“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” – 1 Peter 2:24 (ESV)
It is during this time of the years that we increase our focus on the resurrection of Jesus Christ because it is Easter. After the Passion Week (Palm Sunday-Easter), How much do we think about Christ’s resurrection? Doesn’t it diminish for the rest of the year?* We know, however, that the Resurrection Day, falling on the first day of the week is the reason the disciples and apostles began the practice of meeting for worship, teaching and fellowship. In the first century, every first day of the week was a time to remember. Christ’s death and then resurrection is the why of following the Way of Jesus. Our promise today from Peter is that we have been given by Jesus, eternal life and saved from death because Christ paid our penalty and defeated death for us. Why not follow the early example of the believers and make that the center of our weekly worship? Worship happens in a community of believers as often and as regular as is possible. We need each other to remind all that we meet on Sundays mostly because the disciples set the pattern for us the first Sundays after Christ ascended into heaven.
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*The Easter date floats on our calendar. Each year it is marked on the First Day of the week between March 22 (very infrequent) and April 25 (also infrequent).
Easter is always on Sunday, but it moves around more than other holidays.
Easter as early as March 22 is very rare. The last time it happened was 1818, and the next time will be 2285. Easter last fell on the latest date in 1943, and will again in 2038. Next year it's April 20.
How the date is determined sounds simple but is pretty complex. Generally, Easter is observed on the Sunday following the first full moon in the Northern Hemisphere, or the first full moon after the vernal equinox March 20.
In depth explanation of how the Easter Date is calculated: http://assa.org.au/edm
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