What is easter
There are two festivals which are important for Christians. They are Christmas and Easter. Christmas is the day on which Jesus Christ was born. Another important festival is Easter, the day of Jesus Christ’s death. Easter is one of the important festivals for Christians. Though Christmas is celebrated by most of the Christian population in this world, Easter is celebrated by fewer people. Only those who celebrate Easter believe that Jesus had died and was resurrected. Jews don’t believe in Jesus as a God but they believe in Jesus as a prophet.
History of Jesus
Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ who was the Son of God had come into this world. It is believed that Jesus, son of god has born in this world to save sinners. He was born to Joseph and Mary. History of this world was divided into two parts, depending on the birth of Jesus Christ, that is BC as Before Christ and AD as Anno Domini or after death. His parents were carpenters. He was born by the power of the Holy Spirit not by the unity of man and woman. He lived in this world for thirty two years.
He was a Jew by birth. He was born in the small town of Bethlehem, in a manger. This shows his simplicity, though he was a man of god. Many shepherds came to see Jesus when he was born. Three wise men from the East also visited Jesus, and presented him gold, camphor and myrrh. After his birth he was brought up in a small town called Nazareth in Galilee. So Jesus was called as Jesus of Nazareth, or Galilean.
Jesus started his work after he attained the age of thirty. His first miracle was turning water into wine. He did this in a marriage in Cana. Though he had performed his first miracle, he did not disclose this to many, since his time has not yet arrived. Later he continued his work to glorify his heavenly father’s name. He gave sight to the blind; he gave sense of hearing to the deaf and gave speech to the dumb. He also rose from his tomb. He made many lame people walk. He had performed many such miracles that people started doubting wether he was a magician. But he was doing all this to glorify the name of his heavenly father.
Doctrines
His doctrines were very simple and understandable. He used many parables to make people understand his doctrines. His doctrines were very intellectual and wise. Prodigal son and Good Samaritan were among his best parables. All his doctrines were about divine love and loving one another. Love your neighbor as you love yourself was the favorite commandment he was teaching in his doctrines. He says to love one who hates, because to love one who loves is easy but to love one who hates us is difficult. Further he commanded his followers to follow the Ten Commandments given by Moses.
The plot
The doctrines of Jesus were not satisfying to the Romans, Greeks and the Jews. This was controversial to their religious laws. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life unless through me no one can enter the kingdom of God. Further Jesus was insisting that he was God. He stated that he can destroy the temple of Jerusalem and rebuild it within three days. These doctrines were confusing the religious leaders of Rome, Greece and Jews. They had a conflict that Jesus was preaching against sin but he was sitting and dining with the sinners. Jesus in his teaching taught that he hated sin but liked sinners. As an Illustration he said that a doctor will come to treat the sick but not the hale and healthy. Hence they thought that Jesus was blaspheming against religions and plotted to kill him. They approached the Roman Governor to execute Jesus Christ. Another incident which instigated them was Jesus’ entry into the church of Jerusalem. When Jesus went to Church of Jerusalem he saw people exchanging money, doing various trades within the church. Jesus with agony threw all the shillings, cattle and beat up all the traders who conducting business over there. Jesus told them that he will destroy those who destroy his father’s place. This incident made the religious leaders dislike Jesus more.
Last supper
Jesus had a last supper along with his disciples. He took the bread in his hand, broke it and gave it to his disciples and said; this is my body: then he took a glass of wine and said this is my blood, shed for the salvation of all mankind. This is my covenant; do this in remembrance of me.
Crucifixion
First, they bribed Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus. Judas Iscariot accepted their offer and demanded thirty silver coins. Finally he hugged and kissed Jesus to betray him before Roman soldiers. After the supper, Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray to god. Later Jesus was arrested by soldiers of the Roman Empire and taken to the court for trial. He was lashed with a whip. Though Pontius Pilate was willing to release Jesus as he was innocent, the crowd was not willing to free Jesus. They wanted Jesus to be crucified. As per the wish of the crowd Pilate ordered Jesus to be crucified.
Jesus was crowned with a wreath of thorns and a cross was laid across his shoulders and he was made to walk all the way to mount Golgotha, which means a skull. Jesus was crucified on the cross. In those days the radicals and the rioters were nailed to the cross as a mark of punishment. When both hands and legs are nailed, the air to the lungs is blocked and then the person dies. Jesus was also given such a wicked punishment though he was innocent. Jesus died on the cross after three hours, shouting with great pain, My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me
Burial & ressurection
Jesus was buried in a tomb so that the scripture may be fulfilled and rose from the dead on the third day. After his resurrection, he appeared for forty days in the eyes of many people. During that time, one of his disciples named Thomas did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. He said he would not believe it, unless he could see and touch the wounds. Hence Jesus appeared to Thomas and showed his wounds to Thomas, who apologized himself. Later Jesus ascended to heaven with the angels.
This day of resurrection of Jesus was called as Easter. Though the word Easter is an English word it was extracted from the German word Ouster. Jesus rose from his tomb to give salvation to all mankind. He died for the sins of human beings, for his blood was shed for cleansing the sins of the sinners. He offered himself as a lamb of sacrifice for the sake of sinners. The significance of Eater in fact starts with the birth of Jesus Christ itself, because it was predicted even before his birth by the prophet Isaiah that he would die, be crucified and rise again on the third day. The Christian faith evolves around the birth, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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