Good Morning FPCLA,
Tomorrow, Christians all over the world are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. What does it mean?
What is Easter? “Easter was brought to us by Constantine and his council of Nicea… Roman celebrated the changing seasons: winter was Saturnalia and spring was Ostara. Although Constantine had converted to Christianity to further his conquest in the Byzantine empire, he couldn’t throw away the traditional roman seasonal party times. So hence we have a Christian liturgical calendar that was constructed to pacify the roman pagan constituency. The council of Nicea and Constantine thought it would be a great idea to recognize Easter to celebrate the mythical magical martyr. Jesus. A man who hung on a cross sort of died and resurrected a few days later. Harmless right? Nothing better than a magic story for everyone to believe in.” – Rev. Charles E. Williams II, Pastor of Historic King Solomon Church
In this magical story, we forget the reason why Jesus died. You see, Jesus died because he challenged the religious and political authorities. He called out the authorities for their unjust and corrupt ways that benefit them and the rich and took advantage of the poor, the widow, the outcast. Jesus’ movement was threatening enough that those in power felt the need to stop him.
16 1-3 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could embalm him. Very early on Sunday morning, as the sun rose, they went to the tomb. They worried out loud to each other, “Who will roll back the stone from the tomb for us?”
4-5 Then they looked up, saw that it had been rolled back—it was a huge stone—and walked right in. They saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed all in white. They were completely taken aback, astonished.
6-7 He said, “Don’t be afraid. I know you’re looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the One they nailed on the cross. He’s been raised up; he’s here no longer. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty. Now—on your way. Tell his disciples and Peter that he is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You’ll see him there, exactly as he said.”
8 They got out as fast as they could, beside themselves, their heads swimming. Stunned, they said nothing to anyone.
Blessings,
Pastor Eula
