Most congregations of the “church of Christ” do not formally recognize “Easter Sunday” as a religious holiday or special day to commemorate the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Most commemorate this event on the “first day of the week” following the example preserved for us in Acts 20:7 “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.” There is nothing in Scripture that tells us to designate one day a year called Easter to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Just like there is nothing in Scripture that tells us to set a side one day a year called Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
There are those who believe however that there is nothing wrong with celebrating Easter as a “special day” and there are many others who do not celebrate it as a special religious holiday but do celebrate it as a secular holiday. And there are also others who believe it is absolutely wrong to have anything to do with Easter citing its roots in pagan idolatry as the main reason. So what should a Christian do? The words of Romans 14:5-6 are appropriate here: (NIV) One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord.
Is “Easter” in the Bible? The word “Easter” is found once, in Acts 12:4, and only in the King James translations (KJ, NKJ, and 21st Century KJ) of the Bible. And it had nothing to do with Easter as our world celebrates it today. The Greek word translated there is pascha (4247 NIV Strong’s) and is more properly translated as “Passover“. In fact, all of the other major translations (1599 Geneva, Revised Geneva translation, Young’s Literal Translation, NIV, NASB, ESV, NLT, and HCSB) translate the word correctly as “Passover“. The Easter mentioned in Acts 12:4 of the King James versions was referring to the Old Testament day of Passover.
A brief history of Easter tells us that the name “Easter” comes from the Anglo-Saxon, Eostre, the name of the goddess of spring. Bunnies were pagan symbols of fertility, while eggs were seen as pagan symbols of death and life. There is absolutely no denying the pagan roots of “Easter”.
Is it wrong to celebrate Easter? Perhaps a better question is “Is it wrong to remember the resurrection?”The short answer is “No.” In fact, it would be wrong to not remember the resurrection. Is observance of “Easter Sunday” once a year the way to do so? Jesus said in Luke 9:23 (NIV) “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” The Lord wants us to live everyday of our lives in a manner worthy of the calling we have received (Ephesians 4:1) not just pay him lip service on so called “religious holidays”.
However, where there is opportunity to share the message and gospel of Christ without compromising biblical truth, the “wise as serpents, harmless as doves” counsel of Christ from Matthew 10:16 is appropriate. Colossians 4:5 (NIV) says we are to “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” There is certainly nothing wrong with taking the occasion of Easter when many people are thinking about Jesus, to share the true gospel of Jesus Christ.