The Story of Easter
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by: RichmondParkChurch
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Easter is named after Eostre, the Saxon goddess of spring, who was one of many pagan goddesses associated with the worship of nature and fertility at spring-time. Eostre is often depicted with a hare by her side, because hares or rabbits were symbols of enviable prolific procreation. When we think of Easter, often our first thoughts are bunny rabbits and chocolate eggs! For Christians it is, more importantly, the anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus, so central to our faith.
Strangely, Easter eggs are a tradition linked to the symbolic hare or rabbit; the modern-day "Easter Bunny" was originally a spirit that brought new life with it at spring-time, new life which all came from the eggs it laid in the grass. So that explains Easter eggs (new life), Easter Bunnies (fertility) and Easter egg hunts (searching in the grass for the hidden eggs)!
Jesus was crucified outside of Jerusalem at this time of year, just before the Jewish festival, "Passover". Passover is a "moveable feast", meaning its date is not strictly fixed on the modern calendar. This is because it's timing each year is dictated by an older Jewish calendar, which doesn't line up exactly with the months we go by today.
About 350 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, church leaders decided to tell people what day Easter should be observed, as people were choosing different days based on different reasoning. For instance, should Easter Day always be on a Sunday, as this was the original day of the resurrection, or could it be on a week day if the changing date of Passover dictated this? These church leaders decided that Easter Sunday will always be on the First Sunday after the full moon that directly follows the Spring Equinox!
Even though Easter has taken it's name from paganism, it actually has much more to do with the Jewish Passover festival. 1200 years before Jesus, God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt, and Passover was established to commemorate this event, in particular, the day God "passed over" the homes of the Israelites, but killed the first born Egyptians in their homes.
The Jewish families were saved that day by marking their homes with lamb's blood. The Bible says Jesus was the last sacrificial lamb, the last time blood would have to be spilt to pay for our sins. Christians believe that Jesus paid the price for our sins by his death on the cross, and showed he has conquered sin and death by his resurrection. That's what we celebrate on Easter Sunday!
The other days that make up the Easter calendar -things like Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) and Lent- were made up by the church in the fourth century AD. They were each designed to be a reminder of different events in Jesus life leading up to his death and resurrection.
Richmond Park Church, What have Eostre and Jesus got to do with each other?
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