3 Bible Tips: Christian Festivals
The Bible has no record of the New Testament Church of God celebrating Christmas or Easter. What Christian festivals did Jesus and the apostles celebrate?
1. The apostle Paul told the mostly gentile church in Corinth to keep the feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread.
"Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
2. The Church was founded when the disciples were all celebrating the Day of Pentecost.
"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place" (Acts 2:1).
3. Jesus Christ celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles and Eighth Day even though His life was in danger.
"After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand... Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught... On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink'" (John 7:1-2, 14, 37).
These are just a few of the many references to the seven "feasts of the Lord" (Leviticus 23:2) in the New Testament. See more in "God's Festivals in the New Testament" and the rest of the inspiring booklet God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind.