Easter Sunday often means beautiful new dresses for little girls and starched white shirts for little boys. It means colorful eggs hidden in yards, eating enough candy to make tummies ache, and fuzzy bunnies to cuddle. It means spending time with family and friends, and it also means going to church to hear a special sermon.
Sometimes the true meaning of a holiday or religious event can become lost in the commercialization of our modern world. What does Easter Sunday really mean?
Let’s start with the story of the Passover. Jesus was believed to have eaten his Last Supper with his disciples on the date of Passover, which would be his last meal before his crucifixion. The loaf of bread and the cup of wine served at the Last Supper were symbolic of his body and his blood, which he would be giving up for everyone else.
Good Friday is the day after Passover. This was the day on which Jesus died for the sins of the world. Three days later – on Easter Sunday – Jesus rose from the dead, just as he said he would, and joined his Father in Heaven.
The joyous events of Easter Sunday are meant in appreciation of the fact that Jesus rose on that third day, thus fulfilling the faith of his followers.
So why eggs?
Easter eggs have come to be the symbol of Easter most commonly recognized in the world, even more so than the religious cross. But why Easter eggs? The eggs represent the tomb of Jesus, the sealed place where his body was taken after his earthly death. But just as the tiny new life hatches from the egg, so did Jesus come back to life by rolling away the stone of the tomb and rising to Heaven.
It is entirely possible to use the secular beliefs about Easter, especially the popular eggs, as a teaching lesson for what Easter is all about. The drinking of the bread and the wine, the companionship of those who mean the most to you, and the egg hunts all have symbolic meanings for Easter and the surrounding days.
So when Easter Sunday comes, enjoy it! Eat, drink, be merry, hunt eggs to your heart’s content, but remember that it was on this day Jesus rose – and for that, you have not only your beautiful life here on earth, but the eternal one as well.
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