Easter, the day of resurrection of Christ

W.T.A. Leslie FERNANDO

On Easter Sunday which falls today, the Christians all over the world celebrate their greatest festival of all time, the resurrection of Christ. The Christians believe that Christ who was put to death on Good Friday gloriously rose from the dead on Easter Sunday.

The main sources for he resurrection of Christ are the Gospels and the Epistle of St. Paul. The Gospel of St. Matthew Gives a vivid account of the resurrection of Christ. "On the dawn of the fist day of the week after the sabbath, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the sepulchre where Christ was buried. And behold, there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his raiments white as snow. And for the fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men" (Matthew 28/1-5).

The Angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has risen as he said. Come and see the place where he lay". So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and joy and ran to tell his disciples. And behold Jesus met them and said "Hail". And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brotheren to go to Galilee and there they will see me (Matthew 28/6-10).

The eleven disciples went to Galilee and when they saw Jesus, they worshipped him and some doubted. Jesus came and said to them "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matthew 28/16-20).

The versions presented in other Gospels vary with the account given in the Gospel of st. matthew. According to st. Mark, Jesus was seen by Mary Magdalene, by disciples at Emmaus and the eleven before his ascension into heaven. St. Luke testifies that Jesus walked with disciples at Emmaus, appeared to Peter and other Apostles at Jerusalem. According to st. John, Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene on Easter Sunday, to the Apostles in the evening to the eleven a week later.

The epistle of St. Paul enumerates, that Jesus after His resurrection has appeared to Cephas, to the eleven, to more than five hundred at the time of writing the scriptures, to the Apostles and to Paul himself (1 Corinthians 15/ 5-8).

These discrepancies have been reconciled by explaining that the partial accounts of the Evangelists confirm that Christ has appeared to various persons after his resurrection. It is generally believed that Christ had lived in this world and he was crucified to death. However, the resurrection of Christ is not considered as a historical event.

Concept

Long before the time of Christ, there have been pagan Gods like Osiris of Egypt, Dionoysus of Greece, Adonis of Syria, Bhakkus of Italy and De Mithras of Peris who are said to have risen from the dead. There are some who contend that the resurrection of Christ too has been evolved from this age old concept.

According to the Gospel of St. Matthew, the soldiers who guarded the sepulchre of Christ went to the chief priests and reported all that had taken place.

The chief priests in consultation with the elders bribed them to say that the disciples of Christ came by night and stole his body while they were sleeping. St. Matthew adds that this story has been spread among the Jews to this day (Matthew 28/11-15). This story poses some problems. Could the guards who have witnessed such a frightening and unusual scene be silenced by a bribe?

Besides the chief priests and the Pharisees had gone before Pilate, the Governor and mentioned that when Christ was living, he had said that after three days he would rise again from death.

They got permission of Pilate to employ guards at the sepulchre of Christ (Matthew 27/ 62-65). According to the Gospels, after his resurrection Christ has appeared only to His followers. Why did he not appear, to the chief priests and the Pharisees who always challenged his divinity and authority?

Whatever it is the resurrection of Christ is not a scientifically proved fact. It is a mystery of God and an article of faith for Christians. It is an act of creed and dogma Christians are bound to believe.

Both Easter and Sinhala and Tamil New Year come at the same season of the year. In fact this year, the Sinhala and Tamil New Year festival falls couple of days immediately after the feast of the resurrection of Christ. Accordingly there are some Catholics who suggest that we Catholics should celebrate Easter and New Year together as the theme of renewal found in New Year and also found in Easter vigil and ceremonies. This is the greatest damage that could be done to Easter which is greatest festival of Christians.

Passover

There are some similarities between New Year rituals and the Passover festival customs of the Jews. At the Passover too like Nonagathe of the New Year they rested and fasted before they lit the fire and sacrificed a lamb. Christ Himself assembled in a house with His disciples in a house to eat the Passover before He was taken a prisoner. At the feast of the Passover, a woman anointed the feet of Christ with oil and this reminds of our anointing of the oil ceremony.

Because of these remote similarities between the New Year rituals and the Passover customs, there are some who contend that Passover traditions have spread to other countries and intermingled with their rituals to take the form of New Year celebrations. There is no whatsoever proof and historical support for this contention. The New Year rituals relate far back beyond the Passover festival.The worship of Osiris by the Egyptians, the idea of the renewal found in the Passover, the Easter and the New Year have been germinated from the belief that changes of the nature during the season were effected by the passing away of one deity and arrival of another.

There is a belief both in India and in Sri Lanka that at New Year a new deity called Avurudu Kumaraya took charge of nature. In some parts of Sri Lanka they make altars with tender coconut palms for the deity. In other areas specially in the South a lamp is lit for the Avurudu Kumaraya.

Although Christmas is celebrated all over the world on a grand scale, it was not there among the earliest festival of Christians. Right throughout, Easter has been the main festival of Christians. In the 4th century, when the Romans embraced Christianity, Christmas began to be celebrated on the day of the Roman feast of the Sun.

As a result, the grandeur pageantry and revelry of the worship of the Sun of Romans, have overtaken the spiritual aspects of Christmas. As such Christmas is celebrated with so much extravagance in contrast to the humble birth of Christ in a stable. If New Year and Easter were to be celebrated together, the New Year rituals would dilute and undermine Easter observances.

Religious observances

There is a tradition among Catholics that they come to the native place for the Holy Week. They do so for the Christmas as well. However after the Christmas Mass they spend the time on merry-making and visiting relations and friends. On the other hand more emphasis is placed on religious observances during the Easter. This religious atmosphere could be diverted if Easter would be combined with New Year rituals.In fact a move by the Catholic Bishops' Conference in Sri Lanka to change the dates of Easter when the New Year falls during the Holy Week was correctly rejected by the Holy See in Vatican.

There is now a general consensus in Sri Lanka to treat the New Year as a national festival, though it is intermingled with Buddhist and Hindu religious observances. It is not fair by other communities for Catholics to combine it with easter behind their back and give a religious colouring to New Year so as to make it a Christian festival.

We Catholics of course could join with others to celebrate New Year as a common national festival.

We could have a special Mass for the New Year as it is done in some churches. It is heartening to see in recent times Christians joining the New Year celebrations and taking part in traditional games and sport.

The pivot of Christianity is the resurrection of Christ. It is the linchpin of the Christian faith on which the Christian doctrine stands or falls. As St. Paul puts it "If there is no resurrection of Christ, Christian faith would be in vain" (1 Corinthians 15). In no way such an important Christian feast should be eclipsed and overshadowed by combining it with the Sinhala and Tamil New Year festival.