Easter with a difference
Ancient Bible history says that Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday. The chronology of his death and resurrection is variously interpreted to have occurred between AD 26 and 36.
In addition, Easter marks the end of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. The last week of the Lent is called Holy Week, and it contains Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Easter is followed by a 50-day period called Eastertide or the Easter Season, ending with Pentecost Sunday.
Moderator of Limbe CCAP Church, Reverend Andrew Kamponda says Easter celebrations should be taken seriously as they remind us of the love of God. According to Kamponda, Christians all over the world should always be mindful of what Jesus went through for the sake of human kind.
“We should celebrate with gladness, Jesus Christ did a very generous thing, laying His life for us and we need to not just celebrate, but also promise to live our lives for Him. This decision should not be a onetime thing, but a decision for life,” he said.
Church of Nazarene, Pastor Edward Mikwamba, said: “It is with Easter that we remember and rejoice at the resurrection of Christ. The same Christ who three days earlier gave up his life on the cross in order to pay the penalty of our sins, now takes his life back up to show that death no longer has hold. It is because of this that we are able, as it says to be justified, or made clean and righteous before God.
“This is important because unless we are righteous we have no hope of living eternally in the presence of the Holy God. As the apostle Paul says, if Christ were not raised then we are totally hopeless. However, knowing that he has been resurrected we should celebrate all the more, for this is the only power which can free us from our sins,” he said.
Ntcheu CCAP reverend Andrew Maere further says Jesus’ descention to this world was only the first step of a multi-level process that demanded our salvation. He said his suffering and death were the second and third steps in the redemption plan.
“This whole redemption was completed only after God resurrected Jesus on the third day. The body is essential to the total human personality, humans are incomplete without a body. Thus the redemption of Christ offers to the whole person, including the body.
“Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Resurrection isn’t the same thing as simply raising the dead. Jesus brought many dead people back to life while walking the earth ministering to people in need,” he said.
According to Maere, the resurrection means all saints who died in Christ will be raised back to a brand new, incorruptible, imperishable, strong second life and a glorified body that doesn’t know sickness and can’t die or be put to death. This is guaranteed because God resurrected Jesus in the first place.
