Even though I always search for words and language that express what is profound in the simplest way, please don’t consider me a reductionist. I hope the title of this column and the points I make simply clarify the true meaning of Easter Day and Easter Season.
Easter is so much more than a bunny bringing baskets full of colorful candies and treats, just as Christmas is far more than Santa Claus and eight reindeer bringing a sleigh load of toys and gifts to be put under a lighted tree or stuffed into stockings hung by the fireplace.
Please keep in mind that first impressions are lasting impressions and that children learn everything they know about Easter and Christmas before they ever get to kindergarten.
Just like the practice of reading the biblical story of God’s Child from Luke 2, closely timed with the opening of gifts from under the tree or stockings from the mantle, so too is following the early morning search and recovery of treats in Easter baskets a good time for reading an account of the resurrection from Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, or John 20.
Consider the example of the Jewish Passover meal, during which the reading of the Exodus story, known as the Haggadah, serves as a time for teaching. This includes responses to four questions posed by the youngest boy at the table. The significance of each food item on the table highlights the teachings of the faith. At four points during the meal, drinking wine holds specific meanings, including the final cup accompanied by readings to welcome spring.
Even though the early church knew the place of Jesus’ birth was the little town of Bethlehem, they didn’t know the exact birth date. Nonetheless, because the child was called the “light of the world,” the Christmas birth celebration was placed on Dec. 25, close to the winter solstice, the longest dark night of the year, which marks when the light of day begins to grow longer.
And even though early church leaders had no exact date for the resurrection, they placed Easter’s celebration in the spring season, when life returns for plants and trees, having been dormant in winter, and the birthing time of year arrives in the animal kingdom.
At the vernal equinox, which means “equal day and equal night,” the sun is directly above the equator, a natural time to celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon following that spring equinox.
Easter is our opportunity to celebrate something much more than just springtime! Seize the day and the season as a time for discovering and celebrating that God is doing something more … something eternal!
Editor’s note: Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN) contributor Pastor Rod Anderson also serves on the EPLN Board of Directors. He was the senior pastor of St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie.
Interested in contributing a faith-based column to EPLN? Email editor@eplocalnews.org.
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