BITS and PIECES
289th Edition – April 5, 2026
A random collection of news and views compiled by Frank McClelland for the Toronto Free Presbyterian Church.
EASTER
Christianity has two annual major celebrations – Christmas and Easter. Neither of these are accurate dates for either the birth or resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Jesus was probably born in the springtime rather in the dead of winter – the shepherds would not be in the fields in wintertime. Christmas was set on a single date, December 25, every year.
Easter is different. It only appears once in Scripture [Acts 12:4]. The word has to do with the Jewish word for ‘Passover’. The English word Easter is related to a pagan god. The Jewish Christians linked Easter with the Passover and so observed it on the 14th day of the Jewish month Nisan. The Gentile Christians celebrated the Resurrection on the Lord’s Day.
This difficulty was resolved by the Council of Nicea in 325AD which ruled that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox. This year it is April 5.
While there is some uncertainty about the dates of Christmas and Easter there is clearly no doubt about what they represent. The birth of Jesus was a reality as was His resurrection.
AN AMAZING STORY
Lawyers Gilbert West and Lord Lyttleton were among the most brilliant intellectuals of their day. But they were rabid opponents of Bible Christianity. They decided that if two great fundamentals of the Gospel were overthrown, Christianity would crumble into ruin. These fundamentals were, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Conversion of St. Paul.
So, West undertook to write a treatise on the Resurrection proving it to be a fabrication, and Lyttleton vowed to produce a treatise showing that Paul was not miraculously converted on the Damasus Road. They therefore started to sift the evidence which they believed was pure
fabrication, and which they were determined to expose and explode.
From time to time, they met, and then one day West said to Lyttleton, “I have something important to relate. You know how keen I was to expose as pure fabrication the Resurrection of Christ. I therefore determined to thoroughly sift the evidence, and in doing so, I had to be honest, I had to be sincere, I had to be honourable, and I had to forsake my prejudice and act on strict legal principle. Having pursued this line, I have been forced to the conclusion that Jesus Christ really rose from the dead. Now you may laugh at me if you like, but I got down on my knees and asked that risen Saviour to save me, and He has done it”.
Lyttleton replied, “Strange to relate, I have had a similar experience. I, too, sifted the evidence, sincerely, candidly and honestly, and the more I weighed the evidence, the more I was forced to the conclusion that St. Paul was really converted on the Damascus Road. That being so, West, as an honest person, I could do no other but fall on my knees and ask the same Christ to save me, and He has done it.”
[From Christian Foundations, p. 134 by Dr. Ian Paisley].
PROOF OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION
The resurrection of Christ is one of the best attested facts in history. Here are a few of the evidences, and there are many more.
Prophesied by Christ Himself. Jesus told His disciples several times He would “Be raised the third day” [Luke 9:22].
The Gospels recorded it. The Gospels form four eye-witness accounts of the resurrection. If the world was announcing some great thing, it would be with much pomp, but Jesus used just one word – ‘Mary.’
The Disciples were transformed by it.
The disciples were expecting an earthly king, but with His crucifixio,n their hopes died.
Once they realized He was alive, they were changed men.
Changed lives declare it. Saul the persecutor becomes Paul the preacher. Each born-again believer remembers what he once was. The change in us is directly due to the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Because He lives, we shall live also.
“Hallelujah, Christ arose!”
