Today I'd just like to list a few traditions attached to "Easter" which interfere with our understanding. These vary in their importance, but, to be sure, they are all important in one way or another. Some are serious errors which bring disrepute on the the true faith. The overall season is often called Lent. We recently looked at that tradition as well. You can read that post HERE.
Here is a quick list (in no particular order) of traditions which need reconsideration.
- "Good Friday" crucifixion
- The last supper
- The field purchased
- Three crosses on Calvary
- The fate of the malefactor on the cross
- The cross is T-shaped
- The young man in the garden
- The washing of the feet
- The ordinance of the New Covenant
- Peter's denials
- The Lord's final breath
- The three days in the grave
- Timeline from Bethany to Jerusalem
- The "sunrise" resurrection
This list is not exhaustive.
Tradition has muddied (if not completely messed up) doctrines connected to all these. And I am not even addressing the extra-biblical traditions such as Veronica and the veil, etc. I am guilty of mishandling all of these in my life. But when I started to step back and let the whole of scripture interpret itself, as I recognized how much I let tradition interpret scripture, God started to take away the cobwebs.
I had planned on a separate post addressing each of these (we have covered a few previously), but my hope here is only that we will start to practice Right Division and let scripture interpret scripture when applicable.
