On April 4, the day after the Sabbath following the Feast of Unleavened Bread [Sunday], the members of Zion participated in the Sacred Assembly of the Day of Resurrection to commemorate the amazing power of Christ, who destroyed the power of death and rose from the dead three days after He was crucified.

ⓒ 2010 WATV

The name of this feast in the Old Testament is the Feast of Firstfruits; the Israelites brought to the priest a sheaf of the first grain they harvested, and he waved the sheaf before God on the day after the Sabbath to remember the day when they had crossed the Red Sea and landed on the shore (Lev 23:10-14; Ex 14:26-31).

According to the prophecy of the Feast of Firstfruits, Jesus rose from the dead as the firstfruits of those who had fallen asleep, on the day after the Sabbath [on Sunday] following the Feast of Unleavened Bread when He was crucified. On this day, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and gave it to His disciples, so their spiritual eyes were opened (1 Co 15:20; Lk 24:1-34).

Mother gave glory to Father for destroying Satan who held the power of death, and for planting a living hope for resurrection in the hearts of His children. Then She blessed the Day of Resurrection to be a day of grace when Her children were changed beautifully and achieved the resurrection of their faith, so that they could proclaim the joyful news of salvation and the eternal hope for heaven to the souls who were mourning because of the news about disasters and death.

ⓒ 2010 WATV

General Pastor Joo-Cheol Kim said, “Most Christians celebrate Easter by eating boiled eggs on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox. Actually, however, it originated from the pagan custom of serving Easter (Ashtoreth)—the pagan goddess who was associated with the spring sun. Easter is fundamentally different from the Resurrection Day Jesus established.” Saying that, he encouraged the members to proceed toward salvation by correctly understanding the Bible, and also asked them to lead all people around the world to the resurrection of life by boldly preaching the truth of the new covenant and the feasts of God celebrated in Zion according to the example of Jesus (Jdg 2:11-15; Hos 4:6-8; Isa 33:20-24; 1 Corinthians 15; Jn 5:24-29).

After the service, the members broke the blessed bread together, giving thanks to God for granting them the true Resurrection Day. In addition, they earnestly hoped that their spiritual eyes would be opened wide and fully realize God’s love and grace, being reborn in their faith.