The Easter holiday is a spring-time celebration that makes us think about chocolate eggs, bunny rabbits, and for Christians, the glorious resurrection of Jesus. The Saxon goddess Eostre gave her name to "Easter"; other pagan cultures worshipped similar goddesses, who represented nature and fertility. The hare, or rabbit, often accompanied these goddesses, being a strong symbol of fertility.

And this is the origin of the Easter Bunny and, oddly, Easter Eggs (no chickens required!) - pagans believed life originally came from an egg, and eggs were another symbol of fertility. The "spirit hare/rabbit" laid its eggs in the grass at spring-time, so it was thought, and people would search for them - the origins of Easter egg hunts.

The Bible and other historical records tell us that Jesus was crucified just before "Passover", a Jewish festival held in the spring-time. The exact date of Passover moves around as the time of it is dictated by the old Jewish calendar which isn't the same as the Gregorian calendar the western world now runs by.

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.

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!

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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