Bobservations Column
By Pastor Bob Lawrenz
The Easter Season is rife with renewal; new growth, flowers piercing the soils as they shoot upward to bloom and color our gardens and landscapes. It’s a wonderful time of year to watch and witness all kinds of things sprout and grow. The Easter Season is truly a time of new growth.
Personally, I have difficulty referring to the day of Jesus’ Resurrection as “Easter”, and it simply is due to the questionable origins of the name “Easter” itself, and no amount of debate will resolve the issue.
It has been said by many naysayers that Easter was “stolen” or “hijacked” from the ancient pagans. It was a day of remembrance for the Assyrian goddess “Ishtar” they say. She was the goddess of love, war and sex. ... Clearly our Easter celebrations have nothing to do with her!
But many scholars believe that the name “Easter” gets its name from Eostre or Ostara, a Germanic pagan goddess of growth and light. But there is scant evidence that any Germanic people actually worshipped her! And Eostre wasn’t just a day, but a whole month, celebrating longer days and springtime growth.
According to the Bible, it is indeed Jesus our Creator that provides light and growth, both physically and Spiritually. As a Christian, I am convinced of this because that’s what is stated in His Word.
Genesis 1:3- “And God said, ‘Let there be light, and there was light.’”
John 9:5 – “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Revelation 21:23 – “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”
