One of the core aspects of most religions is the festivities and celebrations that come with them. While these festivals are ways for people to rejoice, celebrate and have fun, it is also a means for the reiteration of certain religious values and lessons.
One of these festivities is Easter, and in this article, we will touch on everything that concerns Easter as a Christian festival and celebration.
What is Easter?
Easter commemorates the third-day resurrection of Jesus from the tomb following his crucifixion. The promise made by God for a Messiah who will suffer persecution, atone for our sins through the death, and resurrect on the third day to demonstrate victory over death was fulfilled at Easter, according to Isaiah 53.
Jesus’ resurrection provides us with daily encouragement that we may triumph over sin and death. Easter occurs three days after Jesus’ death on the cross, according to the New Testament.
Lent is a time of fasting that precedes Easter, during which many churches set aside time for reflection and repentance. Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, which finishes on Good Friday, the day of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Easter is the cornerstone of the Christian faith and has special significance within the religion. Jesus, the Son of God, fulfilled prophecy and, by his sacrifice, gave all who believed in him the gift of eternal life in heaven.
How Did Easter Start, and When was It First Celebrated
The Jewish Passover was usually observed on the fourteenth of Nisan, which is March–April in the modern calendar. This was when the early Christians decided to celebrate the resurrection.
Jesus had the Last Supper on the evening of the Passover and was executed on the day of the Passover because Jewish days were counted from sunset to evening. Early Christians celebrated Passover and adored Jesus as the Paschal Lamb and Redeemer, which is how Easter started.
However, it is important to mention that there were arguments for the ideal date or day to celebrate the festival. For instance, since Jesus truly rose from the dead on a Sunday, some of the first Gentile Christians started celebrating Easter on the closest Sunday to Passover. In particular, this grew to be the norm in the Roman Empire’s western region. Different congregations in Rome themselves observed Easter on various days!
Many believed the date should remain based on the resurrection’s timing during Passover. Christian officials would set a date for Easter by calculating three days after Passover once Jewish leaders established the date of Passover each year. By adhering to this plan, Easter would occasionally fall on a Sunday but would generally be observed on a different day of the week each year.
Others thought the only day to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord was Sunday because He rose on that day, and it had been designated as the Lord’s Day. Some people were unwilling to base the Christian holiday on the Jewish calendar as Judaism and Christianity drifted apart.
Constantine opposed Easter is observed on the Jewish Passover because he wished to isolate Christianity from Judaism completely. Therefore, the feast of the resurrection must always be observed on a Sunday and never during the Jewish Passover, according to the Council of Nicea.
The Sunday following the first full moon following the spring equinox was set aside as Easter. Calculating the correct date might be challenging because the vernal equinox’s date varies each year. Today, Easter is still determined using this method, which explains why some years, Easter falls earlier than others.
The Origin of the Word “Easter”
It’s unclear where the word “easter” came from. The eighth-century monk and scholar, The Venerable Bede, hypothesized that the term could have originated from the Anglo-Saxon Eostre or Eastre, who was the goddess of spring and fertility in the Teutonic era.
Recent researchers, however, believe the idea needs to be corrected as they were unable to locate any mention of the goddess Bede mentioned.
The Norse words eostur, eastur, or Ostara, which denoted “the season of the growing sun” or “the season of fresh life,” are also a possibility. The word east shares the same linguistic origins. In this situation, Easter would be associated with the onset of a new season.
Instead of the pagan origins of Easter, a more modern and nuanced explanation comes from the Christian tradition. The Sunday following Easter was known as Dominica in albis because of the white garments worn by recently baptized individuals. Therefore Hebdomada alba, or “white week,” was the early Latin name for Easter week.
Alba is a Latin word that means dawn and white. Old High German speakers made a translation error and used the plural for dawn—ostarun—instead of the plural for white. The English Easter and the German Ostern are derived from ostarun.
The Connection Between Passover and Easter
Jesus and his disciples celebrated Passover the day before he was crucified. The Last Supper is the name for this occasion. Jews used to commemorate their liberation and escape from ancient Egypt and the Pharoah during the holiday of Passover.
Jesus explained to his disciples during the Passover celebration that the wine and bread represent his body, which would be broken for the remission of sins according to the gospel of Matthew 26:17-30. By partaking in Communion and sharing bread and wine during religious services today, Christians commemorate the Last Supper and the sacrifice that Jesus made.
After the Passover dinner, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying when he was taken into custody. The Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, then brought him before him for a trial.
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Easter Traditions and Cultures
The entire Lent season, Holy Week, and Easter Sunday come with a variety of customs. The Easter bunny, colorful eggs, gift baskets, and flowers are all universally observed traditions. In this section, we will examine some of these traditions and how they shape Easter celebrations around the world.
Easter Bunnies
When you consider Easter, what is the first thing that springs to mind? The cross or the empty tomb may come to mind first for a Christian. A barrage of media pictures and goods on store shelves increases the likelihood that a picture of the Easter Bunny comes to mind for the general population. So how did a bunny giving out eggs come to be associated with Easter?
The rabbit or hare is connected to Easter for a number of reasons, all of which stem from paganism or neopaganism. The hare’s fertility is the most noticeable. Easter is a springtime holiday that honors new life. Although the emphasis on new life in general and the Christian sense of new life through Christ are distinct, they have gradually become intertwined over the years.
The hare used to be a representation of the moon in ancient times. The moon determines when Easter falls. This might have made it easier for the hare to fit in with the Easter festivities.
The hare or rabbit’s burrow aided the acceptance of the animal as a feature of Easter festivities. Believers interpreted the rabbit emerging from its underground burrow as a metaphor for Jesus emerging from the grave. Maybe this was another instance of giving a pagan emblem a Christian interpretation.
The idea of the Easter hare was brought to America by German immigrants, and the common American rabbit took over the hare’s function. Instead of the baskets used today, children used to make nests for the rabbit out of elegant paper boxes, caps, and bonnets.
To avoid frightening the timid rabbit, the kids placed their nests in a quiet area once they were finished. The colorful nests that looked so inviting certainly contributed to the propagation of the traditions.
The earliest Easter bunnies made of pastries and candies originally gained popularity in Southern Germany around the start of the nineteenth century. Children continue to eat candy bunnies around Easter, especially chocolate ones, because of the transatlantic spread of this tradition.
Easter Eggs
The Easter egg is the most well-known emblem, followed by the Easter bunny. The egg has a lengthy pre-Christian history, just like other things. Again, it’s unclear how or why it came to be connected to Easter.
Eggs were regarded as a symbol of life by many ancient cultures. According to Hindus, Egyptians, Persians, and Phoenicians, the world began with a huge egg. During spring festivities, the Persians, Greeks, and Chinese gave presents of eggs in remembrance of the emergence of fresh life all around them.
According to some reports, colored eggs were consumed at spring festivals in Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The eggs of serpents were revered and symbolized life in early Celtic mythology.
Early Christians may have believed that eggs might be a component of their celebration of Christ’s resurrection after considering the relationship between eggs and life. Additionally, eggs were a delicacy at Easter in some places because they were restricted during Lent.
Many of the ancient traditions had Eastern roots; thus, some people think that Christian settlers or Crusade knights may have been the ones to introduce the practice to the West.
People brought eggs to churches in the fourth century to be blessed and dusted with holy water. The Benedictio Ovorum, which permitted the particular usage of eggs on Easter holy days, was established during the twelfth century. The time of this benediction supports the hypothesis that the Crusaders may have revived the practice.
Although eggs had been used in the past, the Crusaders helped the practice become more well-known and prevalent. For instance, about 450 eggs were purchased by Edward I of England in 1290 to be painted or covered with gold leaf. Then he distributed the eggs to the royal household.
Once the practice was accepted, it gave rise to new traditions. Red was used to color eggs to symbolize joy and the blood of Christ. Egg rolling competitions originated in England and were brought to America, perhaps as a memento of the tombstone being removed.
The traditional Easter egg hunt also comes to mind. According to one theory, it originated from the custom of German kids looking for hidden pretzels during the Easter season. It was only a minor step to switch to hiding eggs, as kids were already hiding nests for the Easter Bunny to fill with eggs while they were out seeking pretzels.
Easter Lamb
The lamb is likely the most profoundly Christian tradition for Easter. It has no strong connections to pagan beliefs other than the fact that lambs are young animals born in the spring.
The use of lamb as an Easter symbol came from the Jewish Passover tradition when every family sacrificed a lamb. The lamb came to represent Christ’s atoning sacrifice as He took on the role of the Passover lamb for everyone.
There are several verses in the bible that touched on his representation as the Lamb. Some of these verses include John 1:29 and 1 Peter 1: 18 to 21.
The Color Purple
We must first examine the color’s significance in ancient culture in order to comprehend why purple came to represent Lent and Easter. Purple dye was a treasured product in history since it was so hard to come by. In particular, several sea snails were harvested for their purple color.
Purple clothing was exceedingly expensive and frequently only worn by kings, other royal members, or individuals with high-ranking power because of how labor-intensive it was to make purple dye. As a result, purple came to be seen as a symbol of regal authority.
The royal connotation of the color purple would have been well-known to the Roman troops who crucified Jesus. Because of this, the soldiers mocked Jesus by dressing Him in a purple robe and placing a crown of thorns on His head before beating Him and shouting, “Hail, king of the Jews!” according to John 19:2-3.
After the soldiers had stripped Jesus of the purple robe, Pilate ordered that a placard bearing the words “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” be nailed to His cross in an additional effort to degrade Jesus, as narrated by John 19:19. The letters INRI, which stand for “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” in Latin (Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum), commemorate this inscription on modern crucifixes.
Churches use the color purple during Lent to grieve the mental and physical suffering that Jesus endured during His Passion as well as to declare Him as the real King of Kings in recollection of the purple robe the Roman soldiers mockingly placed on Jesus.
Conclusion
The significance of Easter for Christians around the world is to celebrate and recognize Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the grave and His beautiful promises of eternal life for all who trust in Him. The Easter Bunny, candy-filled baskets, and Easter egg hunts are a few examples of nonreligious traditions associated with the celebration.
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