Easter Sunday

Do you remember all the excitement over Easter Sunday when you were a child? I remember all the little white hats and gloves and new dresses and shoes. It was a huge taboo to wear white shoes before Easter. We probably all have at least one picture similar to this either of us as girls or maybe one of our own children dressed in their Easter finery.

Easter is the holiday that we have established to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the history of the Churches of Christ we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday with the Lord's Supper. 

The Lord's Supper came out of the Jewish celebration of the Passover. The Passover was the last of the 10 plagues that God sent to the Egyptians before the Pharaoh finally let them go. Moses gave the people specific instructions for the Passover as God had given them to him. Each family took a lamb and sacrificed it to be eaten and then to take some of the blood and paint it on the tops and sides of the door frames of their houses. The blood was a sign for the houses where the Jewish families were so that the angel of death would "passover" their houses and not kill their firstborn. 

This celebration was is still celebrated by our Jewish friends today and our calendar dating for Easter coincides with the Jewish calendar for Passover. This feast/celebration has been happening every year (except when the law was lost) since it was created and it was during this feast that Jesus "institued" his last supper. As Christians we celebrate every week because from scriptures it looks like that is what the early church did. "And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight" (Acts 20:7) 

Now, about the bunny and the eggs. Where did that come from? I cannot speak for the bunny but the eggs were a part of the Passover. They are on the traditional Seder plate.

 On the Passover Seder plate lies a roasted Egg, or Beitzah in Hebrew. The egg symbolizes many different things.

• The roundness of the egg resembles the earth and life which is constantly moving in a circle.
• Life - We are all born from an egg.
• An egg is the traditional food for mourners and was brought to Jerusalem after the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.
• The egg symbolizes new life and the spring time since the Passover is celebrated during the season of spring.

While we all know that Easter is about the resurrection, today it has come to mean the beginning of Spring and we all like to get our new shoes, dresses and finery to celebrate the warmth of spring and the colors that come with it. I look forward to seeing everyone all dressed up for Easter! I hope to see you!