The National tribune., 1895-04-11

!
resurrection. 1t seems fitting thing that
Christ rose from the dead just at this season OF
| the year. The time just matched the event.
| Not everything is heather the name of which
| can be traced to a heather derivation. Phllol-
| ogy does not determine theology. The name
Easter is so suitable for the day which keeps
| in mind the anniversary of the resurrection of
| Jesus that the Church feels no disposition to
give it up for any other.
NJ. Phelps Dawson has put this thought SO
| delightfully."-. We add it here:
See God touch Nature on her bier
Iow-lying, gray. and cold, and still:
"Baok from the deadl" He cries TO her
And loi her pulses throb and THRILL
The miracle Is wrought; the dead
Stands on her living feet once more;
God wraps the grave bands in their place,
| And leads her forth from the tomb dooE
Behold heri Nature hidden back
To life again by Gods great voice;
Behold her new and wondrous YOUTH
And seeing her, OH hearts. rejoice!
Sec the earth make tuneful feast,
And spread for her welcome board.
And sitting in The honored seat,
He who brought life to her-The Lordt
Like Mary, with her precious nard,
One guest from the dim woods is there,
Pouring from out her opal flask
Sweet perfume on the amber air.
Come to the thankful feast, oh, heartsi
Come TO the feast. spread wide and broad:
Join with the winds the BIRDS the flowers.
To welcome Nature and her God
The Romance nations have another name for
Easter based on the Hebrew name pesdch, or
the Chaldee pasCha. nPesdch means " lie passed
orer." The reference is to Ex., IL: 81, reading:
1t is the sacrifice of the Lords passover, who
passed OUer the houses Of the children of Israel
in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians and
delivered our houses." The French name for
Easter is paque; Italian, paSqua; Spanish, pas
cua Latin, pdschd: Greek, paScha. These are
all based on the Hebrew deriyation-He passed
over. q
The Passover kept in memory the rescue Of
the first born Of the children of the Israelites
on the night of the 10th plague in Egg pt-an
event which opened the way for the Israelites
to escape bondage under Pharaoh by crossing
the Red Sea and reaching the Wilderness of
Sinai, and passing on intoithe Land of Canaan.
So the Passover originated at the Exodus, and
was an annual Feast among the Israelites.
Significance Of the Passover.
The Passover celebrated the safety Of the
Israelite first born during the 10th plague. The
manner of keeping the day was the Staying of
a lamb and staining various places with the
blood. On that eventful night tho houses
marked thus wore passed orer by the Angel of
Death So it might be said the frst-born Of
the Israeltes were saved by the blood of the
lamb. So the Passover had historical side.
But it also prospective. 1t was ante
type of the death Of the Lamb of God, and so
pointed forward to the death of Christ. 1t was
to be maintained as the Passover till the pro-
phetic side of the Feast should be fulfilled.
The name thereafter could not be so fifty used,
since it would be ambiguous. Through the
help of Christ, by which we have learned to
live most effectively, we have escaped great
bondage, many evIls-they have passed 0uer
without harm-and so Christ is our Passover.
In this sense the word has Christian mean
ing. But, in practice, the name Passover has
given way TO the term Easter among the Eng
lisb. The name kept by the Romance nations
is practically, the Passover.
The Passover Becomes Easter.
The Passover was purely Jewish feast.
After Christ's death there was to be no Jewish
distinction. The religion of Jesus is for the
world. The Feast now wanted must signify
more than the Exodus which affected simply
race. 1t must be more than historical,
the Passover mainly. 1t means history to
Christians as reminding of Christ's crucif xion
and resurrection. The prophetic character as
pointing TO Christ, who was to be put to death
aud rise again, has OF course dropped out, from
the fact the prophecy has been already accom-
plishcd. The Passover gave rise not only to
Easter, but also TO our Lords Supper, connecting
with the resurrection the death also of Christ.
The last Passover, to DO properly celebrated,
was the one partakcn of by our Savior and his
Apostles the Thursday evening before his
cruciiixion. The Jews, who believe Christ,
the Messiah, as promised in the Old Testament,
has not yet come, consistently still keep up the
custom of holding the annual Passover rs it
was celebrated before Christs death. No sacr-
fees, however, are now offered by them, because
the Temple at Jerusalem is not i'll their posses
sion.
Easter.
The word Easter, in the sense In which we
understand the word as pointing to our Savior's
resurrection, is not used in the New Testament
We find the word in Acts IL 4, but the trans
latiOn is an evident mistake. The word Easter
in said place means the Jewish Passover The
Revised Version renders the word properly.
Nor do tho Apostolic fathers mention Easter.
The New Testament writers were in the very
midst Of the events and perhaps it did not
occur TO them to perpctuate said events by any
Church days. Chrysostom and Origen thought
salvation such great blessing that every day
OF our lives ought to be a joyful Easter.
The object of Easter Day is to celebrate the
resurrection OF our Savior from the dead. The
idea in very early times occurred to Christians
that it would be n very fitting thing every
year TO call TO mind the stupendous, miraculous
fact Of tho resurrection. To their minds the
resurrection was the grand turning point i'll
all history. If that event were really true,
then all the system Of Christianity was proved
TO be well founded. We cannot date exactly
when Easter was first celebrated in the sense
practiced now by the Christian Church. 1t is
certain the usage was more or less common in
very early century
Our Savior, it will be remembered died on
Passover Day, the feast which originated at
the Exodus, and celebrated annually by the
Jews at the command of God through Moses.
Our salvation from sin is TO US far greater
rescue than the Exodus was to the lstaelites.
We have reason 10 throw into tie celebration
OF the day even moro enthusiasm than did the
Jews into the Passover.
The Passover WAS to be kept till the Person
came to Whom that festival looked, the real
Lamb of God, Who taketh away our sins. 1t
was very natural, il the death and resurrection
of Jesus be commeuoratcd, the time be the
Passover Day. Aud that proved TO be the
course OF events. The Jews who became Chris
tians carried along with them the memories
of the Passover, and would gladly celebrate
each year on Passover Day, the sacrifice of the
true Pascal Lamb.
The early history of the Church reveals the
Tact there WAS considerable difficulty i'll decid-