What Do Jesus and the Easter Bunny Have in Common?
Many people are confused about Easter being celebrated as a Christian holiday. Truthfully, Easter has it’s roots in paganism. Yet, western Christian culture has morphed it into a greater expression of resurrected life. We have become accustomed to celebrating this holiday at the same time we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the tomb.
How are the two interrelated? How did the bunny, egg, and lily become a part of the holy remembrance of Jesus?
What is clear is that various symbols for fertility—eggs, rabbits, and lilies—that were already fixed in culture all became firmly attached to the Christian holiday known in Western Europe and North America as Easter. https://www.exploregod.com/the-easter-bunny-and-jesus
If art, legends, and myths from the past teach us anything, it is that human beings long to live, to love and be loved, to reproduce, and to live beyond death. The resurrection of Jesus—the central element of Easter—reflects those longings and affirms a dramatic claim: one day death will be swallowed up in victory. https://www.exploregod.com/the-easter-bunny-and-jesus
Having grown up on a farm with rabbits, I know bunnies reproduce very quickly. The gestation length, the time from breeding to birth, for a rabbit is from 28 to 32 days. Rabbits are bred about 4-6 months of age. Bunnies also die and more bunnies are born. Jesus death and resurrection are represented.
On our farm were chickens and ducks, too. As children, we couldn’t wait to see baby chicks or ducklings be born. Eggs represent new life. Jesus is the creator of new life in us who believe in His salvation message.
The Fragrance of the Lilies
Lilies, with their beautiful trumpet-shaped white flowers and a fragrance that so easily grabs our sense of smell, are also symbols of Easter. In this flower we discover the symbolism of purity, virtue, innocence, hope and life. Each of these words represent the holiness of Jesus. The Bible tells us He is clothed in pure white robes. His fragrance draws us near.
All who believe in Him also have victory over death. Jesus conquered the grave. One day we will enter His presence and be clothed in white robes, too.
Easter is celebrated on a Sunday because Jesus rose from the grave on a Sunday morning. His resurrection is the only reason we have a holiday called Easter.
When you look at the pretty eggs, smell the lily, or see a bunny, remember the blessings of the resurrection are not built on folk lore, but on the timeless Biblical truths that set us free from sin and death.
The following poem by Louise Lewin Matthews captures the spiritual essence of the Easter Lily: Easter morn with lilies fair Fills the church with perfumes rare, As their clouds of incense rise, Sweetest offerings to the skies. Stately lilies pure and white Flooding darkness with their light, Bloom and sorrow drifts away, On this holy hallow壇 day. Easter Lilies bending low in the golden afterglow, Bear a message from the sod To the heavenly towers of God. -Louise Lewin Matthews http://www.appleseeds.org/easter-lily.htm
There are many ways to celebrate Easter. But if thoughts of Jesus are not a part of that day, its real meaning is being missed.
I pray Easter will be a time of new blessings in your lives.
