...the meaning of Easter (revisited)

Happy Easter!

Last year I posted an article I wrote for the Daily Nebraskan about Easter. This year, I revisited that article and did a lot of revising. Here is the updated version, which I feel gives a clearer picture of what I was trying to capture in the original version (written several years ago). That's the thing with writing.... you can think a piece is "complete," but come back to it years later and realize it's nowhere near what you want it to be. I have learned so much more about the Gospel since I first wrote the article and feel my understanding of the Resurrection and the love of Christ has never been greater.

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Easter traditions can mask important meaning for Christians

When I was a child, the night before Easter was almost as exciting as Christmas Eve. I anticipated the Easter Bunny’s arrival and the goodies the larger-than-life rabbit would bring.

Easter morning I’d awaken to see a pastel plastic egg laying on my nightstand. After retrieving the egg, I’d rush downstairs to find my Easter basket filled with jellybeans, a chocolate rabbit and a small toy. For breakfast I got to eat dyed eggs, and then the anticipated house-wide egg hunt began.

Growing up, I never asked my parents why a six-foot bunny hid candy-filled eggs in our house. I didn’t ask why we received baskets with synthetic grass, chocolate and toys, nor did I wonder why we consumed colored eggs only once a year. I saw no need to question these fun activities.

As an adult, my deliberations over Easter revealed my naïve understanding of the above-mentioned things and their relevance to the holiday.

My parents admitted to only carrying on the holiday traditions because they were a part of their Easter experience. But they don’t know why many people have Easter egg hunts or fill baskets with treats. 

Many people seem to buy into Easter customs without questioning the origin or purpose. Most traditions presumably evolved from Pagan practices and folklore centered on spring. The commercialization of Easter also creates and perpetuates traditions. But the true Easter celebration has nothing to do with a giant bunny that leaves treats in children’s baskets.

The traditions, while fun, can mask the real meaning of a pinnacle Christian holiday – or, “holy day,” as it should be considered. To understand and more fully appreciate the meaning of the day, the focus must shift from the pastel and fuzzy to the more sobering essence of Easter.

Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" depicts the final 12 hours of Jesus' life on earth. The disturbing yet compelling film can leave viewers wondering why an innocent man would bear the torturous punishment of the Roman cross.

Jesus Christ was blameless and deserved no punishment. Judas Iscariot, who handed Christ over to Roman authorities, confesses in Matthew 27 that he had sinned and betrayed innocent blood. The governor Pilate could find no crime to charge Jesus with, but the people insisted he free the criminal Barabbas and crucify Christ.

A fair trial would have found Jesus blameless and released him from punishment. But as the title of Gibson's movie implies, it was not the "Trial of Christ" that resulted in his excruciating death, but rather, his passion.

Webster's Dictionary defines passion as "extreme, compelling emotion or intense emotional drive."

What emotional drive was so intense it drove Christ to the cross? Love.

Ephesians 5:1 says, “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Christ’s sacrifice was necessary because the holiness of God demanded proper atonement to reconcile God’s creation to Himself.

God required blood to cover sin and deemed certain animals worthy substitutes (Leviticus 1:7). But these animal sacrifices only pointed to our ultimate substitute, Jesus Christ, through whose blood we have redemption and forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7). 

Christ’s self-abandonment is the embodiment of love. We can know what love is by looking no further than the cross. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us,” (1 John 3:16).

Easter, perhaps better termed Resurrection Sunday, is a day to remember Christ's sacrifice of love and celebrate his triumph over death. The Resurrection, the linchpin of Christianity, gives believers hope of a new, eternal life, secures salvation from a broken world and validates the faith of Christians.

According to the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:14, "if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

In "The Case for Easter," Lee Strobel, a journalist and former atheist, writes, "The resurrection is the supreme vindication of Jesus' divine identity and his inspired teaching. It's the proof of his triumph over sin and death. It's the foreshadowing of the resurrection of his followers. It's the basis of Christian hope. It's the miracle of all miracles."

Gary Habermas, author of seven books about the rising of Jesus Christ, said in an interview with Strobel, "The resurrection was undoubtedly the central proclamation of the early church from the very beginning.

"The earliest Christians didn't just endorse Jesus' teachings; they were convinced they had seen him alive after his crucifixion. That's what changed their lives and started the church. Certainly, since this was their center-most conviction, they would have made absolutely sure that it was true."

What Strobel and Habermas understand is that without the resurrection of Christ, there would be no Church or hope for Christians. Easter would be nothing more than a day for munching on chocolate bunnies and hunting for plastic eggs.

Easter traditions need not be banned from Christian celebrations, but perhaps their purpose should be re-examined. May Resurrection Sunday be a day to remember that “if we have been united with [Christ] in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his,” (Romans 6:5). Since Christ died for sin once for all, we may therefore count ourselves “dead to sin” and “alive to God,” (Romans 6:10-11).

Now that is something worth truly celebrating.