Why Is Christmas More Celebrated Than Easter?
Word-of-the-Day: ‘(3) Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? (4) We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (5) For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His.’ (Romans 6:3-5)
I’ve always thought that Christians have the pecking order on emphasizing the celebrations of Holy days backwards. We place an emphasis on Christmas, so much so that from Thanksgiving Day (the fourth Thursday in November to 26 December (the day after Christmas, or Boxing Day in the Anglocentric nations) we basically dedicate an entire month to it. Now, don’t mistake my comments as being disrespectful to Christmas, as the celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus is important.
He had to become God in Flesh for many reasons, to provide the evidence necessary to demonstrate He could relate to us in terms of our trials and tribulations, to show He is God Manifested, the second person in the Trinity of God. Christmas, the birth of Jesus, is a holiday worthy to be celebrated and remembered.
The actual day of Jesus’ birth has long been forgotten, actually; while 4 BC is generally regarded as His ‘birth year’ by historians and Christian scholars, the latter half of December was originally tied to the Roman celebration of Saturnalia, a weeklong celebration that started between 17 and 19 December and culminated around 23 to 25 December centered on the false Roman god Saturn, a ‘god’ of representing agriculture and whose holiday was (supposedly) set up to correspond with the Winter Solstice (the shortest day of the year and the ‘official’ start of winter). The Roman god ‘Sol Invictus’, or their false ‘god of the sun’, was also celebrated as an ‘add-on’ at the tail-end of the Saturnalia celebration as the sun’s daylight increases after the Winter Solstice.
With the conversion of the Roman emperor Constantine to Christianity, and the growth of the budding Catholic Church within the Empire, Christians celebrated Saturnalia, not in worship but more in a ‘it’s on the calendar’ sense. The early Catholic Church, led by Pope Julius I (if he had a tan, would he be ‘Orange Julius’?) in the mid-300s AD, petitioned that Jesus’ birthday be recognized as 25 December, in part to replace the celebration of the ‘sun’ (Sol Invictus) with the celebration of the birth of the Son.
Jesus’ birth, though, was likely in either September or October (at or after the harvest season) or in March or April (at the beginning of the planting season – and likely before Passover). But Pope Julius’ petition allowed Constantine the means to ‘end’ the ancient traditions of celebrating their false gods with a celebration of God, through Jesus’ birth.
The tradition of a lengthy celebration period of Christmas stems from this beginning. But due to this tradition, the celebration of Easter, or Resurrection Day, appears to be overshadowed. This may be in part to it coinciding with the Jewish celebration of Passover, the weeklong remembrance of the events of Exodus 11-12, when God’s final Plague set against Egypt, the Plague of the Firstborn, had the Angel of Death (many consider him to be Michael, the archangel of war) come and kill every firstborn male in Egypt, except for the Jews who were faithful and obedient to listen to the instructions of Moses to paint lamb’s blood on their entry’s doorjambs, giving the Death Angel a sign to bypass (or pass over) their homes and spare their firstborn children.
The Christians’ Easter celebration somewhat competes, then, with the Jewish celebration of Passover, though the two events are intertwined. Jesus entered Jerusalem as ‘Hosanna’ at the beginning of Passover, and was arrested and executed at Passover’s end. The dates of Jesus’ death and resurrection can be more accurately be determined as being in early-to-mid April, with 29 AD’s end of Passover date as 17 April (most considered to be the year Jesus was crucified), or 30 AD’s end of Passover date as 6 April (the second-most considered year). Both years are viable given Jesus’ birthyear is mostly regarded as 4 BC, as his given age of 33 at the time of His death, but not knowing whether He was born in springtime or the fall, either year can be considered for His crucifixion and resurrection.
But Easter is the more important of the two holidays of Jesus, the celebrations of His Earthly Ministry’s beginning and its end. The birth of Jesus would be meaningless and forgotten if not for Jesus’ trial, abuse, crucifixion, death, and resurrection. The crucifixion was necessary for Him to become the Sacrifice that would shed His blood, and die physically for our sins – the sinless and pure Lamb. His burial, His Spiritual battle against Death and Hell, and His resurrection in victory over them are the most important acts for us. Jesus is not a dead Messiah, but a live one – the only living Messiah! Many ‘saviors’ have been born, but only Jesus is alive.
It seems year after year, Easter is almost an afterthought. It is possibly due to Christmas becoming more than a Christian holiday but one of paganism as well, the religion of commercialization, the ‘who can spend more on Christmas gifts’ or ‘who can put more snowman inflatables in the yard’ over the birth of Jesus. Easter also is in competition with the secular celebration of the holiday; colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, and candy baskets delivered by the ‘Easter Bunny’ are like the reindeer and Santa Claus for Easter; almost meaningless expressions toward the real meaning of the holiday.
Paul, Peter, and the other authors of the Epistles or letters of the New Testament emphasize the importance of the Resurrection. Though Romans 6:3-5 are the verses selected as today’s key verse, as Believers are ‘certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His’, there are many others that confirm the Resurrection as the most critical aspect of our Faith. Paul also implores us in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 that Jesus’ Resurrection is of the ‘first importance’. Peter in 1 Peter 1:3 tells us the Resurrection gives us ‘living hope’, and in 1 Peter 3:21 that Salvation, represented by baptism in water, comes through the Resurrection.
Don’t allow the secular world or tradition to relegate Easter, especially Resurrection Day, as a second-tier afterthought holiday of our Faith. We can certainly celebrate Christmas and its purpose to remember the miraculous and immaculate birth of Jesus, but let’s celebrate His Resurrection with the same vigor and energy we place in our Christmas celebrations. His birth and life provide us an example to live by; His death and resurrection provide us life eternal with Him!
