Easter Sunday is one of the most important days in Christianity. Filled with joy and festivity, it is a time when millions of Christians across the world commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Across the broad spectrum of church denominations – from the orthodox to the Pentecostal – a feeling of joy resonates among His vast and varied followers.
Despite the universal exultation, however, a modicum of controversy exists about the essence of Easter.
A couple who are members of Jehovah’s Witness sect, who live on Abdulrahman Sanni Street, Ilapo Estate, Alagbado, Lagos, do not share in the enthusiasm. “We don’t celebrate Easter,” the husband declared matter-of-factly.
“It is not Biblical. Easter shouldn’t be about merriment. It should be a period of sober reflection.”
He said they “take comfort from the Biblical parable of the narrow and the broad paths. There are other Christians who know this truth and who don’t attach importance to the festivities of Easter. I feel pain that many don’t have the understanding.
“If the thousand and one all follow the same path, then there is no cause for alarm; but if a thousand follow a path, and the remaining one follows a different path, there is need for the one thousand to have a rethink and critically review their position.”
His wife added: “While we share our beliefs about Easter with others when asked, we also respect each person’s right to decide what he will do.”
The couple echo the view of the Jehovah Witness sect. “Go to our website, you will find our church’s official position on Easter,” the wife urged.
Jehovah’s Witness says on its website: “The celebration of Easter is not based on the Bible. If you look into its history, though, you will see the true meaning of Easter – it is a tradition based on ancient fertility rites.
“Jesus commanded that we commemorate his death, not His resurrection …. This Memorial each year is on the anniversary of his death according to the Bible’s lunar calendar,” which coincides with Nissan 14, the day of the Jewish Passover, a date that fell on April 14 this year.
If celebrating Easter is so important, why is there no specific command in the Bible to do so? Jehovah Witness challenges. It argues that there is no record of Jesus’ early disciples observing Easter Sunday as only the memorial celebration – not Easter – is commanded in the Bible.
Jehovah’s Witness celebrates what it calls the Memorial of Christ’s death or the Lord’s Evening Meal, claiming that it is “an observance that Jesus himself instituted on his last night on earth [when] He told his disciples: ‘Keep doing this in remembrance of me.’”
But the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos Metropolitan See, Most Rev Adewale Martins, insisted that “The celebration of Easter is Biblical.”
He stated the Catholic position on Easter which the vast majority of Christians follow, irrespective of denomination.
“In the first instance,” he explained, “it is the Scripture that gives us the truth about the resurrection of Christ. It is Scripture that is the basis for everything that we believe concerning Christ, concerning his ministry, concerning his death and his resurrection.
“There is absolutely no other ground, every Christian and indeed every person that has read that part of the Scriptures with faith and understanding will be able to understand.
“If somebody celebrates on a day in the month of Nissan, then he has a belief in Jewish traditions and teachings.”
Martins declared that believers also know that “Christ did not just die; He rose from the grave. And because he rose, joy comes to us.
“So Easter has to be a joyful celebration, a celebration that expresses the fact that you believe that the death of Christ and His resurrection has made you an heir of salvation with a hope for [our] own resurrection.”
