Easter Sunrise Services

[Odë:hgöd]

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Certain women went out to the cemetery before the sun was up and Jesus was
already gone. (Matt 28:1-6 & John 20:1) So maybe we should be having twilight
services instead of sunrise?
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[Albion]

Or do what the Eastern Christian churches have long done. That is to have what some today might call a "watch service" in which the congregation assembles before sunrise on Easter and before the celebratory worship service, waiting in the dark for the dawn to break...somewhat like what the women who went to the tomb on Easter morning experienced.

 

[Odë:hgöd]

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Aside from the apparent differences in the language and grammar of Matt 28:1-6,
Mark 16:1-7, Luke 24:22-23, and John 20:1-2; the point that all clearly agree upon
is that Jesus was gone when the women arrived.

FAQ: If Jesus' crucified dead body was restored to life before the sun came up, then
how can Sunday be counted as the third day since his ordeal. (Luke 24:21-23)

REPLY: Their holy days of obligation were 24-hour calendar events that began and
ended at sundown. But normal days were only 12 hours apiece (John 11:9-10) and
began at 06:00 am and ended at 06:00 pm, at which point in time the hours of
night began-- regardless of the season --so that certain times of the year nights
began while he sun was still up, and days sometimes began while the sun was still
down.

For example: the sun arose in Jerusalem April 09, 2023 at 06:18 am, which in the
past would've been 18 minutes after the beginning of their civil day.

So; if Jesus' crucified dead body was restored to life sometime in those 18 minutes
before sunrise, then technically he was within the limits of a new day rather than
the tail end of a previous night.
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[Odë:hgöd]

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POSIT: Easter sunrise services are pagan: they're not in the Bible.

REPLY: Sunrise services are neither prohibited nor required in the New Testament;
thus they fall into the category of debatable practices which, for Christ's followers,
are regulated by the principles discussed in the 14th chapter of Romans.

In other words: sunrise services are pagan for some folks, yes, but they aren't
necessarily pagan for everyone because not everyone is out there that morning for
a pagan purpose.

For example: human sacrifice is normally a pagan practice; but relative to God's
purposes, it's not.

For another example: Jesus and his men drank the fruit of the vine at his last
supper (Matt 26:29 & Mark 14:25) Well; a detailed examination of the 12th chapter
of Exodus readily reveals that there is nothing in black and white designating a
specific beverage for the Passover dinner, i.e. none is prohibited and none is
required, viz: it's a gray issue.

Strict legalists would insist that Jesus and his men were in violation of the
commandments that prohibits adding to and/or subtracting from the Law (Deut 4:2
& Deut 5:29-30) but they would be wrong.
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[Albion]

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For another example: Jesus and his men drank the fruit of the vine at his last
supper (Matt 26:29 & Mark 14:25) Well; a detailed examination of the 12th chapter
of Exodus readily reveals that there is nothing in black and white designating a
specific beverage for the Passover dinner, i.e. none is prohibited and none is
required, viz: it's a gray issue.

Except that there is no reason to connect what we find in Exodus with the Last Supper. With the second of those, we know that the event occurred at the right time for Passover but that it didn't meet the requirements of a Passover Seder. Further, Jesus and his Apostles drank what the Bible identifies as 'fruit of the vine,' not water or olive oil or anything else that wouldn't accord with that description.

It's not a gray issue. Not unless someone wants to argue the familiar point concerning what the alcoholic content of the beverage might have been.

As for the idea that any of this is "pagan," the fact is that pagans "did" almost everything that later religions did, but didn't mean the same thing by it. That's what matters.