From The Pastor's Desk - March 2016
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. -1 Peter 1:3
What happens on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox?
Well Easter of course. You all knew that, right? Confused?
So we will be celebrating Easter on March 27 this year. That is unless you attend an Orthodox church, which will celebrate Easter on May 1. Of course, we all know that the first Easter was the Sunday after Passover. But Passover this year is celebrated from April 22 to April 30.
Confused yet? How could these dates get so mixed up?
It all has to do with old calendars and decisions made at a council of all the churches in Nicaea in 325 AD where it was decided Easter fulfilled Passover and so Passover no longer determines the date of Easter since that would have non-Christians determining a Christian celebration. Even though all the churches agreed with the formula above for determining Easter, the Western church follows the Gregorian calendar, while the Eastern church follows the older Julian calendar. Every 133 years these calendars are off by one day. So after centuries, our date for Christmas and Easter are very different in the Western and Easter churches.
Still confused?
Sometimes people ask me when was I “born again” or in other words, when was my spiritual birthday to Jesus? I’m one of those people that honestly doesn’t know when, I only know it happened. That’s the point of a celebration. These things really trouble historians and even theologians. As a pastor, the date of Easter is much simpler to me. It is the day you accept the risen, alive, Jesus in your heart. It doesn’t matter if you know the exact date. It is cause to celebrate that it happened, not when it happened. The celebration of Easter is not really about marking a historical date so much as marking a life changing event. Christ is risen in our lives!
Come and celebrate the risen Lord in your life,
Pastor Tom