Ever wonder, since Jesus was the sacrificial Passover lamb, why we celebrate His death, burial and resurrection on Easter? Wouldn't it make sense to celebrate His raising from the dead during the Passover from which it was originally prophesied?
In the King James Bible, Acts 12:4 speaks of pagan Herod waiting until after Easter before he was to kill Peter. The new versions of the Bible translate Easter as Passover. The problem with it being Passover lies within verse 3 where it says, "Then were the days of unleavened bread."
The Jewish holy days consist first of The Day of Passover, which is the 14th of the month of Nissan, followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which starts on the 15th for seven days. Since we know the Bible to be true, if Herod was going to wait until the Passover was over, he was going to have to wait for a whole year because Passover had already happened on the 14th. Since the Jews were now celebrating the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, that meant the time Luke was writing of was somewhere between the 15th and 21st.
Easter, on the other hand, was a pagan holiday of the goddess Ishtar, the Queen of Heaven. The Saxon goddess Eastre is the same as Astarte, and the Syrian Venus was called Ashtoreth in the Old Testament, also known as the goddess of fertility, where we get the Ishtar eggs, the reproducing Ishtar bunnies, sunrise services and having ham for Easter dinner.
Think about it. Why would you eat pork to celebrate the Jewish Passover? Since Herod was a pagan, he was waiting until after his holiday Ishtar to kill Peter. The holiday changes each year, and at that time, Ishtar and the Passover fell on or about the same time. Passover is always on the 14th of Nissan of the Jewish calendar and Easter is set to be on the Sunday following the vernal equinox. Next year, Passover will be on April 9, and Easter will be on April 12.
If we read the verse within the context of next year's dates, you will see how it fits exactly.
So this Passover, April 20, open your Bible, read the Passover story, go to your local butcher and get a leg of lamb, and have a Seder feast in celebration of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
