Easter or Passover?

          In Chapter 12 of Exodus, God told the Israelites how to save themselves from the last plague which He was about to pour out on the Egyptians. That plague was to be the death of all the first-born in the land. The Israelites were told to take a one year old, unblemished male from the sheep or the goats into their house on the 10th day of the first month, the month of Nisan, and they were to keep it with them in their house until the 14th day of the month, at which time they were to kill it and eat it. That sounds quite cruel, doesn't it, to take this young, innocent animal into your house, make a pet of it, and then kill it and eat it? They were also told to put its blood on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the house so that the death angel would "pass over" them. This is where the Jewish feast of Passover originated.
          Skip ahead in time about 1500 years to the time of Christ around 30 A.D.  When John the Baptist saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." John 1:29  John was proclaiming to all the world that Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of the Passover which the Jews had been celebrating every year for about 1500 years, ever since they came out of their slavery in Egypt. Jesus was the ultimate Passover Lamb who would keep the death angel away from the door of all who would trust in Him for salvation from their sin.  Those who believed would never know spiritual death. The physical death of the ones who trust in Christ would only be a passageway into eternal life with Him.
          There is so much more meaning in the Passover celebration which I won't elaborate on right now, but I just want to express my disappointment that the church today is mostly ignorant of the meaning of Passover. Instead, I see churches celebrating something called Easter, named for a pagan Babylonian goddess of fertility called Ishtar, with chocolate bunnies and colored Easter eggs, symbols of her fertility. How it must grieve God's heart to see those who call themselves Christians openly celebrating a pagan holiday and yet, ignoring the very feast that He instituted to point to His Son, Jesus, as our Passover Lamb.
          It is true that some Christians have tried (mostly in vain) to change the name of Easter to Resurrection Day, but wouldn't it be even better to teach our children about Passover so they could learn the rich meaning behind it? The only way we will rid ourselves of the pagan aspects of Easter is to make a clean break from it. Unfortunately, even the Jews who still celebrate Passover don't understand what it is all about, but Christians have not helped in that department either. Maybe if we Christians understood the true meaning of Passover, we could better help the Jews to see that Jesus is the Savior they have been looking for, since it is their Passover celebration that points so dramatically to Him.
          I am challenging all Christians to do some study regarding Easter and Passover to see which one truly honors God. I believe we would all be blessed if we would do this. "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32  You may never want to call it Easter again!