The Easter Bunny Conspiracy

This Sunday is Easter Sunday. So, I'm going to answer a question I've been waiting to answer for a long time, "Why do we call it Easter in stead of something else?" I also want to answer a question that I have (though I'm sure we've all wondered this), "What do the Easter Bunny, Easter egg hunts and painting Easter eggs have to do with Jesus' resurrection?"

Well, the word "Easter" was derived from old English and refers to a month of the Germanic calendar and was named after a Angelo-Saxon pagan-istic goddess, which was roughly set in April. It's also around the month of April that the Jewish feast of Passover occurs. Passover dates back to when Moses asked Pharaoh to let his people go. When Pharaoh refused, God sent plagues on the land of Egypt, the last of which killed every first born son. To protect the Israelites God commanded them to kill a lamb, paint their doorposts with it's blood. That would be the sign for the Angels to pass over (Passover... get it?) that house. The family would then eat the lamb that was killed as a meal. So after that, every year, the Israelites celebrated and feasted thanking God for saving them.

Flash forward a few hundred years to Jesus' time. Jesus was in Jerusalem, where He was crucified, to celebrate the Passover Feast. On top of that, Jesus is called the Lamb of God, symbolizing an atoning sacrifice, and very much like the lamb of the passover. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice, the last sacrifice, and our savior from death. Because He is God, Jesus couldn't stay dead, He resurrected 3 days later just as He said He would. Jesus' death and resurrection was around the same time as the Passover, which falls around the loosely derived "Easter" of the Germanic calendar. Easter is now a Sunday in late March to early April, when Christians celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, who was the Messiah, who saved us from sin & death.

But what does this have to do with the Easter Bunny and eggs? Well, honestly, nothing. The Easter Bunny has about as much to do with the death and resurrection of Jesus as Santa Clause has to do with the birth of Jesus. They are just fun traditions that have developed over time. The Easter Bunny originated in Germany. The custom is that kids would make nests, which developed into Easter Baskets, and the Easter Bunny would leave goodies in them. The Easter Bunny would bring colored eggs, chocolate and sometimes toys on the night before Easter. Click here for more and better detailed info on Easter. Remember, He has risen, He has risen indeed. Happy Easter!