Most Christians across the world will celebrate Easter today, one of the most important religious holidays of the year.
Easter, which always falls on Sunday, is the conclusion of what is known as Holy Week. Beginning on Palm Sunday, the week is filled with days that commemorate and follow the lead-up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.
Christians believe Jesus to be the son of God and the one who has redeemed them from their sins, allowing believers to go to heaven when they die.
Palm Sunday, which was on April 2nd this year, is the day Christians celebrate Jesus riding into Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Passover.
As Jesus passed through town on the back of a donkey, the people in the city laid down palm branches and cheered, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
The next major day in Holy Week is Holy Thursday, which is sometimes referred to as Maundy Thursday. On this day, observers remember how Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and the Last Supper.
To wash the feet of others was viewed as an act of humble service, and Jesus explained to his disciples, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”
At the Last Supper, also remembered on Holy Thursday, Jesus and his disciples shared a final meal together before one of them, a disciple named Judas Iscariot, left to set a plot in motion to betray Jesus to his enemies.
After dinner, the group went to a nearby garden where Jesus prayed. It was here that Judas arrived with a group of guards and arrested Jesus, turning him over to the local authorities.
The following day, on Good Friday, Jesus was put on trial and condemned to death. He was beaten and nailed to a wooden cross until death, after which he was buried in a tomb.
That Sunday, according to the Christian scriptures, Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples and other followers before ascending into heaven.
The day is remembered as Easter, which is celebrated around the world with many different customs. Most traditions include attending a church service and sharing a meal with family and friends to honor the resurrection of Jesus.
Other traditions celebrate Easter on a different calendar, however, and many Orthodox Christians will spend the upcoming week in their Holy Week.
“The strife is o’er, the battle done;
the victory of life is won:
the song of triumph has begun.
Alleluia!
The powers of death have done their worst, but Christ their legions has dispersed.
Let shouts of holy joy outburst.
Alleluia!
The three sad days are quickly sped; he rises glorious from the dead.
All glory to our risen Head.
Alleluia!”
“But God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”
-Acts 2:24
“O death, where is thy victory?
O death, where is thy sting?”
-1 Corinthians 15:55
Alleluia!
He is risen!