The Catholic church has a habit of mixing important Biblical events with pagan festivals. We have documented this historic fact in the three part video series, The Pagan Origins of Christmas. This is also the case with Good Friday and Easter.

According to what is clearly recorded as fact in The Holy Bible, the Catholic observances of Good Friday and Easter are based on a pagan lie. No lie is of the truth, and Jesus said that we must worship God in Spirit and in truth. 

1 John 2:21

I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

John 4:24

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

If something is based upon a lie, it has NO relevance to worshipping the One True God of the scriptures. While it is true that many times we may do things in ignorance, there is no excuse for us to ignore the clear facts in scripture that have been revealed to us by God! If we do not study as we are commanded to in 2 Timothy 2:15, that is our own fault.

2 Timothy 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

SO, what does the word of God say about the death, burial, and resurrection of The Lord Jesus Christ? It is a very important series of events all of which fulfilled many prophecies. The facts of the gospel must be according to the scriptures.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES:

Mark 9:31

For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.

Mark 10:34

And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Luke 9:22

Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.

Luke 13:32

And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Luke 18:33

And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.

Luke 24:7

Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

Acts 10:40

Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;

At the risk of insulting anyone who knows how to count, I must point out that between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning, there are NEVER three days, nor are there three nights. There are ONE and a half days and TWO NIGHTS. Jesus Christ Himself stated that THE sign that would be given was as follows: THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the heart of the earth!

Matthew 12:39

But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The question remains, WHY would ANYONE take plainly stated facts of such prophetic importance and twist it so badly as to flat-out ignore what it says!? Honestly, you may not like the answer.

“Easter gets its name from the Teutonic goddess of spring and the dawn, whose name is spelled Oestre or Eastre (the origin of the word "east" comes from various Germanic, Austro-Hungarian words for dawn that share the root for the word "aurora" which means " to shine"). Modern pagans have generally accepted the spelling "Ostara" which honors this goddess as our word for the Vernal Equinox. The 1974 edition of Webster's New World Dictionary defines Easter thus: "orig., name of pagan vernal festival almost coincident in date with paschal festival of the church; Eastre, dawn goddess; 1. An annual Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, held on the first Sunday after the date of the first full moon that occurs on or after March 21." The Vernal Equinox usually falls somewhere between March 19th and 22nd (note that the dictionary only mentions March 21st, as opposed to the date of the actual Equinox), and depending upon when the first full moon on or after the Equinox occurs, Easter falls sometime between late-March and mid-April.”

-Peg Aloi, You Call it Easter, We Call it Ostara.

http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usma&c=holidays&id=1991

Well, that is her opinion! No that is the reason why the Catholic church does not celebrate the resurrection of The Lord Jesus Christ three days after Passover. The fertility goddess is also known as Ishtar and/or Ashtoreth, Astarte, called the queen of heaven.

1 Samuel 12:10

And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.

Jeremiah 7:18

The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

1 Kings 11:5

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

Why else would the date for “Easter” be different each year, depending upon the MOON phases, ie Spring Equinox?

SPRING EQUINOX / OSTARA – Ostara is one of the four lesser Wiccan holidays or sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. Ostara is celebrated on the spring equinox, in the Northern hemisphere around March 21 and in the Southern hemisphere around September 23, depending upon the specific timing of the equinox. Among the Wiccan sabbats, it is preceded by Imbolc and followed by Beltane.

In the book Eight Sabbats for Witches by Janet and Stewart Farrar, the festival Ostara is characterized by the rejoining of the Mother Goddess and her lover-consort-son, who spent the winter months in death. Other variations include the young God regaining strength in his youth after being born at Yule, and the Goddess returning to her Maiden aspect.

http://www.pagancentric.org/holidays-sabbats/

Why would pagan symbols need to be “Christianized” to suit the most powerful and important event in human history? It is also the reason for the “Easter” emphasis on the pagan fertility symbols: bunnies, eggs, and grass among other things.

“Ostara, the Vernal or Spring Equinox Spring Kyriat: March 21;

Ostara or Spring Equinox is a solar festival, in which day and night, and the forces of male and female, are equally balanced. As with Mabon, the emphasis is on balance of all things: male and female, light and dark, and for Christians – the death and resurrection – the symbol of death and rebirth. This is the first day of spring, which marks the adolescence of the Sun God and makes way for the lushness of summer. Ostara was the name of the Virgin Goddess of Spring in Ancient Germany...

Easter is the Christianization of the fertility celebration of Ostara. The symbols affiliated with this Sabbat and Holiday: eggs more than any other symbol celebrate Ostara. The word Easter came from the Teutons, which was closer in pronunciation as Eostre. This is a time of birth and renewal of all things. The eggs are also associated with the female body in terms of procreation; it is easy to see in this association in the root of the word such as estrogen.

The Easter Bunny had it origins with the legend of the Germanic Goddess Eostre. The small field rabbit wished with all its heart to please this Goddess. As a show of his devotion, he decorated the sacred eggs with bright colors and intricate patterns and then humbly presented them to his beloved Goddess. She was so pleased with the bunny’s beautiful work, that she wished all of humankind to join in and share her joy! Since that day, the Eostre (Easter) rabbit has gone throughout out the world carrying out her wishes, and delivering little decorated gifts of life.” http://christianwicca.org/sabbats.html

Ostara, by Johannes Gehrts

“The Sunday following the full moon which falls on or after the equinox will give the lawful Easter.” The Reckoning of Time by eighth-century English scholar Bede,  http://www.uscatholic.org/articles/201503/why-do-catholics-and-orthodox-christians-celebrate-easter-different-days-29944#sthash.hXaQYKLi.dpuf

Jesus Christ was crucified on the Jewish Passover!  WHY should the “Spring Equinox” and the full moon have anything to do with any remembrance of this event, which has a FIXED date in history?

Matthew 26:2

Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

1 Corinthians 5:7

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Exodus 12:18

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.

Leviticus 23:5

In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.

Numbers 9:5

And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

Even the Jewish chief priests and leaders saw the significance of killing Him on the Passover, and TRIED TO AVOID DOING IT! But God’s prophecy was to be fulfilled! HE is our Passover Lamb- the Lamb of God! The Messiah!

Matthew 26:4-5

And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.

Mark 14:1-2

After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.

John 1:29

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 1:36

And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

Isaiah 53:4-7

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

Please repent from using pagan times and seasons, as well as traditions of the heathen world to celebrate things of The Lord. HE IS TRUTH! No lie is of the Truth! If we are to worship Him and observe His glorious resurrection, it must be based upon THE WORD OF GOD!

Deuteronomy 12:31

Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

Deuteronomy 12:32

What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

If you wish to learn more about how the doctrines of the Catholic church contradict the scriptures, please watch the video series The Catholic Mass Part 1-2. Also study what the word of God says about salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone, The Lamb of God!