Ritualized Feasts Follow Resurrection
An all-creatures Bible Message

Ritualized Feasts Follow Resurrection

[PDF handout]
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
1 April 2018
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Jeremiah 7:21-26
Mark 16:1-8
1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Ritualized feasts follow resurrection, or we could say that our societies have ritualized Resurrection Day into a series of Easter feasts:
 
We have the Easter egg hunts for the children that draw the children away from the true meaning of Resurrection Day and trivialize the fact that these eggs are the hard-boiled unborn babies of their tortured mothers.
 
We also dye these eggs and put them in baskets with candy, including lots of milk chocolate and fail to mention that the milk comes from mistreated and short lived mother cows who have had their babies taken away from them.
 
And we have the feast for adults and children where they dine on the roasted remains of animal babies without batting an eye or thinking about who they were or how much they suffered.
 
We should not be a part of these rituals and feasts.
 
Resurrection Day should be a time of remembrance of Jesus having risen from the dead.
 
With these things in mind, let’s take a look at Mark 16:1-8…

1. And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him [Jesus].

The Sabbath ended at sundown on Saturday evening, and these women either gathered these spices together later Saturday evening or had them readied so they could go to the cemetery early Sunday morning.

2. And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

We believe that this verse was written this way, because Jesus told the disciples that He would rise from the dead on the third day, which Sunday is, since He died on Friday.

3. And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
 
4. And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.

We believe that this was just another miracle associated with His resurrection.

5. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.

Their amazement is because they really didn’t believe that He was actually going to rise from the dead, which we believe is the same kind of lack of faith that led to the distortions we have today when our Easter ritualized feasts follow resurrection.

6. And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.
 
7. "But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He said to you.' "

This is yet another reminder that Jesus told them about His resurrection, and yet even to this day, most people live like they don’t really believe.

8. And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
NASB

This is the fear that came from their lack of faith, and it’s the same lack of faith today in all of our remembrances of Jesus’ resurrection and why so many people participate in the ritualized feasts follow resurrection.
 
Furthermore in most of Christianity, Jesus is considered to be the last sacrifice…then why are we still raising and sacrificing innocent animals to the demon gods of greed and gluttony?
 
Listen to what Jeremiah wrote in Jeremiah 7:21-26 some 500 years before Jesus was born into this world.

21. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh.

As we read on we will see that this is a form of heavenly or Jeremiah’s sarcasm.

22. "For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.

This is plainly telling us that all the ritualized animal sacrifices did not come from God.

23. "But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.'
 
24. "Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.
 
25. "Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending them.
 
26. "Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did evil more than their fathers.
NASB

And this hardness of heart and disbelief problem continues to exist until this very day, and it explains the reason that they created all the habits that ritualized feasts follow resurrection.
 
Now let’s take a look at what Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11…

1. Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
 
2. by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

This also tells us why most people don’t fully live in the heavenly will of God, and fail to fully believe the Gospel message; instead, they want to live in the corrupt and evil ways of this world with all its violence, pain, suffering, bloodshed, and death that causes millions of humans and billions of other animals to suffer and die every year.

3. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

This is a part of the Bible that makes up the doctrine of Jesus being the last sacrifice, but it doesn’t seem to be followed by most people for they continue to sacrifice animals to the demonic and corrupt forces of this world instead of following the heavenly will of God.

4. and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
 
5. and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
 
6. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;

In the form of the Holy Spirit, He has “appeared” to most if not all Christians, but they continue to live in the same old worldly ways of the ungodly people of this world with all its killing and bloodshed.

7. then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
 
8. and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
 
9. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Even Paul, who did so many evil things, repented and was forgiven and saved; but unlike most Christians, he actively worked for the Lord, even if he didn’t follow every aspect of the heavenly will of God, such as the killing and eating of animals.

10. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

In other words, he lived by Holy Spirit power.

11. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
NASB

And because of this, many did come to believe, but relatively few of them truly repented of all their worldly ways, and continued to participate in their former worldly ways, such as what we see this Easter season: ritualized feasts follow resurrection.
 
We must turn away from these ritualized and ungodly Easter feasts on animal products, which have nothing to do with Resurrection Day, and return to celebrating the Jesus Christ who rose from the dead, and commit ourselves to living in His heavenly will as He taught us to do.
 
This is the only way we are ever going to be able to end the violence in this world and bring the true peace that God wants us to have.
 
Amen.

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