It is during times of the year such as this that my mind wanders to the phrase “What would Jesus do?” Yet, it is merely a slogan for most. Like a magical charm, people will wear “WWJD” on bracelets, but they never seem to make the transition to actually doing what Jesus did!
You know, the best determination of what a person will do is to look at what they have actually done in the past. This is the basis of much counseling and so-called “behavioral based” job interviews. It is difficult for people to change, and they normally only do so if their past behavior led to unwanted consequences. However, if you are perfect, then there is no reason for you to change. Therefore, you would most likely continue doing what you did before.
So, what did Jesus do? Did He keep Easter? Did He eat chocolate bunnies? Did He die Easter eggs? Or, did He keep the Passover?
Most of us in the Church of God know the answer. “Easter” is not in the Bible, except for one place only in the KJV where “Pesach”, or “Passover”, was mistranslated (and subsequently fixed in the NKJV). In fact, “Easter” is an Anglicized form of the Babylonian “Ishtar”, derived from the Germanic/Anglo-Saxon “Eostre”, a pagan goddess.
So, what would Jesus do? He would eat the Passover. He would eat it on the 14th of Abib/Nisan.
Jesus Himself called the meal before He died “this Passover” (Lk 22:15). He ate it the night before the Jews did (Jn 18:28).
Some things really should be as plain as the nose on your face. Jesus ate the Passover on the 14th. The Pharisees ate it on the 15th. The Jews today descended from the Pharisees, as the Sadducees’ claim to fame was the Temple. Once the Temple was destroyed, the major faction of power resided in the Pharisees. The Jews today are continuing the tradition of keeping the Passover on the 15th.
David Ben-Ariel wrote:
The Passover lamb was to be kept from Nisan 10 until the 14th (Ex. 12:1-6). It was then to be killed on the 14th. It was to be killed in the evening. How do we know for sure which evening is being discussed? Because God the Father set us a PERFECT EXAMPLE!
When did God decree that Jesus could declare “it is finished” and die on the stake? Why at the very same time that THE JEWS were sacrificing their Passover lambs at the Temple! The Jews had always killed the Passover lambs during the final hours of the 14th. It was towards the end of the 14th, not at the beginning of the 14th, that the Passover lambs were killed.
~ Ben-Ariel. (n.d.). The Passover Memorial. Retrieved 21 March 2010 from http://www.davidbenariel.org/cog/passover-memorial.htm.
So, we are supposed to keep the customs of the “perfect example” of the Jews rather than follow the example of our Lord? Have you not read: “Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition” (Mt 15:6b)? Obviously, we are to not follow the traditions of men into error.
For those of you so willingly to be deluded into following the errors of men, have you not read any of our history? Granted, it is difficult because the history of the Church of God was often written by our enemies, but the very existence of the “Quartodeciman Controversy” should set the record straight. “Quartodeciman” simply means “the 14th”. What would the controversy be called if Passover was to be kept on the 15th? “Quindeciman” would be my guess, but it would not be equivalent to 14!
Since we no longer kill lambs as part of the Christian Passover, it quickly becomes obvious that there is no killing of a lamb on the 14th and eating of it on the 15th. Therefore, it is only logical to call it “quartodeciman” if the meal is actually on the 14th.