Easter can be an amazing time for Christians. Jesus’ resurrection is the most important thing that we can ever celebrate. The cross and Jesus as the sacrificial lamb are pretty easy symbols for us to understand. The Easter Bunny, however, is not so straightforward. Many Christians avoid these “extra” symbols at all costs. Perhaps there is more to them than meets the eye. Maybe some of them have a meaningful place in our Easter traditions.
The Surprising Truth Behind 3 Easter Symbols
Since the meaning behind many of these symbols is less than obvious, it almost seems like they have a secret, hidden meaning. You have the power to change that! You can let some of these things into your Easter celebration and tell your family and friends what they mean. When they see these symbols in the future, they may remember and be drawn closer to Christ. Here is the surprising truth behind 3 Easter symbols…
Easter Lilies
Easter lilies are a symbol for hope and new life as they bloom in the early spring. Their trumpet shape can remind us of God’s trumpet call that will bring us to Heaven and a new life with Him.
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 ESV
Celebrate!
Display some beautiful fresh lilies. Talk about their beauty and the resurrection of Jesus, but don’t stop there. Celebrate that Jesus come back with trumpets for all who believe!
Trumpet-shaped Easter lilies remind us of God’s trumpet call that will bring us to Heaven. Click To Tweet
Easter Eggs
Eggs are a symbol of fertility and immortality to people all over the world. As Christians, we can take this to a higher level. We are, of course, mortal. However, one day, we will be able to enjoy eternal life with Jesus.
The egg appears one way on the outside, but inside is where the promise of life is. Many Christians compare this to the tomb of Jesus. It appeared to be just a tomb, but Jesus came out with the promise of eternal life!
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen.” Luke 24:1-6 ESV
As for dying eggs, early Christians stained eggs red in honor of Jesus’ precious blood. Many believe this custom was actually started by Mary Magdalene. Orthodox Christians still celebrate this custom today.
Early Christians stained eggs red in honor of Jesus’ precious blood. Click To TweetCelebrate!
As you dye your Easter eggs, make at least one of them red. Talk about the significance of the color red and Jesus’ blood.
Enjoy some delicious egg treats–real or candy. Before you dive into them, discuss the tomb analogy. The outside may lead you to believe one thing, but it is what is inside that is truly a great surprise. This would be fun with candy eggs. Give each child an egg and don’t tell them what flavor is inside. Just make sure it is something they like so they understand that what is inside is what makes it amazing. This will drive home the point that it is what is inside the egg (or what was NOT inside Jesus’ tomb) that makes all the difference.
The Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny was a tradition that originated in Germany. It is perhaps the most pagan of all. Bunnies are a symbol of fertility and new life also. That’s about the only connection to the true meaning of Easter, but I couldn’t talk about Easter symbols and leave it out. Children created homemade nests for the rabbit and his colored eggs.
Celebrate!
You can use this information to decide if you want to “celebrate” the Easter Bunny or not. Regardless of whether you choose to eat a chocolate bunny or have your picture made with him, as a Christian, put more emphasis on the things that remind us of Jesus. The true meaning of Easter will shine out.
Rejoice! Jesus is Alive!
Hopefully the surprising truth behind these 3 Easter symbols will help you make your Easter celebration richer and more meaningful. May your Easter celebration be filled with joy and Jesus!
What are your favorite Easter symbols?
It’s all about Jesus to me – i’ll have to really read this later on…
I like this post. I’m glad you acknowledged the fact that although holidays can have non-christian roots, our hearts are what really matter. I mean, even our calendar year is technically pagan but we still follow it. It’s all about intention and being led by the Holy Spirit. Happy Easter!
I really like how you say how these symbols relate to Christ without pushing people away, as sometimes people do when they look at the origin behind these symbols.
Great post!
I really liked the part about dying the egg red and telling the story of Jesus. I’m going to do that with my grandchildren. God Bless!
That was the most surprising part for me too. We are going to do it as well. Have fun with your grandchildren!
When our kids were small, we did NOT do the Easter bunny. We told the kids that we were celebrating something real, and amazing– Jesus’ resurrection. Having said that, we didn’t freak out if someone else said something about the Easter bunny. And, if someone gave us a chocolate Easter bunny– we definitely ate it! But, I like your balanced insight into these symbols.
Kathleen Burnett recently posted…Habakkuk 2:4-2:20 — Bible Study Notes — Lesson 5
This article is very informative. In my part of Africa, we don’t celebrate Easter with any of these symbols. I like your bringing a Christian relevance to them. After all, even the day of the Lord, Sunday, was devoted to worship of the sun god. In like manner, some music that started as modes of expression for rastas and gangsters like reggae and hip hop are now serving as a means of praise and preaching the Gospel.
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Hi Tara,
When I read the title of your post, I expected to see discussion of eggs and bunnies, but I didn’t know lilies were a common Easter symbol.
I appreciated your honesty in acknowledging the pagan aspects of some of the symbols. I wasn’t even aware that any of them related to Christ in the ways you said. Would seem to me to be a 1 Corinthians 8/Romans 14 type issue where each Christian has to be “convinced in his/her own mind.”
Regardless of what people decide, I hope they do what you said and ensure they recognize the true and greater significant of Easter, which is the death and resurrection of Christ.
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Love the history lesson of these symbols. I always find it fun to incorporate secular items and explain how we are different – it’s a great chance to teach my kids why being Christian means we are different, but not better, or above anyone.
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Such a great post summarizing the history of the different Easter symbols. I was just researching something recently and came across the history of the Easter bunny. I thought about writing up a post, but just ran out of time for this Lent.
LauraOinAK recently posted…Ways to Celebrate Good Friday
This is really cool to learn about! Growing up we were pretty non traditional in that we didn’t celebrate Easter with any of these methods. But it’s been cool to learn about them. Kind of makes me want to do some more research.
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I enjoy learning about new things, even things that I don’t always practice. Enjoy your research!
This is an awesome post. I love the lesson on the red egg I will teach that to my boys. To me I teach the boys about Jesus and salvation during Easter. It’s a fun time.
I agree. There is so much to learn and do at Easter that can draw us closer to Jesus!
I had no idea that early christians dyed eggs red. That’s an interesting new fact!
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Very informative! I must disagree with the bunny being pagan based though. Besides being a symbol of spring, fertility and new life, the bunny became associated with Easter several hundred years after Christianity was established, so there was no need to associate it with paganism. Mother rabbits leave their young under ground and grass to hide them from predators while they’re away. Kinda like in a hole under a piece of sod. In Germany the children would have Easter egg hunts in grassy areas. While the children were running around looking for eggs, bunnies would be disturbed and come out into the grasses too. Children began associating the bunnies with the Easter eggs. So the stories of an Easter Bunny leaving eggs came into being. Not truly Christ based but easily associated and an appropriate Easter symbol. Here’s a link to a video to help explain my description of how bunnies den in grass. Hope it helps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGyqvIAh_SI