Everything You Never Knew About Easter

I remember, quite clearly, sitting in Dr. Laurence Stookey’s Corporate Worship class and having my understanding of the liturgy of the church opened into a much larger world of understanding. Like so many, I had always been taught that Easter was the Day of the Resurrection; and to the probable dismay of my parents (who were unlearned in ancient language) raised the same question each year: ‘Does Easter mean resurrection?” In addition there were always perennial questions about the eggs that we dyed the night before; why we could eat chocolate on Easter Sunday, but to my chagrin, not on any other mornings; and the question that vexes every parent: “Why does Easter not fall on the same day each year?” These questions wouldn’t be fully answered for me until I was in my mid-twenties, and at that time it was more than just to satisfy my curiosity, it would be as my training as a preserver and teacher of the traditions of the Church. As many of you know, I am committed to transmitting our traditions, and moreover, I am convinced that my theological education is not only for my benefit; but something to be shared with you all. With that said, I present to you, a very concise teaching on Easter and its traditions.

Easter is, without any question, the celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Despite this, the word, Easter, has nothing whatsoever to do with resurrection, or Jesus Christ. It most likely came to us from a alteration of Estre or Eastere (who was a Germanic goddess of fertility who was worshipped at the vernal equinox – the beginning of Spring). Have no fear, Easter is not some conspiracy to worship false gods. Remember, Christmas was placed on December 25 to compete with and later replace the worship of a pagan god. The early church had no problem with taking a day of celebration for pagans and reworking their meaning to fit the needs of the Church – it wasn’t offensive to them, it was just being smart competitors in a world full of gods! The name Easter stuck in Europe, and the definition would be changed to mean “shine.”

With all that out of the way, it is important to note that for the Church, Easter is not just one day; but an entire season in the life of the church. If we were able to let go of the name Easter (which is high improbable) and reclaim the ancient name of the celebration, pasch (pronounced: pask), this would make much more sense. Easter is linked with the Passover celebrated by the Jewish peoples, including Christ and his first disciples, and the first generation or so of Christians. Passover is the remembrance of God delivering the Hebrew slaves from bondage in Egypt (read Exodus 12), beginning with the Plague of the First-born of Egypt and the “passing-over” of the Hebrews homes by the Lord’s “destroyer.” Each year the Jewish people would celebrate Passover, as commanded by God, and it was in the context of this celebration that paschal lambs would be sacrificed as a way of recalling the use of the blood of lambs used to demarcate the Hebrew homes in Egypt – not as a sin offering as many people mistakenly teach. The Pascal, or Passover, celebrations would last for fifty days until the day of Pentecost. The ancient church understood the theological implications of Christ’s death being within the context of the Pasch, and so early on spoke of Christ as “the final Passover of the Lord.” Through Christ’s blood, we are saved, just as through the blood of the lambs smeared on the doorposts of Hebrew homes saved them.

The Acts tell us that the Risen Lord spent forty days appearing and teaching his apostles. These forty days after the resurrection are within the Paschal celebration, and as we know on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down upon these same apostles and inaugurated the Church. Pentecost literally means fifty, and is so named because it is the fiftieth day after the Passover. Liturgically speaking, we refer to the Season of Easter as the Great Fifty Days, which is completed with the Day of Pentecost. There is much deeper meanings to be explored, but due to constraints of space in this newsletter, I will not be able to explore them here.

The Easter Season is of course begun by Easter Sunday, but contains many more holidays to be celebrated. The first of which is the Second Sunday of Easter, also known as Thomas Sunday – or, Low Sunday, which is an unfortunate commentary on the decline of attendance after the celebration of Easter Sunday. This second Sunday is a recollection of St. Thomas’ insistence that he will not believe the Lord was risen until “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). The emphasis of this celebration should not be “Doubting Thomas,” but rather the affirmation that Jesus gives his Church: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:29). The Third Sunday of Easter, also known as Meal Sunday, recalls the Emmaus Road encounter of Jesus’ and two of his disciples. This day is centered around the presence of Christ in the Eucharist (Communion) – due to the three-year consultation of Scriptures, John 21:1-19 may also be read on Meal Day. The Fourth Sunday of Easter, known as Good Shepherd Sunday. On this Sunday a selection from John 10 is read as well as Psalm 23; all done to remind us of the care that God shows us through Christ The Fifth Sunday of Easter, also known as I AM Sunday. On this day we read a selection from John where Jesus refers to himself as “I am” (I am the vine, I am the gate, I am the light of the world, etc.). This is significant, as it not only reaffirms the role of Christ in the salvation of the world, but links us to his divine nature – recall what God said to Moses when he asked who should he tell the Israelites who sent him; God instructed Moses, tell them “I AM” sent you. The Sixth Sunday of Easter prepares us to understand and celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, which follows on the next Sunday. This Sunday is concerned with how disciples of Jesus Christ are to live together. Ascension Sunday, of course, recalls Christ’s departure to the right hand of the Father; truly relevant as it is by his departure that the Father and the Son send forth the Holy Spirit and thus begins the Church. The following Sunday is Pentecost and the end of the Season of Easter.

So, there you have it, in a nutshell so to speak. Oh, I bet you are still wondering about eggs, bunnies, and chicks, aren’t you. Well, once again we must accept the fact that earlier generations of Christians were not intimidated by cultural icons, nor were they going to allow any other religious symbol deter their converts from falling into old pagan ways. Easter eggs draw their heritage from the ancient Near East. Many cultures would decorate eggs as symbols of fertility and renewed life in Spring. (Remember Eastere above?). Instead of smashing the lavishly decorated symbols of new life, Christians embraced them and changed their meaning to reflect their concept of New Life in Christ. The eggs were seen as a symbolic tomb, from which life would emerge – thereby honoring the memory of the Resurrection, and their own baptisms and the New Life brought about through that sacrament. Bunnies and chicks are, were signs to agrarian (farming) cultures that the Spring had arrived and the circle of life begun anew.

Chocolates and other sweets came into the Easter tradition as sugar was banned during Lent. After the forty day ban on sugar, the sweets were a welcomed treat; and what better time to enjoy them than first thing in the morning! Easter baskets came into the picture, as traditionally, people would gather eggs in baskets – again a tie with the understanding of the symbology of the egg. The Easter Bunny is as elusive to nail down in history as he is to catch hiding Easter Eggs! All accounts of him, however, are actually the most disturbing, and non-Christian beliefs that have been associated with the Holy Day of Resurrection. Christians that do not celebrate Lent, then, really shouldn’t bother with Easter candies – they are simply more of the same things they had been eating all along, just in fun seasonal shapes; they are not treats enjoyed after abstaining from sugar for over a month! The Easter Bunny, while a part of our cultural landscape, really has no place within the Church; no more so than the Tooth Fairy, or Lucky the Leprechaun, or Tricks the Rabbit! All joking aside, the Easter Bunny might make visits to homes, but he needs to keep hopping down the bunny-trail, right past the Church, as he draws the attention of children from the importance of Easter.

Do you know why Easter moves on the calendar year to year? The Jewish observance of Passover and Easter do sometimes coincide, but they do not have to. The problem with the coincidence of Passover and Good Friday is that the Jewish faith is maintained through a calendar that is separate from the secular calendar. Our observance of Easter is set by a secular calendar, and by the lunar cycle. Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon that falls within the Spring Equinox (again, remember Eastere?); set by the Council of Nicea in 325. But there is a twist! Many calendars will have another entry for Easter, this is because the Eastern Church, like the Jewish faith, do not use the current calendar system to calculate Easter, they actually use the ancient calendar in use at the time of Nicea – the Western Churches use the secular calendar (a long story, but basically because the secular calendar evolved out of the Church’s calendar). So for our purposes, Easter will fall between March 22 to April 25 (The Orthodox Easter celebration will never fall before our Easter celebration, and may fall as late as early May).