Happy Easter!

Matthew 28:1-10

28 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

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This is an unusual year in that Passover, Easter, and Ramadan all fall together. I hope everyone who celebrated had a joyous time.

While I have you here, I thought it might be fun to share the likely origin of Easter eggs. (I was surprised at how much traction my Twitter post on this topic received this week, so I thought it worth sharing here, too.) I say “likely origin of Easter eggs” because it is not known for certain. However, the evidence seems to point in a direction which indicates that Easter eggs were born out of the practice of Lent. During the Middle Ages, and perhaps earlier, Lent often included abstaining from milk, eggs, and meat for the forty days prior to Easter (in many cases the participation was mandatory.) While milk and meat were difficult to store during the pre-refrigeration era, eggs could be kept for longer by doing an early version of pickling. Thus the theory goes that on Easter morning, when the fast ended, people celebrated by eating the eggs they have accumulated during Lent. As celebrations tend to include an element of games, and decoration, something resembling our modern Easter egg decorating and hunting followed sometime after.

You can read more about the topic HERE.