Easter Traditions

Easter Traditions

S.K. Jacklyn

16 Apr, 2022

Happy Easter! I hope this weekend you are able to have a blessed day with family and friends celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus!

As Christians we should always remember that the purpose of Easter is to celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection. That being said, many people also celebrate with secular festivities. It is often interesting and fun to find out what’s behind certain traditions and how they started. I’ve done some research so you don’t have to! 🙂

The Easter Bunny. One cannot talk about Easter traditions and leave out the Easter bunny. An egg laying rabbit is a tradition that dates back to Anglo-Saxon pagans and their goddess Eostre (likely where we got the name Easter). Eostre was the goddess of spring, fertility, and new life. Rabbits are known for multiplying quickly, and eggs also are a representation of fertility. It is likely that German immigrants brought the Easter bunny to America around the 1700s.1,2,3

Decorating and hunting for Easter Eggs. Easter eggs originated with the Easter bunny, and coloring and hunting for the eggs developed from that. Colored eggs are beautiful and could be used for decoration or given away as gifts. It is said that Russian Czar Alexander III gave his wife a decorated golden egg every Easter. Children used to make nests or set up baskets for the Easter Bunny to lay eggs in, and this eventually turned into the Easter bunny hiding eggs full of candy and other treats.1,2,3,4

During lent, some Christians used to refrain from eating not only meat, but also dairy and eggs. Thus, on Easter morning, they would celebrate the end of lent by eating eggs. Eggs hatching could also represent Jesus emerging from the tomb.1,4

Pink and Green. Pink and green seem to be the unofficial colors of Easter. The reason for that is pretty simple: Easter is in the springtime celebrating new life and pink and green are springtime colors. The grass is likely not brown anymore, and maybe some of the first spring flowers are popping up.

The Easter Lily. Unlike some other traditions, the Easter Lily has Christian origin. As a delicate white flower, it represents the purity of Christ as well as the fact that His sacrifice purifies us from sin. It blooms around Easter and shows growth and new life, which for us is only made possible through Jesus’ death and resurrection.1,3,4

Ham and Lamb. Many people eat either ham or lamb at Easter and there are a few different reasons for this. Easter takes place during the Jewish Passover (when they celebrated the Exodus from Egypt and God sparing the firstborn.) The Jews always ate lamb at Passover, and some Christians continue this tradition. There is added symbolism because Jesus is called the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.5 Even as the Passover lamb was killed and it’s blood was put on the doorpost so that those in the house would live during the exodus from Egypt, so Jesus gave up His own life and was killed so that we would be free from eternal punishment.1,3

Eating ham at Easter is much less symbolic and much more practical. Before the days of refrigerators and grocery stores, spring was a meager time of year. Animals were mostly hunted in the fall, so by spring that meat was gone. Spring was not a good time for hunting because animals are so thin and the females have young. However, ham was cured for many months, usually over the winter. So by the time spring rolled around, ham was usually the only meat anyone could get.2

Easter as a different Sunday each year. As mentioned above, Jesus died during the Jewish feast of Passover. Jews use a lunar calendar, so we put Easter the Sunday after the Passover full moon. 6 Easter is always a Sunday because that is the actual day of the week that Christ rose from the dead. According to what the Bible tells us, Jesus had the last (Passover) supper with his disciples on Thursday,7 often called Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday. He was crucified on Friday at around 3pm8 on what we call Good Friday. Saturday was the Jewish sabbath and Jesus’ body was in the grave.9 Sunday early morning, He rose from the dead. Because He rose before sunrise and appeared to Mary Magdalene and the other women early in the morning,10 many churches do a sunrise Easter service.2,3

After reading about the pagan origin of a few Easter traditions, some of you might be disappointed and wonder: is it okay to do the Easter bunny with my kids? Is coloring Easter eggs idolatry of some sort? Did the secular world hijack Easter from us?

I am not your conscience or the Holy Spirit, so I cannot answer these questions for you. Just like Christmas, different Christians choose to celebrate Easter in different ways, including or omitting the secular parts as they see fit. However, I do have some thoughts on this.

Technically speaking, the secular world did not hijack Easter. Christians did! Christians took the pagan holiday celebrating spring and new life and used it as a time to celebrate the new life found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians were able to take something that was wrong (worshiping a pagan goddess) and turn it into a reminder to celebrate our one true God.

Freedom in Christ gives us the ability to do things like use creativity and imagination to do something fun in a way that is honoring to God. Unless you feel that the Easter bunny puts a stumbling block in front of you, I don’t see why there is anything wrong with pretending there’s a giant rabbit that lays chocolate eggs. That doesn’t seem like worshiping an idol to me. But like I said, that is something you must decide.

Whether you choose to play along with some of these traditions or not, there is something more important to remember: Easter is ultimately about the death and resurrection of Jesus that paid the penalty for our sins so that we would no longer be separated from God. Regardless of what else we do, this must be where our focus is continually. It is crazy how many people in America today do not know the true meaning of Easter.11 Do not be one of those people. Do not let your children become one of those people. The most important event in history and eternity cannot be replaced with jelly beans!

There is so much more that could be said about Easter that I have left out. For this blog post, I did not go into much detail about the death and resurrection of Christ. I hope you will read it for yourself in one of the gospels and think about its significance. I hope you will have the opportunity to attend an Easter church service to further celebrate what Christ has done for us. And I hope you will talk to others about the hope you find in Christ’s death and resurrection even when the world seems dark.

There are always people who need to hear the gospel. Easter is a time when many people will be willing to listen. After Jesus rose from the dead, He gave us a job to do. Are you up for the task?

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me [Jesus]. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV)

Sources:

  1. Easter Symbols and Traditions. History.com. October 27, 2009. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/easter-symbols
  2. Conradt, Stacey. The Origins of 11 Easter Traditions. Mental Floss. March 30, 2018. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/94189/origins-11-easter-traditions
  3. Richardson, Susan. Easter – It’s Meaning, History & Holiday Symbols Explained. Crosswalk.com. January, 2018. https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/undertanding-the-history-and-symbols-of-easter-1256039.html
  4. Cooper, James. Easter Customs. Why Easter. 2022. https://www.whyeaster.com/customs/festivals.shtml
  5. John 1:29
  6. Dodgeson, Lindsay.Why Is Easter Different Every Year? Insider.com. April 16, 2019. https://www.insider.com/why-is-easter-different-every-year-2017-4
  7. Matthew 26:17, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:7, John 13:1
  8. Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33,42, Luke 23:44,55, John 19:31
  9. Matthew 27:62, Luke 23:56, John 19:42
  10. Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1, Luke 24:1, John 20:1
  11. Most Americans Consider Easter a Religious Holiday, But Fewer Correctly Identify its Meaning. Barna. March 15, 2010. https://www.barna.com/research/most-americans-consider-easter-a-religious-holiday-but-fewer-correctly-identify-its-meaning/