Forget about modern day Easter Bunny and all the pagan festivals that Good Friday and Easter have replaced.
It is unfortunate that there are also people teaching that we should instead of celebrating Good Friday and Easter, observe the feasts instituted pre-Christ era.
Good Friday and Easter may have replaced what were formerly some pagan festivals; however, it is the significance of these two days in the Christian calendar that we need to focus on.
Good Friday is to remember Christ's death, whose crucifixion preceded His ultimate triumph over death -- for, after three days, Christ Himself was raised from the dead. This is the reason for Easter. The message of Christ resurrection should be shared out widely so that all mankind can now have hope. Christ is our First Fruit (1 Cor 15:20), marking the advent of the Holy Ghost upon the body of Christ on Pentecost.
Going back to the last supper that Jesus had with His disciples, Jesus taught them the significance of the bread and cup:
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:26-29)
It is interesting that, although the Passover feast was approaching, the Lord never taught His disciples to just continue on with the traditions from the Old Testament since they were all Jews.
Instead, why did He institute a new tradition - the Lord's Supper, which has been followed through two thousand years of Church History?
This question begs to be answered: Wouldn't it be a lot easier for the disciples to carry on the traditions that they were already familiar with since birth? Why Lord's Supper instead of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread?
This leads to the next question: Why Good Friday instead of Yom Kippur and why Easter instead of Feast of the First Fruits?
In understanding the Scripture, we need to have both the Old and the New Testaments. There is a saying, "The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed; the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed."
The Reason for Good Friday
As Paul clearly pointed out in Colossians 2:16-19, all feasts in the Old Testament pointed to Jesus who was coming. They were mere shadows of Christ's coming, meant for people who were living under the Old Covenant.
For us, Christ came to accomplish the Law (Matthew 5:17). He was the last Pascal Lamb who came to fulfil all the requirements under the Old Covenant. Having been found perfect and blameless, this Lamb of God offered Himself to be sacrificed as the Pascal Lamb of God. His sacrifice alone was sufficient to redeem mankind from the curse of sin. After Him, there is no need for any other lamb to be sacrificed anymore! For this reason, Christians no longer observe Yom Kippur.
For the same reason, Christians do not celebrate the other feasts which God instituted for the Israelites who lived before the coming of the Messiah.
Let's read the words of Paul again, focusing manly on the last few words (in bold):
Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
This Good Friday, let us be ever grateful to our Lord who went to the Cross for our sake. You can read more about the fulfilment of the seven feasts in Christ Himself. Click here.I leave with you to read what a brother-in-Christ, Isuru from Sri Lanka has written: 7 sayings of Jesus Christ on the cross – Blog by True God
