No one knows who first celebrated the holiday associated with the coming of spring. Hundreds or maybe thousands of years before Christianity started the Easter Holiday the pagans of Europe and probably elsewhere observed the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox comes some times in March is the day the sunlight is approximately equal to the night, which signifies the beginning of spring. This particular date was extremely important to people so they would know that it was time to prepare to plant their crops. “The northern European pagan spring festival for the goddess ‘Eostre’, goddess of fertility is considered the origins for many of the traditions that surround Christian Easter. And although the name for the Celtic Spring festival has been lost it was likely to be related to the Ēostre or Ostara. Pagans or Celts in particular revered nature. Eostre’s symbol was a rabbit or hare, and she represented the spring or dawn. Her festival, or feast day, was the Vernal Equinox. When the Catholic church set about converting the pagans of Northern Europe, they co-opted the symbols of Pagan Eostre including the name, to their holy day marking the crucifixion of Christ, which fell around the same time.” (Maguire, 2020)
A great many of the holidays we celebrate originated from pagan customs and pagan celebrations. Many of the churches in England and Europe are actually built on top of where pagan churches, temples, and religious sites stood. The pagans looked at eggs as a symbol of new life and enjoyed the process of new life hatching out of the eggs. After a hard cold winter, they looked forward to the renewal of life in nature’s plants and animals. Spring was also celebrated as a time for new love and relationships. For reasons that many folks still wonder about someone started decorating the eggs and accusing rabbits of hiding the eggs from sight. Rabbits and hares are also associated with fertility and were symbols linked to the goddess Eostre. The first association of the rabbit with Easter, according to Professor Cusack, was a mention of the “Easter hare” in a book by German professor of medicine Georg Franck von Franckenau published in 1722. “He recalls a folklore that hares would hide the colored eggs that children hunted for, which suggests to us that as early as the 18th century, decorated eggs were hidden in gardens for egg hunts.” (Travers, 2017) The Easter Bunny, colored eggs, Easter Bonnets, and baskets full of candy are very popular. But Easter is way more than that.
Each year in the spring the world goes into full renewal. Birds nest, crops are planted, plants and flowers bloom and everything is refreshing its existence. But the biggest and most important renewal in the history of the world happens in a tomb just outside of Jerusalem. In John 3:38 Jesus tells us, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” Jesus was on earth to bring the sinner into the light and show us the way to eternal life. Jesus was the sacrifice that paid for all man’s sins. Mark 10:45 states, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” “Throughout the Old Testament, animals, particularly lambs, were often sacrificed to God as a thank you, as payment for sin, as an acknowledgment of His mighty power, and more…….But Jesus took our place as the sacrifice. “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,” Hebrews 10:10 says. That “once for all” concept is significant. Day after day, priests offer blood sacrifices for sins. Jesus, however, is a different kind of priest. “When this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice, he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10:12-14).” (Brodie, 2021) There is countless reason we have to recognize the resurrection as the most important and powerful event in human history. The very foundation of Christian religions comes from the resurrection. At the gravesite, Jesus runs into Mary Magdalene and in John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Is there any more important statement for us to hear?
“The resurrection of Jesus is important for several reasons. First, the resurrection witnesses to the immense power of God Himself. To believe in the resurrection is to believe in God. If God exists, and if He created the universe and has power over it, then He has the power to raise the dead. If He does not have such power, He is not worthy of our faith and worship. Only He who created life can resurrect it after death, only He can reverse the hideousness that is death itself, and only He can remove the sting and gain the victory over the grave (1 Corinthians 15:54–55). In resurrecting Jesus from the grave, God reminds us of His absolute sovereignty over life and death. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is also important because it validates who Jesus claimed to be, namely, the Son of God and Messiah. According to Jesus, His resurrection was the “sign from heaven” that authenticated His ministry (Matthew 16:1–4). The resurrection of Jesus Christ, attested to by hundreds of eyewitnesses (1 Corinthians 15:3–8), provides irrefutable proof that He is the Savior of the world. Another reason the resurrection of Jesus Christ is important is that it proves His sinless character and divine nature. The Scriptures said God’s “Holy One” would never see corruption (Psalm 16:10), and Jesus never saw corruption, even after He died (see Acts 13:32–37). It was on the basis of the resurrection of Christ that Paul preached, “Through Jesus, the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin” (Acts 13:38–39). The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not only the supreme validation of His deity; it also validates the Old Testament prophecies that foretold of Jesus’ suffering and resurrection (see Acts 17:2–3). Christ’s resurrection also authenticated His own claims that He would be raised on the third day (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34). If Jesus Christ is not resurrected, then we have no hope that we will be, either. In fact, apart from Christ’s resurrection, we have no Savior, no salvation, and no hope of eternal life. As Paul said, our faith would be “useless,” the gospel would be altogether powerless, and our sins would remain unforgiven (1 Corinthians 15:14–19). (Writer, 2022)
Somewhere around 325/330AD, it was decided that the celebration now called Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. At some point in time, they realized that the plants don’t away follow the same paths and the full moon may not come at the same time so they decided that Easter would be a “moveable feast” but required it to be celebrated between March 25 and April 25th. Many people claim that Christmas is the most important religious holiday, and the birth of Jesus is extremely important. But Easter confirms and solidifies everything that Jesus stands for and is for the Christian faith. Without the resurrection, it could be argued that Jesus was just another prophet or holy man. But Easter proves Jesus was and is the true Son of God, and sits at the right hand of God.
Brodie, J. (2021, 3 9). CrossWalk.com. Retrieved from Why Was Jesus Crucified?: https://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/easter/why-was-jesus-crucified.html
Maguire, L. (2020, 4 7). My Irish Jeweler. Retrieved from How the Ancient Celts Helped Shape Easter: https://www.myirishjeweler.com/blog/how-the-ancient-celts-helped-shape-easter/#:~:text=Scholars%20can%20trace%20the%20origins,helped%20shape%20our%20Easter%20traditions.
Travers, P. (2017, 4 14). ABC.net. Retrieved from Origins of Easter: From Pagan Festivals and Christianity to Bunnies and Chocolate Eggs: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-15/the-origins-of-easter-from-pagan-roots-to-chocolate-eggs/8440134
Writer, S. (2022, 1 4). GotQuestions. Retrieved from Why is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Important: https://www.gotquestions.org/resurrection-Christ-important.html