(Passover:) symbols matter ~ to God

The world is filled with symbols of all kinds.  As a matter of fact, virtually every form of human communication is based on the use of some or another kind of symbol(s).  Of course, not everyone understands the meaning of every symbol.  It is furthermore true that not everyone attributes the same importance to any given symbol.  Nevertheless, the importance which anyone may ascribe either to his or her interpretation of (others') symbol(s), or far more significant, the importance which anyone may ascribe to his or her own choice and use of symbols to convey meaning, is both the measure and the reflection of such an one's own set of values.

God uses symbols to communicate with mankind.  And you can be sure that the symbols which God has chosen and has in fact used to convey His meaning, are eminently important to Him.  Which brings me to discuss the importance of the symbols which God has used in connection with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ ~ and why it greatly matters whether professing Christians honor God by means of the symbolism which they then choose to associate with the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.

Before going any further, I urge you read my recent essay titled, "Easter ~ and sun worship" (here).

I don't want to get bogged down in too many details when next I describe some of the major distinctions between symbols typically identified with Easter versus those symbols which appear in Scripture and which God identified with the crucifixion of Christ; because I don't want to distract from the vital importance of the main idea in this essay, which is to say, that "symbols matter to God."

In His written Word (in which God said that He has "magnified [His] word above all [His] name" ~ Psalm 138:2), God not only used certain words (i.e., "passover," "lamb," "blood," etc.) to symbolize the then-future sacrifice of the Son of God on Calvary.  Moreover, that same Word of God, when it was first received by Moses, commanded the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob actually to perform certain symbolic acts using certain physical symbols, which God ordained in connection with what the Holy Ghost called, "the LORD's passover" (Exodus 12:11).  The Hebrews (and others who willingly joined them) were commanded (each and every household), at that first "passover" observance, to prepare and consume a sacrificial lamb in a very precise manner and, also, to smear that lamb's blood upon the outer face of the doorpost (and to use hyssop as the brush with which to smear the blood).  Each and every one of those objects (and words) God intended them to convey very specific and vastly important meaning, to His people.

And we know, from Scripture, that all of those symbols had (have) their fulfillment in the Person and work of Jesus Christ ~ who, not insignificantly, in Scripture, he himself is called, "Christ our passover" (1 Corinthians 5:7).

We furthermore know, from Scripture, on what Biblical calendar date (15 Nissan ~ on the Jewish calendar) Jesus suffered and died.

Jesus himself instituted what the Bible refers to as "the Lord's supper," or what Christians call Communion.  In which, ceremony, Christ ordained that bread and (unfermented) wine (juice) are to be used, by Christians, as symbols wherewith to memorialize the Lord's "death;" which, of course, literally occurred at the beginning of the Feast of Passover.

All of that symbolism was and is ordained by God, explicitly in connection with Christ's crucifixion at the time of Passover.  The Church is moreover commanded to memorialize Christ's suffering and death ~ not with symbols of our own (or of other men's) choosing, but by means of those symbols which God himself, in the Person of Christ, ordained.

Instead of honoring the Word of God, however, the contemporary Church substitutes the word "Easter" and certain other symbols associated with that, in the place of "Passover."  Importantly, the word Easter is not without signification.  Easter was a pagan festival from long before the time of Christ.  It was still a pagan festival that was widely kept, especially throughout the Roman Empire, during the time of Christ and for a long time afterward ~ until, in the early fourth century, the Roman Emperor Constantine (who was a sun-worshiper all of his life), together with a handful of apostate religious leaders who themselves were sun-worshipers, decreed that "Easter" be observed in connection with the occurrence of the Spring Equinox.  Which is still the time of Easter, today.

Easter has absolutely nothing to do with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  Eggs and rabbits are not acceptable substitutes for bread and wine (Communion).  "Easter" does not have the same meaning as "Passover."  And the mere fact that the contemporary Church gives more weight to the importance of "tradition," than it does to the clear meaning and commandments of Scripture, does not justify the continuation of those practices which elevate the keeping of tradition, above reverence to God and obedience to Scripture.

Symbols matter to God ~ whether they may mean anything to anyone else, or not.