The Story of Easter
Spring is in the air! And chocolate eggs and chocolate bunnies are filling shelves in the shops! But what is Easter really about? For Christians it is time to celebrate the anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus. The name “Easter” comes from the name of a Saxon goddess of spring, “Eostre”. She either had a hare’s head, or was always seen with a hare by her side. Hares or rabbits represented enviable fertility to the pagans.
And this is where the notion of the Easter Bunny comes from! Originally a spirit, it brought new life in eggs with it when it appeared in spring. Today someone dressed as Easter Bunny may be seen at a hunt for Easter eggs! Eggs were another symbol of new life and fertility, part of the pagan worship of the resurgence of life with the arrival of spring.
Historical records, including the Bible, tell us that Jesus was also crucified at this time of year, in the run up to the Jewish Passover festival. The date each year for Passover was, and still is, based on the Jewish calendar, which has different months than on the calendar we follow today in the western world.
About 350 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, church leaders decided to tell people what day Easter should be observed, as people were choosing different days based on different reasoning. For instance, should Easter Day always be on a Sunday, as this was the original day of the resurrection, or could it be on a week day if the changing date of Passover dictated this? These church leaders decided that Easter Sunday will always be on the First Sunday after the full moon that directly follows the Spring Equinox!
Even though in this way Christian Easter became separated from Jewish Passover, the resurrection of Jesus in some meaningful ways mirrored the events of Passover, and really has nothing in common with the earlier pagan spring festivals, except that new life at spring-time is sometimes used as a picture of new life with Jesus. The Passover was established as a reminder to God’s people of how he had rescued them from slavery in Egypt. Jesus rescues us from slavery to sin.
Jesus was like those lambs that had to be killed for God’s people to be saved. The Bible says Jesus was the last lamb that would ever need to be sacrificed; his blood would keep people spiritually safe forever more. Jesus died to save us from sin, and he rose again to show he was boss over sin and death. All we have to do is invite Jesus into our lives. That’s why Easter Sunday, aka Resurrection Day, is something worth celebrating!
Later on, in the fourth century AD, the church created some more “holy days” to observe, each of which was to act as a reminder of something from the life of Jesus, eg. the days of Lent.
Richmond Park Church, Read more about the life of Jesus and where Easter traditions came from