Easter dominated their lives. They chose to gather on Sundays because they saw this day of the week as the anniversary of the resurrection. Easter, not Christmas (there was no celebration of Christmas until the 4th century), was the primary event of the year. They made out of Easter Eve what we make out of Christmas Eve--the joyful anticipation of the celebration of the resurrection. As Christians gathered in their darkened churches during the night, they waited for the first light of the dawn and then for the cry: He is risen! Then the main celebration of Easter began.

Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon in spring. This corresponds with the Jewish determination for the time of the celebration of the Passover because Jesus was put to death at the time of the Passover. The celebration of our Savior's resurrection at this time can be traced back to at least the 2nd century AD. There is no command in the Bible to celebrate Christmas or Easter on any special day nor to worship on Sunday or any other day of the week. Christians in the freedom which God has given them have chosen to worship on these days.

Source: WELS.net

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