"LEAP-DAY" PONDERINGS

Today, February 29, comes to us only once every four years, during "Leap Year." So, I guess that would mean today is "Leap Day." That odd notion got me to thinking about the way the spring-time calendar works. My curiosity grew as I looked at the date for Easter Sunday, which varies from year to year by up to 35 days. That’s because Easter is related to Passover, and the date of Passover is a function of a lunar calendar used in Jerusalem for about 3,200 years.

Sounds complicated? We’re only getting started!

In the Fourth Century, in an attempt to actually reduce the confusion and establish a uniform date for this most important of the church’s celebrations, Easter was officially set as the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that falls on or after the vernal equinox, which is the first day of spring. (“Ecclesiastical full moon” is a technical term that would take a couple of pages to explain, so I’ll let you look that one up yourself.) Using this formula, Easter can be anywhere from March 22 to April 25.

This year, as you know, Easter is fast approaching, on March 23. As mentioned, it can be one day earlier, on March 22, but that happens so rarely that nobody who is alive now has ever seen or ever will see it on that date. The last time Easter was March 22 was 190 years ago, in 1818; and the next time will be in 277 years, or 2285.

In addition, only the oldest Christians among us have ever celebrated Easter as early as it will be this year. The last time Easter was on March 23 was in 1913.

As curiously interesting as all this information may be (to geeks like me, anyway), the real point of Easter is not so much when we celebrate it as why. And that is a point that many people seem to miss.

When Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, the disciples that comprised the infant church we almost all Jewish. All their lives they had worshiped God on the Sabbath, which begins at sun-down on Friday and ends at sun-down on Saturday. However, within months after His resurrection, Jesus’ followers switched the day of worship to Sunday, the first day of the week, the day He rose from the grave.

Why?

Because they knew that every gathering of Christians for worship is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Paul put it this way: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). His perfect life fulfilled God’s law and is reckoned to believers as our righteousness. His sacrificial death atoned for our sins. But it was His resurrection from the dead that verified His authority to act on the Father’s behalf as our substitute.

As you plan to attend Easter services, focus on the center of the celebration. It’s all about Jesus: His life, His death and His resurrection. Do you know it? Do you believe it?