I started this sermon in March and then, we had 2 supply pulpit Ministers,
and my sermon got moved to May 18 th . On April 27 th Jim Eggleton
preached my sermon with the same Title “Eastertide”.
So I adjusted my sermon, and you can thank Jim for laying the groundwork.
I was going to teach you how to determine when Easter is every year so
that you can do it yourself. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent but to
determine Ash Wednesday we first must find Easter. Easter is a moveable
feast date which occurs between late March to late April. It all depends on
the date of the Pascal Full Moon. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the
Full Moon date after the spring Equinox. The church recognizes March 21
as the vernal or spring equinox. In 2025 the first full moon after March 21
was on April 12 th . The first Sunday after April 12 th was on April 13 th . How
come Easter was not on April 13 th but on April 20 th . Did they make a
mistake? The one time I picked to show you how this works, there was an
exception to the rule. Explanation- In 2025 we would have to have a glitch
to the system. The first full moon of spring was on April 12 at 8:22PM which
was technically April 13 th in Jerusalem which made the first Sunday after
the first full moon on April 20 th .
Now we have determined Easter and can start the Lenten season by
backing up 40 days for fasting. However, Sunday is the day of Jesus’
Resurrection and fasting is forbidden on Sundays and don’t count. So you
have 40 days of fasting and 6 Sundays of feasting which bring you to Ash
Wednesday and the beginning of Lent on March 5 th .
Why 40 days? In the beginning of Jesus’ ministry,
Matthew 4:1-2 The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil
could test him. After Jesus had gone without eating for forty days and
nights, he was very hungry. The devil tempted Jesus, to make bread from
stones, to jump off the highest part of the temple, and to bow down to the
devil. Jesus said “Go away, Satan! Worship the Lord your God and serve
only him”. Jesus began his ministry until his crucifixion and resurrection on
Easter Sunday.
After his resurrection, it says in Acts 1:3 “For forty days after Jesus had
suffered and died, he proved in many ways that he had been raised from death.
He appeared to his apostles and spoke to them about God’s
kingdom” and said: “Don’t leave Jerusalem yet. Wait here for the Father to
give you the Holy Spirit, just as I told you he has promised to do. John
baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit”
So, forty days after Jesus was crucified, died, and rose again we find us on
Ascension Thursday which is May29th. Ten days later or 50 days after
Easter, known as Eastertide, the Holy Spirit came down on the day of
Pentecost which is this year Sunday, June 8 th . Today is the fifth Sunday of
Eastertide.
Now let’s look at the Old Testament and see the many times God blessed
and was disappointed in his people and references to FORTY.
Jacob had 12 sons and one of his favorites was Joseph, the one with a
coat of many colors. His brother s had sold him and he became a slave of
Pharaoh. But God was with Joseph, and he became the administer for
Pharaoh after interpreting his dream of a great famine coming to all the
lands. Joseph’s family came down to Egypt and a great population
explosion occurred after Pharaoh died and the Jews became slaves of the
Egyptians. Moses was the son of Jews and killed an Egyptian who was
beating a Jew. Moses ran away and 40 years later God spoke to him from
a burning bush. God told Moses to go down to Egypt and lead God’s
people out of Egypt. There are so many wonderful stories and finally
Pharaoh lets the people go after many miracles and plagues of frogs,
gnats, flies, diseases of all animals, sores, hail, locusts, darkness and
finally the death of all first-born sons. Passover is the ceremony that saved
the Jews from the last punishment from God. Moses led the Jews out of
Egypt and crossed the Red Sea which God parted for the Jews to cross.
The Jews were traveling and complaining about one thing after another.
Having no water gave – God provided 12 springs, no food-God gave
Manna and quails, no more water- water from a rock.
In Exodus 24:15-17 “When Moses went up on Mount Sinai, a cloud
covered it, and the bright glory of the Lord came down and stayed there.
The cloud covered the mountain for 6 days, and on the seventh day the
Lord told Moses to come into the cloud. Moses did so and stayed there
forty days and forty nights.”
During that time the people became impatient, and they asked Aaron to
make them an image of a god and they made a golden calf. When Moses
came down and saw the idol, he became so upset that he threw the Stone
tablets with the 10 commandments on them and they broke into many
pieces. After pleading with God, Moses went back up Mount Sinai for
another 40 days and 40 nights and brought down a second set of tablets
with the ten commandments on them.
The people came to Canaan and the Lord told Moses to choose one man
from each of the 12 tribes to scout out the land that God had chosen for
them. They were to go and explore the land that God was giving them.
They explored for 40 days and came back. They showed the wonderful
fruit and said the land was rich in milk and honey. Joshua and Caleb said
they should go on but the other 10 said the people were too strong and
didn’t believe in God’s power that they could defeat those people. In
Numbers 14:34 God said, I will cruelly punish you every day for the next
forty years- one year for each day that the land was explored. Your sinful
people who ganged up against me will die here in the desert.
Numbers 32:13 Not one of those people believed in the Lord’s power,
except Caleb and Joshua. They remained faithful to the Lord, but he was
so angry with the others that he forced them to wander around in the desert
forty years. By that time everyone who had sinned against him had died.
The Journey from Mount Sinai to where the Jews traveled to cross the
Jorden River should have taken only 11 days. In those 40 years their
clothes never wore out, their feet never swelled.
Now there are many other references to Forty such as the forty years Saul
was the first king, the forty years David was king, the forty years that
Solomon was king
The last reference that I want to talk about is probably the first reference to
forty . The Lord saw how bad the people on earth were and that
everything they thought and planned was evil and he was sorry that he had
made them. But God was pleased with Noah and told him to build an ark.
In Genesis 7:4-12 God told Noah- Seven days from now I will send rain that
will last for forty days and nights, and I will destroy all other living creatures
I have made. Noah was 600 years old when he went into the boat with his
wife, 3 sons Shem, Ham and Japhet and their wives along with a male and
female of every kind of animal , bird, reptile, and 7 pairs of animals used for
sacrifices. …Noah was 600 years old when the waters started. For forty
days the rain poured down without stopping. The waters were so deep the
highest mountain peaks were almost twenty-five feet below the surface of
the waters. Everything was destroyed. A hundred and fifty days later the
water started to go down. The Lord told Noah Never again will I punish the
earth for the sinful things its people do. On the 17 th day of the 7 th month
the boat came to rest on the mountain. Forty days later Noah sent out a
raven but deep water was still everywhere. Noah sent out a dove and it
came back. Seven days later he sent out another dove and it came back
with a green leaf from an olive tree. He waited another 7 days and this time
the dove did not come back. Noah was now 601 years old and God told
Noah he and his family could now leave the boat
Genesis 9:9-13
“ I am going to make a solemn promise to you and to everyone who lives
after you. This includes the birds and the animals that came out of the
boat. I promise every living creature that the earth and those living on it will
never again be destroyed by a flood. The rainbow that I have put in the sky
will be my sign to you and to remind you that I will keep this promise
forever…. The rainbow will be the sign of that solemn promise.”
On February 24 in my daily bible reading, the writer told of seeing a
rainbow at Niagara Falls. He wrote that a rainbow is actually a full circle
which he had seen only once. He was gazing out an airplane window
when the sun, shining in just the right direction- revealed a full circle
rainbow in the distance above the clouds. The rainbow, like God has no
beginning and no end. Our Eternal God has promised to be there no
matter where we are. Every time we see a rainbow we know our God is
watching over us.
There are so many wonderful stories of God building our faith through
every test , whether easy or hard. When life is easy, rest in Him. When life
is hard, let Him carry you.
Does God always answer our prayers? Yes but sometimes his answer is
NO.
author: Gerda Krogslund