Pastors Easter Greeting:

1 Corinthians 15:20
But Christ has indeed been risen from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! I would like to greet all the readers during this great Easter holiday with this joyful Christian greeting.

Some of you may be wondering: is it Easter already? Yes, in 2013, the Christian world is celebrating Easter at the end of March, and not in April, as usual. Nevertheless, it is not important when and how we celebrate it, but what is important is the essence and spiritual meaning of this event.

Apostle Paul, an expert on the Jewish traditions of the Old Testament, wrote in the 1st Corinthians how the Church of the New Testament was to celebrate Easter/ Passover, and what or rather who is the true Passover:

“For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1st Cor. 5:7-8).

Thinking of the unleavened bread, Paul was looking back to Passover, when on the eve of the first day of the Festival Jews had to clean the house of anything that was leavened. It symbolized a separation from sin, to which Christians are called to do today.

The slaughter of the Passover Lamb served as a symbol of death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. The words “keep the Festival” are not related to Easter, or the Lord’s Supper, but rather they are used in a general sense, describing the life of a believer. Our whole life should be a celebration of joy, and it should be celebrated without the old leaven of sin, but we must live our lives with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

We not only celebrate the death of the Lamb of God on our behalf, but His glorious resurrection from the dead, for “God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him” (Acts 2:24).

The Resurrection of Christ is a victory of life over death! Be blessed!

With love,
Pastor Yuri Georgiev
San Francisco Christian Church