The History of Easter

by Richmond Park Church

Spring is in the air! And chocolate eggs and chocolate bunnies are filling shelves in the shops! But what is Easter really about? For Christians it is time to celebrate the anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus. The name “Easter” comes from the name of a Saxon goddess of spring, “Eostre”. She either had a hare’s head, or was always seen with a hare by her side. Hares or rabbits represented enviable fertility to the pagans.

And this is where the notion of the Easter Bunny comes from! Originally a spirit, it brought new life in eggs with it when it appeared in spring. Today someone dressed as Easter Bunny may be seen at a hunt for Easter eggs! Eggs were another symbol of new life and fertility, part of the pagan worship of the resurgence of life with the arrival of spring.

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.

The early Christians sometimes celebrated the resurrection on a Sunday, because that was the DAY of the resurrection, and sometimes after Passover, because that was the DATE of the resurrection. Church leaders decided, some 350 years after the crucifixion, to always celebrate Easter Day on the first Sunday after the full moon that directly follows the Spring Equinox.

Even though in this way Christian Easter became separated from Jewish Passover, the resurrection of Jesus in some meaningful ways mirrored the events of Passover, and really has nothing in common with the earlier pagan spring festivals, except that new life at spring-time is sometimes used as a picture of new life with Jesus. The Passover was established as a reminder to God’s people of how he had rescued them from slavery in Egypt. Jesus rescues us from slavery to sin.

Under Jewish law animal sacrifices had to be made to pay for people’s sins. At the Passover a lamb was killed. Jesus took the role of a sacrificial lamb when he was killed on the cross and Christians believe he died and rose again to conquer sin for us in the spiritual realm and lead us into a life of freedom. That’s what we celebrate on Easter Day!

Later on, in the fourth century AD, the church created some more “holy days” to observe, each of which was to act as a reminder of something from the life of Jesus, eg. the days of Lent.

Richmond Park Church, What have Eostre and Jesus got to do with each other?

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Eostre, Easter, and Jesus