I am joyful to also include some of the holy days, periods, and festivals of the ancestors of Jesus of Nazareth, our spiritual ancestors, and our brothers and sisters who are Christian, "messianic" Jews.
The Orthodox Church Christians (see The Church) use the old Julian calendar to
set important event dates; others use the modern Gregorian calendar.
 | Sabbath: The Holy day. Every 7th day (Saturday) of each week (Shabbat) for the Jew and every 1st day of each week
(Sunday...because Jesus resurrected on the 1st day) for the
Christian. A regularly set-aside day of rest and
worship. (Exodus 20:8, Leviticus 23:2-4). |
| New Year's Day: 1st of Jan...8 days after Jesus born: circumcision (covenant) and naming as Jesus (Luke 2:21).
|
| Epiphany Season: By convention,
epiphany begins 12 days after Jesus
born (6 Jan.), to (1) celebrate the visit of the Magi...the first gentiles to
recognize & worship Jesus, the Savior of mankind (Matthew 2:1) & to
celebrate (2) the day of the John's baptism (Luke 3:21-22) of Jesus on which
day the miracle of Theophany (Theo-fania
in Greek) or “the revelation of God” occurred. When Christ was baptized,
the one and all-mighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, for the first time
revealed Himself to mankind as Three Persons: God the Father – by His voice;
God the Son – by His baptism in the river Jordan & God expressing
pleasure in Jesus & calling Him His Son; and the Holy Spirit – by
descending in the form of a dove. |
| Orthodox & Coptic Christmas: In Dec. 2002, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
declared Jan. 7th to be the Egyptian (Coptic) Christian's Christmas day, the
Orthodox (Greek, Russian, "eastern") date. |
| Lent Season: It is IMPORTANT that the focus be on (1) who
(Jesus) and (2) why (died to pay the sin penalty for all mankind) & NOT
just on what the church person is "giving up for Lent". Might the
contemplation time also focus strongly on, "What can I do from here on to
reflect Jesus better?...to promote the truth of Jesus better?" Beginning about 400 AD, the 40 (not counting Sundays) day period of
penitence ending on the day of
crucifixion. Maybe the 40 days is akin to the 40 days Jesus contemplatively
spent in the wilderness prior to the onset of His ministry. "Lent" is a middle-English word meaning "springtime" or "growth".
It is a seriously reflective period of trying to put away the "flesh"...a time of
contemplating sin in one's life. It is a period to especially say, "I'm
sorry, Lord, so sorry I have continued to sin against you!" Some fast at
various times and others try to convert to more simple eating. In olden times,
the meat, butter, and eggs were "used up" before Ash Wednesday &
done without during Lent and
often lead to a celebratory "last gulp" of "fat Tuesday" feasting: "Shrove Tuesday"
(the word "shrove" is a past tense of the English verb
"shrive," which means, by confessing and doing penance...shriving,
to obtain absolution for one's sins. Other cultures call it Mardi Gras,
Fasching, or Carnival (Latin for "farewell to meat"). Tuesday ends
at midnight to begin that 40 day penance time, as the first day of Lent is "Ash Wednesday" ("from ashes you came and to ashes you shall return"...Genesis
3:19). Ash Wednesday is celebrated by some churches by making a mixture of oil and ashes from, say, the burned palm leaves from the previous year's Easter
service or materials related to the Shrove Tuesday eating event. The pastor dips a finger into the mixture and draws a small ash cross on the forehead of the believer.
In churches which observe the period of Lent, it is a season of individual and
church-wide seriousness, soberness, and reflection of the upcoming remembrance of God's sacrifice of Jesus
(& Jesus' willingness)
on the cross that all have a way to eternal
salvation. Believers often give up something for Lent as a penitential help to keep focused on the
meaning of this incredible sacrifice. Especially when they fail, it is a reminder that we all need a
Savior.
Huge pagan festival perversions of gluttony & debauchery ( such as the Mardi Gras..."fat Tuesday"...of New Orleans and
Carnival of Brazil) may lead up to the eve of Lent. |
| Easter week (Pascha for Orthodox): "Easter"...the joyful
celebration of the act that reconciled a sinful mankind to a Holy God. Old
Testament prophecy had to be fulfilled in all detail; so, all
"players" were part of that fulfillment, and none should be
condemned. If anyone is "at fault" for the death of Jesus, it is
mankind (which includes you & me). A quote, "Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay
there."
Neither the Romans, the Jews, or any other group or army could arrest Jesus
and put him on the Cross...nor did the nails keep Him on the cross: it was His
love for mankind and love of and
obedience to His Father that took Him to the cross & held Him there
(Matthew 26:53-54; John 19:11)! The days:
 | Palm Sunday (Sunday of the Passion): The Sunday preceding Easter Sunday...in remembrance that Jesus entered Jerusalem on that day, on the back of a humble colt, the road strewn with palm leaves
by joyous on-looking followers (John 12:12-19). |
|
| Maundy Thursday:
Commandment (Maundy) Thursday...in memory of "The Last Supper" (the 1st Lord's
Supper of the church) which occurred the evening prior to the
crucifixion of Jesus (Luke 22:14-23)...during which He did foot washing (John
13:1-17)...and with much discourse (John chapters 13-17). And he
was arrested late that night (John 18:12) and taken during the night to
Caiaphas (John 18-19).Latin for commanment is "maundy", and Jesus gave a
new commandmen John 13:34. |
|
| Good Friday:
this designation is likely from the old English "Godes Friday" ("God's
Friday...in much the same way that the saying, "goodbye" is a
contraction of the old term, "God be with you". It is the day of the reconciliation-price
payment...Friday. Early that day (John
18:28), He was brought before the Roman leader Pilate...flogged (John 19:1)...at "the
6th hour" (11-12AM). He was sentenced to be crucified (John 19:4-16)... the day on which "The Lamb of God's" blood was spilt (John 19:34) during His (Jesus')
crucifixion. He died about the "9th hour"...2-3PM (Matthew 27:45-50).
Death on the cross occurred on the 14th day of Nissan, the day of the Feast of Passover...exactly parallel to the lamb blood which had to be painted over the door of the Israelites in Egypt the evening prior to the Exodus of the Jews...their rescue, their deliverance, their salvation...from Egypt, protected by "the
blood". In the greatest love
blessing ever on mankind, God willed that the blood of Jesus was spilt for the "good" (the atonement and salvation) of mankind.
A Good Friday (or Saturday) Tenebrae service symbolizes the darkness that fell
(Luke 23:44-45) on the face of the earth while
the Son (Sun) of justice was hung upon the cross, and it is a darkening of the
church sanctuary toward the end of that particular church service [tenebrae
= Latin word for "shadows"]. |
|
| Passover: Passover (Pesach) Day...begins at sundown on Good Friday and ends at sundown of
Shabbat, and that Shabbat begins the week-long Feast or Festival of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:4-8) in memory of the Egyptian Passover (Exodus 12:1-30) resulting in the Israelite
race-saving exodus from Egypt and the unleavened bread they ate that evening (Exodus 12:14-20). The feast began on the 15th day of Nissan, the day after Jesus on Calvary.
The feast is otherwise also known as Spring Festival and Festival of the
Paschal Lamb. |
|
| Easter Sunday: the Sunday following the Passover Friday, the day of the resurrection of Jesus...as the first fruit of the resurrection...from death in the tomb (John 20). It is the 1st Sunday following the ecclesiastical full moon which
occurs on or next after March 21st. That weekend of the death of Jesus, the Feast of First Fruits was on the 16th day of Nissan...the very day Jesus arose!
[ dating,
military site] |
|
|
Next Sunday after Easter: some call it "Doubting Thomas
Sunday"Thomas would not believe the resurrection until he put his hand into
Jesus' side. John ends that chapter by declaring that Jesus is the
Messiah...the Christ (John 20:24-31). |
[date calculators &
history]
|
| The Annunciation, March 25th: If Jesus was born December 25th, then
the angel Gabriel would have announced Jesus' birth to Mary on about this date
9 months prior to 12/25. |
| Ascension Day: celebrates...40 days after Easter Sunday...the day, after having
appeared resurrected to the disciples (and over 500 other witnesses), the disciples witnessed Jesus' ascension up into the clouds/sky (Luke 24:51; Acts
1:3) back to Heaven. Whitsunday is the Sunday following. |
| Pentecost: from the great festival of the grain harvest
(Shavout)...the day of the Feast
of Harvest...at the end of the 7 weeks following Passover Friday. For the Jews, this seven week period is the Feast of Weeks, in celebration of the giving of The Law by God to Moses at Mt. Sinai.
Also known as the Day of First Fruits. For the Christian, Pentecost
(Greek, "50th day") refers to the particular Pentecost festival 50 days following
Passover & subsequently also the
resurrection of Jesus, at which time the Holy Spirit began the process of personally coming to, and indwelling (baptizing), each believer (Acts 2:1-4). Now, we celebrate Pentecost Sunday as the seventh Sunday following Easter Sunday; some
Christian churches refer to that celebration Sunday as Whitsunday. |
| Trinity Season: also called the Pentecost Season. Goes for months from Pentecost to Advent and
intends plenty of time for study and contemplation on The Trinity: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. It includes Reformation Day, 31 October and All Saints Day, November 1st. |
| Rosh Hashanah: is the Jewish New Year and the start of their Ten Days of Penitence.
|
| Feast of Trumpets: is on the first day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar and originally was a special day of rest (Leviticus 23:23-25). It currently remembers the prophecy of the
re-gathering of the Jews in their promised land which began in 1948 after their scattering in 70 AD.
|
| Yom Kippur: is the sacred Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32) on the 10th day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar.
|
| Feast of Tabernacles: the Sukkot is for 7 days, beginning on the 15th day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, in memory of the type of dwellings they used during the 40 years in the wilderness upon their exodus from Egyptian slavery (Leviticus 23:33-36).
|
| Thanksgiving Sunday: the Sunday immediately following USA Thanksgiving Day, the 4th Thursday in November.
|
| Christ the King Sunday: this is the last Sunday of the Trinity or
Pentecost Season & the Sunday just before the first Sunday of Advent.
Since it is the day for proclamation of Jesus as our
King,
one would think that it would rank with Christmas & Easter. |
| Advent Season: Advent ("the coming") begins with the 4th Sunday prior to Christmas Day; a
joyful period of anticipation of the coming birth of Jesus. A season of gifts and new things and somewhat opposite of the humbling-down of the Lent Season.
|
| Christmas Day: The day of celebrating and honoring the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ (the long-awaited
Messiah...divinity cloaked in humanity)...by convention (beginning in the reign of Roman
emperor Constantine), 25 December.
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posted 20 February 1999 [3rd additions 20 June, 4th additions 5 Oct. 1999;
latest addition/modification 19 April 2009] |