reign that is Jesus Christ.” (Photo by Peter Roome used under CC BY-NC 2.0)
By Garvis Long, Staff writer
Easter is a holiday that has been around for a long time. It has always been a holiday that represents strength, love, and forgiveness. Since I was a child, Easter has always been a great holiday, not because of the endless amounts of candy you can eat, but because of how much you show your appreciation to the Lord.
Easter had long been known to be a pagan festival. America’s founders knew this!
A children’s book about the holiday, Easter Parade: Welcome Sweet Spring Time! by Steve Englehart, states, “When the Puritans came to North America, they regarded the celebration of Easter—and the celebration of Christmas—with suspicion. They knew that pagans had celebrated the return of spring long before Christians celebrated Easter…for the first two hundred years of European life in North America, only a few states, mostly in the South, paid much attention to Easter.” Not until after the Civil War did Americans begin celebrating this holiday.
Easter has some great and many new traditions that have helped shape this holiday into what it is today, and none bigger than the Easter bunny.
According to easterbunnys.net, “The Easter bunny seems to have it’s origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. These were made of pastry and sugar. The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s.”
This tradition often overlooks the true meaning of Easter as a spiritual holiday that has been celebrated for decades because of how Jesus Christ died on the cross and then three days later rose again.
According to allaboutjesuschrist.org, “The meaning of Easter is Jesus Christ’s victory over death. His resurrection symbolizes the eternal life that is granted to all who believe in Him. The meaning of Easter also symbolizes the complete verification of all that Jesus preached and taught during His three-year ministry. If He had not risen from the dead, if He had merely died and not been resurrected, He would have been considered just another teacher or Rabbi. However, His resurrection changed all that and gave final and irrefutable proof that He was really the Son of God and that He had conquered death once and for all.”
In my opinion Christ has always been and always will be the true meaning of Easter. Traditions change all the time, but Jesus has always stayed the same, and his strength love and forgiveness is why Easter is such a special day, not just for Christians but for the world.
No bunny, rabbit, or hare can replace the mighty reign that is Jesus Christ.