Do you have a problem with eggs being part of the Easter celebration? I find it interesting how some Christians get frustrated with the secular symbols used to celebrate Christmas and Easter. If you research them, you find almost all of them have their roots in the church or hold a spiritual significance.
The egg, for example, dates back to pre-crucifixion days. In most cultures the egg signified birth and even resurrection. Egyptians would bury eggs in their tombs and the Greeks would place them on top of graves.
When the church started celebrating the resurrection of Christ, the egg seemed like a likely symbol. The wealthy in the early church would decorate the outside of eggs with gold leaf or gilt while the poor would boil them with flowers and herbs to give them a decorative color, which is where we get the tradition of coloring eggs.
Today you can purchase a dozen plastic eggs, called Resurrection Eggs, from most Christian bookstores, to assist you in the telling of the Easter story. Eleven of the eggs contain a symbol, like the donkey, to remind us of the path Christ took to the cross and the tomb. The twelfth egg is my favorite. It is empty, just like the tomb, because He has risen, He is alive, and He is coming back for us all.
In Luke 24:1-12 we read of the discovery of the empty tomb. Both the women who came with burial spices and the disciples who followed were astonished to find the tomb empty. The angels who appeared to the women said “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” [vs. 5b-7]. So why were they surprised when they found Him gone?
If there was one thing Jesus was it was honest. Everything He told them came to pass exactly as He said it would. That, my friends, is GOOD NEWS. If everything He told the disciples happened as Jesus said, then everything else He said will happen also. He has gone to prepare a place for us and He will come back and get us to take us there [John 14:3]. He also said not only will we do what He did on earth, but even greater things than He did [John 14:12]. Can you imagine it? You and I doing greater things than Christ did on the earth? It doesn’t make sense to me, but He said it and we’ve already seen what He says happens. Now that is worth celebrating.
Happy Easter, my friends! It is my prayer each of you experience the resurrection power of Christ this Easter and in the days ahead.