What is Easter about?
- Eljoh Hartzer, MTh
- Feb 11
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 20
Easter might not be about a bunny carrying eggs - This article explores the real meaning of Easter by starting in the Bible to find its origins. Easter is a holiday where Christians reflect on, remember, and gain inspiration from the events occurring in the final days of Jesus Christ.
These beliefs around Easter are based on the eyewitness accounts written down in the Gospel letters (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) that were later combined in our Bibles. Other ancient literary sources and art also confirm what the Gospels say.
This series of articles will cover the key events of Easter in the order that they're celebrated in in the Christian tradition. Click the following titles to read about each day of Holy Week:
But before we get into the nitty gritty details of Easter - yes, there's a lot of them! - we need to know what Easter is really all about.
It's not about the Easter Bunny
In recent years, with the rise of secularism, marketing, and materialism, Easter has turned into something else. Most young people would associate Easter with a bunny and eggs, much like how Christmas is about Santa and gifts. The Christian origins of these holidays, as in holy days, are often long-forgotten.
Yet 'Easter' as a holiday or celebration existed prior to and separate from Jesus Christ.
(The following is a very brief summary of some of the origin stories of the word Easter, the bunny, and the eggs.)
Noteworthy: Hares and eggs are pagan symbols of fertility / well-wishing, linking to the Germanic goddess Eostre. Also known as Ostara.
Jacob Grimm of the Brothers Grimm wrote, “Esotre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted by the resurrection-day of the Christian's God."
Esotre was celebrated on the Spring Equinox for light and life.
The Easter Bunny, or Osterhase, idea originated in Germany with a tale similar to that of Santa: There is a rabbit who visits children in Springtime and, depending on their behavior (good or bad), brings them gifts - candy, toys, and... colored eggs. It is believed to have come to America in the 18th century by immigrants, and the rest is history.
So (picking our perspective back up) what is Easter about in the Christian tradition?
It is clear that we might need to untangle a complicated web of culture-meets-faith.
This series of articles will attempt to do so by studying Scripture.
At the end of this article is a free worksheet that you can download to prayerfully process this with the Lord :)
The Christian meaning of Easter
The Christian meaning of Easter, what it's really about, is the message of the Gospel.
In short, the big story of the Christian God is that his people turned against him (in the Garden of Eden). Then he promised to make a way for them to be together again (in sending a Messiah).
Easter is about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who descended from heaven to live the perfect human life. He was tested in every way you and I are, yet He did not sin. Therefore, He was able to conquer sin and shame, proving Himself spotless and blameless.
When Jesus died on a sinner called Barrabas's cross, it was fulfilled! He uttered the words: "It is finished". And at that very moment, the curtain in the Temple tore from the top to the bottom as God's spirit was poured out on the whole earth.
There was no longer anything separating people from God, for the wages of sin (death) was paid for (defeated) once and for all in Christ Jesus.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16
Jesus Christ fulfilled many of the prophecies about the Promised One during his life on earth and especially in his final days.
The Triumphal Entry is one such example, so we'll begin there:
Click the following titles to read about each day of Holy Week
Go Deeper into the real meaning of Easter with this printable worksheet:
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