Sacred Roots Workshop

Ses s i on 6: Hi s L i fe i n Us

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5. While Jesus observed God’s appointed feasts (e.g., John 5.1; 7.2, 10; Matt. 26.17-18), the NT itself contains no hard-and-fast regulations for believers either as to fasts or festivals, cf. Acts 15.

6. Building on Jewish experience, however, Christians built upon this Jewish principle of historical connection to God’s saving acts, and adopted the models of two of its foremost celebrations, relating them to the Savior’s work: Passover and Pentecost.

a. Easter or Pascha . Evidence shows the Easter Celebration (Passover ) probably arose in the East as early as the beginning of the 2nd century !

b. Whitsun or Pentecost, similarly arose in the West at the end of the 2nd century , providing in experience a natural conclusion to the seven weeks of celebrations after Easter.

c. The celebration of Ascension Day, Epiphany and Christmastide were not formal until the 4th century, with Christmas and Epiphany originally connected with the Festival of the Nativity (whose dates are cited as early as 200 AD, or very soon after this time).

7. Trinity Sunday dates from the 10th century, and is unique to the Western Church’s celebration.

8. The Middle Ages saw a dramatic increase in both the number of days and complexity of them peculiar to the West, and dates from the 10th century.