Easter Traditions
Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children—how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, “Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.” ~Deuteronomy 4:9-10
I know there are some Christians who believe that we should not celebrate Easter or Christmas differently than any other day of the year. They would argue that to do so would imply that we do not pay special attention to the birth, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ every day as we ought. I understand this line of reasoning, and believe that we should do our utmost to treasure Christ in every moment of every day of every year… and yet I also believe that God-centered celebrations can be a useful tool to “take care” and “keep [our souls] diligently, lest [we] forget the things [our] eyes have seen, and lest they depart from [our hearts] all the days of [our lives]” as passage above from Deuteronomy encourages the Israelites. This is exactly why God instituted so many feasts and celebrations throughout the Old Testament and the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Visual, physical celbrations can have a great impact on your soul.
But Easter, as well as Christmas, can also just be a time when we say we are celebrating Christ, but in reality we give very little of our time and attention to him. Symbolic traditions, not just traditions, can be a way to help focus our minds and instruct our children in the wonder of the joy we receive from our salvation in Christ.
It is surprisingly difficult to find a wealth of information about Christian Easter traditions. Most of what you find on the internet is saturated with bunnies and eggs, but there were a few gems that I was able to bookmark and hope to incorporate into our own celebration. Here they are in no particular order:
1. In most of the world lamb, not ham, is the traditional Easter meat and with good reason.The symbolism is obvious! “Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Just as the sacrificial lamb was a symbol for the Israelites, eating lamb on Easter can be a symbol for us of the sacrifice of the perfect lamb of God for our sins.
2. For many people Hot Cross Buns are a traditional Easter food. These sweet, fruit filled buns display a cross on top of them to help remind us of the reason for our celebration. Here is a link to a recipe.
3. Apparently in much of Europe, Italian Easter Bread, is a common tradition. The cross braiding of the dough is meant to remind you of the crown of thorns, while the decorative eggs are a symbol of the new life found in Christ. This is also a sweet bread. Here is a link to a recipe.
4. Easter eggs in general are supposed to be symbolic of new life. In some traditions they color the eggs red to represent the blood of Christ. In others you crack open the eggs on Easter morning symbolizing Jesus’ tomb breaking open. There is even a game for children (and adult men I would presume) where each person holds an egg in their fist and you sort of fist pump each other until one of the eggs breaks. Whoever’s egg doesn’t break is the winner (Again, the breaking of the egg is reminiscent of the tomb breaking open). In some cultures the decorated eggs are the first food handed out onEaster morning with the traditional, “He is risen!” accompanying the hand off and “Indeed he is!” being the thank you from the recipient. In some homes, only one egg is eaten by every member of the family symbolizing the unity of the body of Christ.
5. The Hunt! Easter egg hunts need not be about a bunny! They can also be a symbol of our relationship to our Savior. God tells us to seek him, just as those little children will be ernestly seeking those eggs: ”You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) I have also thought it would be so nice to add little messages inside the children’s eggs with messages about God’s sweetness: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103 ESV); the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:9; Psalm 19:10-11 ESV); etc… The candy is an excellent picture to your child of how wonderful a relationship with Jesus is… it is even better than candy!
6. Similar to the Advent Candles of Christmas, many people do the opposite for Easter. You start out with lit candles and over time blow them all out until there are none left on Good Friday. You can do it over the entire Lent season, the holy week, or even simply on Good Friday itself. This tradition symbolizes the death of the “Light of the World.” On Easter morning all of the candles are lit to represent the resurrection.
7. Just as wine (or grape juice) represent the blood of Christ when we take communion, it can do the same soul stirring service during our Easter Celebrations.
8. Extended Family Worship is a great way to make Easter different from other days. Taking time to read prophecies regarding the suffering and exaltation of Christ and then their fulfillment is the most obvious way of focusing our hearts and minds as a family on Christ. Choose songs to sing that focus on the crucifixion and resurrection to continue with the same theme.
9. Fasting has always been a part of this season as a way of seeking closer fellowship to the Lord and even mourning his death on the cross. Fasting from Friday night to Sunday morning would be a great tradition to start in order to symbolize the darkness that was felt as the Son of God physically died and then the joy felt as he returned.
10. The new clothes that many people wear on Easter Sunday are symbolic of the new life we put on when we repent and believe in the risen Lord.
11. The American tradition of eating ham on Easter can be symbolic of the old covenant being replaced by the new due to the fact that the Israelites were not permitted to eat “unclean meats” such as ham. Once Christ had fulfilled the law, God made it clear to Peter that all foods including those once forbidden were now clean. Adults and older children will benefit from the symbolism of Gentiles being grafted into the covenant.
12. Resurrection Buns are an adorable tradition to start with your children. Together you make these simple buns that are wrapped around a big marshmallow. When they are done baking the marshmallow has been melted and incorporated into the dough leaving a gigantic hole in the middle of the bun. When the children tear open the buns to look for their marshmallow they are surprised to find that it is missing just as Christ was missing from the tomb. Here is a link to a recipe.
I am sure that there are many more ideas out there. Do you know of any that I haven’t listed? I am particularly looking for some kind of symbolic side dish. Obviously none of these symbols will mean anything if we fail to think deeply on the truths behind them and explain them to our children, but they are great ways to help us in our pursuit of Christ-centered Easters.
Please add to this list in the comments and maybe you will inspire someone today with your Christ-centered tradition!
Photo Credits: Easter Lilly, Lamb Chops Final, Itallian Easter Bread, Ostern, Joy
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Thanks for the good and timely ideas. I need all the help I can get! Last year was the first year I tried to deliberately prepare my children for Easter and included them in some preparations. We made this cake:
http://lifeasmom.com/2010/03/empty-tomb-resurrection-cake.html
It went over big with my kids. We took the cake to family Easter dinner and they were soooo excited to tell everyone about the cake they made and the story behind it. And believe me, there were people there who needed to hear it, but I wouldn’t have dared!
That looks so cute! I can’t wait until my kids are old enough to get something out of all of these fun things. For now it is more for my own preperation and getting into the habit of talking these things out with them. Thanks for the link!
I think you are missing the point on why some Christians don’t celebrate Easter. It is a pagan holiday that has been dolled up for Christians. God plainly wrote in the Bible not to give in to idols. Here is a good article on how Easter is pagan, and it’s history.
http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract1.html
Thank you for your comment Ashley. I was actually speaking to a different concern that I have read about from Christians in the past (mainly some puritans and a spiritual hero of mine) when speaking about a reason why some do not celebrate Easter and Christmas.
The concern you raise is a completely different issue altogether and I want to thank you for raising it. I did go to the article you linked to and will share with you my thoughts. I am very aware that many of the traditions that popular western culture enjoys during Easter have their roots in many pagan cultures (that would basically be any religion or culture other than Old Testament Judaism or New Testament Christianity). This is the same for Christmas and other holidays. I am hesitant however to believe all of the “truths” presented in this particular article due to a lack of references and seemingly unknowable facts.
However, your concerns remain. If even some of this is true, how can we use these items or foods to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ when they were once used for idol worship? My immediate response is to simply say, “There is no idol worship present in our Easter.” Our Easter is completely devoid of the kind of worship presented in the article you linked to. Easter for us, is a season to worship and celebrate our risen King. What’s more, every object or food mentioned in the article as emerging from this pagan culture was created by the true God and is meant to bring glory to his name. By relegating these things to a pagan culture you are relegating a means of his glory to a fake god. So, even if eggs, ham, hot cross buns, sunrise services, bunnies (we don’t have bunnies in our Easter celebration… what would be the correlation?) were used in an ancient pagan culture to worship their fake gods, we would be just in using them to worship the one true God because they are his creation.
I would also say that even in families where Christ is not the center of their Easter, the worship of Baal or Ishtar is absent. Does idol worship happen in those homes? Yes. But it has nothing to do with the pagan origins of Easter, it has everything to do with the depraved nature of man and our desire to worship something. For most families it is family itself that is worshipped, not Baal.
I completely agree that we are not to give in to idols, but I would submit to you that to believe that these traditions are somehow bound to an ancient pagan culture is to give those idols more power than they deserve. There is nothing inherently evil in any of them.
After thinking through your question for a little while I was reminded of a very applicable text of Scripture found in 1 Corinthians 8. Paul is addressing food that had been offered to pagan gods. Apparently there had been debate among the Corinthians as to wether Christians were free to eat this meat since it had been sacrificed for the purpose of worshipping these gods. This is what he said: “Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘an idol has no real existence,’ and that ‘there is no God but one.’ For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” (1 Corinthians 8:4-6 ESV) So, here Paul is telling them that it is indeed ok to eat this meat associated with idols because the idol has no real existence. Later in chapter 10, Paul exhorts the Corinthians to never eat the meat in participation of the pagan religious ceremonies (in the temples) because that would indeed be demonic. He continues however in the same chapter to say “Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For ‘the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.’” (1 Corinthians 10:25-26) From these passages it is clear that objects/food involved in idol worship, even if it was present day, would be open to our use as long as we ourselves were not involved in the worship of those idols.
The reason I wrote this post and continually desire to think through family traditions is for the sole purpose of bringing glory to Christ. The reason we celebrate Easter is to bring glory to Christ and his glory is not diminished because an ancient culture misused his creation to worship demons (Paul calls those fake gods demons). I believe that celebrating Easter not only gives us a chance to focus our hearts and minds on the death and resurrection of Christ, but the incredible opportunity to witness to the idol worshipping world around us. This is exactly why we must be sure that our traditions point to Christ!
I would encourage you to study these passages further and then examine the article you linked to based on Scripture. Thank you so much for your comment and desire to warn others against idolatry.
We have made Easter Story Cookies (http://www.destitutegourmet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=109) several times. Our children always love to do this.
Thank so much for the link Angela!
Jessalyn,
I know i am commenting on a year old post but i found it now and it is timeless.Since i didn’t grew up ‘Christian’ and now i am,i have conflicting thoughts.I find your ideas so well put.Your response emphasizing what should be the ‘object’ of celebration during ‘Easter’ resonates with me.Being a foodie and inspired by your Easter traditions,i can not wait to bring ‘Resurrection’ to my kitchen table at the time we call it ‘Easter’.
Thank you,nive
I am so glad that you are encouraged by these ideas. I have incorporated most of them into our celebration… in fact I am in the middle of baking some hot cross buns and marinading a leg of lamb at the moment! I pray that your Easter will be filled with celebrations that honor the Lord and direct your heart toward him!