Easter is the most important Christian Festival of the Year. Easter celebrates the Return of Life of Jesus Christ, after His crucifixion. Christians believe Jesus’ resurrection means that they, too, can receive New Life after death.
Origin of The Name
The origin of the English word Easter is uncertain, In the 8th Century the English historian, the Venerable Bede, proposed that it was derived from the name of an Anglo-Saxon pagan goddess of spring named Eostre. Other scholars believe the word Easter comes from the latin word Albae, meaning both dawn and white. Easter was considered a day of "white" because newly baptized Church members wore white clothes at Easter observances. However, the latin word for "white" was later incorrectly translated into German as eostarum, which means dawn. The English word "Easter" was derived from this German word.
Christians in many European countries call Easter Pascha. This Greek word means Passover. Passover recalls how God rescued the Hebrews from slavery in ancient Egypt.
History and Date
The history of Easter is rooted in the Old Testament. In the Book of Exodus, "Passover" refers to the Angel of Death "passing over" the houses of the Hebrews in Egypt. Yet, it also recalls how God delivered Israel fro slavery in Egypt and led them into the promise land. The Hebrew Passover feast developed into a spring harvest feast in which the first produce of the year was offered to God in gratitude for divine deliverance.
What is the connection between Passover and Easter? Christ was crucified during Passover. When Christians began commemorating His death and resurrection, they incorporated some of the elements of the Jewish feast into their Christian celebration. In addition, Christians believed that Easter, like Passover, was a time of rescue. By His death and resurrection, Jesus rescued them from eternal death and punishment for our sins. Thus Easter became the Christian Passover.
Throughout the history of the Church serious differences have arisen as to the day for the observance of Easter. The controversies were too numerous and complex to discuss here. Yet, in a nutshell, during the Middle Ages the duty of setting the date for Easter fell on the Roman Catholic church. The Church determined that Easter be observed on a Sunday, the weekly celebration of the resurrection of Christ. The Church also decided that Easter, in the northern hemisphere, would always be held in spring but not always on the same day. Thus Easter is called a movable feast. What day it will be depends upon both the sun and the moon. Twice each year the sun is directly over the imaginary line running around the widest part of the earth - the equator. At both these times, day and night are equal in length and we have an equinox. The spring equinox occurs around March 20. Easter is always the first Sunday that follows the full moon on or after the spring equinox. The earliest date for Easter is March 22 and the latest is April 25.
Easter is now uniformly observed by the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant Churches.
Yet, for Eastern Orthodox Churches, the celebration of Easter may take place at a later date because these churches use additional factors in calculating the date of the festival. Because of anxiety and confusion in Christendom concerning the date of Easter there has been a movement for a fixed date for Easter.
Celebrating Easter in the Church
During the first three hundred years of Christianity, Easter Sunday gradually developed as a major celebration of Jesus' return to life. Christians, however, did not envision Easter merely as a commemoration of a past event, but also as a celebration of the new life shared by those who believed in Christ. Hence Easter was an appropriate time for the administration of baptism, which symbolizes the baptized person's deliverance from evil and rising to new life in Christ.
Gradually Christians expanded the Easter festival so that the days immediately preceding and immediately following Easter became times of special devotion. Many churches today, especially Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican, celebrate, not just the day, but the season of Easter. The first and best-known part of the season is Lent, a period of 40 days before Easter Sunday. The word Lent comes from words meaning spring and long and probably refers to the lengthening of days as spring approaches. Christians consider Lent a time to show sorrow for sins and to seek forgiveness. One common form of Lenten penance is fasting, which limits the kinds or amounts of food eaten. Christians patterned Lent after the 40 days Jesus prayed and fasted in the wilderness to prepare for teaching and leading his people.
Easter Sunday is followed by a 50 day period ending on Pentecost. During the first 40 days of this period, Christians celebrate the time when Jesus reappeared to some of His followers. The period ends on Ascension Thursday. On this day, some Churches hold special services in which the story of Jesus' rise to heaven is read. Easter concludes 10 days later with the feast of the Pentecost, when the apostles reported that the Holy Spirit had entered into them.
The most important period in the Easter celebration for all Christian Churches, however, is Holy Week. Holy Week is the time in which Christians remember the final events in the life of Jesus. During this week, Churches usually hold special services of worship and meditation. Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week, commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the people spread palms and garments before Him. Christians in many traditions, observe the day with a procession of palm leaves.
Maundy Thursday celebrates two events of Jesus' last week on earth-washing the feet of His disciples and sharing the last supper with them. The name Maundy refers to Jesus' "mandate" that His disciples wash one another's feet as He had washed theirs. Special services on Maundy Thursday may include a reenactment of the washing of feet.
Good Friday is usually observed as a day for mourning the death of Jesus. Some Churches hold a three-hour-worship service to symbolize the three hours of darkness while Jesus suffered on the cross. On Holy Saturday, many Churches hold the vigil (watch) of Easter, when worshipers recall Jesus' burial and await His resurrection. Sunday is day of celebration of the services at sunrise in addition to their main services. The light of the rising sun recalls the light that comes back to the world with the newly risen Jesus.
Easter Symbols and Popular Customs
Many symbols and customs have become associated with Easter at different times and places. The origins of some customs and their association with Easter, however, are not always easily determined. Eggs, for example, may have become Easter symbols because they are traditional symbols of life. In any event, wherever Easter is celebrated one will find decorated eggs as well as egg games and egg contests. For example, on the White House lawn in Washington D.C., every year children join the President of the United States in rolling eggs down the grassy slopes, each trying to have his or her own reach the bottom unbroken.
Rabbits are associated with the fertility of spring because of the ability to produce many young. The Easter rabbit, then, is a symbol of new life. However, in the twentieth century, the Easter rabbit has become exploited commercially in America. The large fluffy Easter Bunny, as the bearer of Easter presents to children, has perhaps become the most visible symbol of Easter to the majority of Americans today. The lamb, an important Easter symbol in some European countries, is a more appropriate Easter symbol than the rabbit because it represents the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
Easter lilies are used to decorate homes and churches during Easter. The large, pure white blossoms remind Christians of the pure new life that comes to them through the resurrection of Jesus. Other popular customs of Easter include attending carnivals and passion plays, eating hot cross buns, and wearing new clothes. The latter practice may have originated from the old practice of having newly baptized Christians wear new white clothes for the Easter celebration.
In conclusion, notice that some Easter customs are distinctively Christian while others are associated more with the return of spring and have only a vague religious significance. This Easter determine you will spend some extra time in reflection of what Christ did for you on the cross.
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