Editing Resurrection of Jesus (section)

== Easter ==
{{Main|Easter}}

Easter is the preeminent Christian [[feast day|feast]] that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, and according to Susan J. White is "clearly the earliest Christian festival".<ref>''Foundations of Christian Worship'' by Susan J. White 2006 {{ISBN|0-664-22924-7}} p. 55</ref> According to James Dunn, "In Easter we celebrate man become God ... that in the death and resurrection of Christ God has broken the stranglehold of human selfishness, has proved the enduring and conquering strength of divine love".{{sfn|Dunn| 2003|p=268}} According to Thorwald Lorenzen, the first Easter led to a shift in emphasis from faith "in God" to faith "in Christ".{{sfn|Lorenzen|2003|pp=3–4}} According to Raymond Harfgus Taylor, Easter "focuses upon the consummation of the [[Redemption (theology)|redemptive act]] of God in the death/resurrection of Jesus Christ".<ref>''Mercer Dictionary of the Bible'' by Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard 1998 {{ISBN|0-86554-373-9}} p. 224</ref>

Easter is linked to the [[Passover]] and [[Exodus from Egypt]] recorded in the [[Old Testament]] through the [[Last Supper]] and crucifixion that preceded the resurrection. According to the New Testament, Jesus gave the [[Passover sacrifice|Passover meal]] a new meaning, as he [[Jesus predicts his death|prepared himself and his disciples]] for his death in the [[Cenacle|upper room]] during the Last Supper. He identified the loaf of bread and cup of wine as [[Body of Christ|his body]] soon to be sacrificed and [[Blood of Christ|his blood]] soon to be shed. 1 Corinthians 5:7 states, "Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast{{snd}}as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed";<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|5:7|NIV}}</ref> this refers to the Passover requirement to have no yeast in the house and to the allegory of Jesus as the [[Lamb of God|Paschal lamb]].<ref>{{bibleverse||John|1:29}}, {{bibleverse||Revelation|5:6}}, {{bibleverse|1 Peter|1:19}}, {{bibleverse|1 Peter|1:2}}, and the associated notes and Passion Week table in {{Cite book|editor=Barker, Kenneth|title=Zondervan NIV Study Bible|publisher=[[Zondervan]]|location=[[Grand Rapids]]|year=2002|isbn=0-310-92955-5|page=1520}}</ref> The Jewish feast of [[Bikkurim (First-fruits)|First-fruits]] is regarded by [[Dispensationalism|dispensationalists]] as foreshadowing its fulfilment in the resurrection of Jesus based on 1 Corinthians 15:20 "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Clarence |title=Dispensational Truth, Or God's Plan and Purpose in the Ages |date=2010 |publisher=Cosimo, Inc. |isbn=978-1-61640-266-2 |page=159 |edition=Scanned copy of 1918 book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D4x4ftJlu_QC |access-date=19 December 2022}}</ref>

Whilst the fact that the crucifixion is remembered on [[Good Friday]] and Easter celebrated two days later may appear to contradict biblical accounts that Jesus rose on the third day, in Semitic tradition any part of a 24-hour period could be called "a day and a night".<ref>{{cite web |last=Köstenberger |first=Andreas |author-link=Andreas J. Köstenberger |title=Did Jesus Rise on the Third Day? |url=https://biblicalfoundations.org/raised-on-the-third-day/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204094439/https://biblicalfoundations.org/raised-on-the-third-day/ |archive-date=February 4, 2024 |website=Biblical Foundations |date=9 April 2023 |access-date=March 31, 2024}}</ref>