It would be surprising to many people to know that all the self-afflictions and mourning they give themselves to in the name of “Good Friday” are of no spiritual significance before God and Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has long been raised from the grave and glorified. He declared: “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Revelation 1:1) To indulge in fasting and mourning still for the risen Lord, is contrary to the principles of Christianity. Moreover, Jesus did not say that his followers would mourn for ever, rather he said, “your sorrow shall be turned into joy”. And he added: “Your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh away.” -John 16: 19-22. Compare Mark 2:18-22.
St. Paul exhorted Christians not to sorrow like those who do not have the hope of resurrection. (1Thessalonians 4: 13, 14, 18) If Christians are not to be in sorrow for those who die in the Lord because of the hope of resurrection, why should anyone mourn for Jesus Christ – the author of that hope – who had since been raised from the dead?
It is wrong for professed Christians to qualify the day in which they mark the death of Jesus Christ as good. That day was a day of mourning to the disciples of Christ, not of rejoicing. It was “good” to the enemies of truth and righteousness because they believed the crucifixion would be the end of the man whom they called a “deceiver”. We should remember that Christ had told Peter, James and John: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death….” (Matthew 26: 38) He even prayed for the “cup” to pass from him. (Matthew 26: 39) When he returned to the three disciples he found them asleep, exhausted from grief. (Luke 22: 45. See Matthew 26: 42. See also Mark 16: 9, 10) Before the arrest of Jesus, he had forewarned his disciples that they would be plunged into sorrow and that the world would rejoice, (as a result of his death) but that their sorrow would revert to joy following his resurrection and that joy no man can ever take away from them, as stated earlier. – John 16: 16-20.
If it is a good day, why do “church-goers” indulge in fasting, abstinence, wearing of black robes and in ceremonies suggestive of mourning on “Good Friday”? Why do they not go about merry-making?
Easter
Easter is a pagan festival originally celebrated by the Anglo-Saxons in the spring equinox in honour of a Teutonic goddess known as Astarte or Eostre.
According to the The American Peoples Encyclopedia says: “Many of the popular observances of Easter are pagan in origin. Some may be traced to the feast of the goddess Eostra…”
The word “Easter” inserted in the King James version of the Holy Bible (Acts 12:4), ought to be Pasch, or Passover, as has been corrected in modern translations.
What was instituted by Jesus Christ was the “Memorial Supper”, which is for men of the RANK OF APOSTLES ONLY and NOT Easter. The Memorial, being an anniversary of the Lord’s death should be celebrated ONCE a year, ending at the this age of the second presence of Christ. – Matthew 26: 26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30.
The Bible says: “…Learn not the way of the heathen, … For the customs of the people are vain…” – Jeremiah 10:2, 3. See also Matthew 15:1-14; 1 Timothy 4:7.