The Meaning of Easter - Pt. 3

 

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” (John 11:17-27 ESV).

 

Our reading today is a part of the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. It is an important lesson in eternal life. It is also the foundation of our next examination of the Easter tradition we have come to know as the Easter Bunny. Much like the egg, hares and rabbits have long symbolized fertility and new life. In Medieval Christian art and architecture, particularly in Northern Europe, we sometimes find rabbits depicted in association with the Virgin and Christ child or with the Holy Trinity.

 

But the Easter bunny we know today probably finds its origin among 17th century German Lutherans who told stories about an egg laying hare, that delivered eggs to well-behaved children on Easter (much like Santa Claus). Children would make nests (the precursors to today’s Easter baskets) and leave them out for the Easter bunny to lay eggs in them. In the morning, children would find their nests filled with eggs. In other European countries, animals like foxes, or even cuckoos, fill the role of the Easter bunny and are said to deliver eggs on Easter day. Most scholars think the Easter bunny made its way to North America with German immigrants in the 18th century. Since that time, the tradition of the Easter hare has developed into an Easter bunny that brings not only eggs, but candy, and even presents on Easter morning.

 

The Easter Bunny was meant to teach the truth of eternal life. We can recapture that lesson if we will focus on Jesus’ promise revealed in our reading today. There is no death to those who are the chosen children of God redeemed by the blood of Jesus!