Easter – The Season of Hope
Easter is almost upon us, and I’ve been reflecting on why we celebrate Easter and what basic human need it satisfies.
If we have a basic need for chocolate, then that need is well and truly met by Easter. However, chocolate has only been around for a few hundred years while we have been celebrating Easter for thousands of years. Chocolate was first brought to Europe from Central America in the 16th century courtesy of Ferdinand Columbus, the son of Christopher Columbus, so the need for chocolate can’t be the real reason for this season.
In the northern hemisphere, where our Easter celebrations began, Easter falls at the beginning of spring. Historically, people chose to mark the transition from the long, cold, lifeless darkness of a northern winter into the new life of spring in a special way. The melting of the snow and the appearance of the first green shoots were the first indications of the summer that lay ahead, of crops that would be grown and harvested, of food stores renewed, and the needs for another year met. I wonder if this doesn’t bring us closer to the real reason for Easter because, as human beings, we live in hope. Without hope, without the certainty of a better future ahead, we have no reason to struggle on in the present, and so we find ways to affirm and renew hope.
It has been argued that the early Christian Church took over and Christianised a much older pagan celebration of spring. That may be true. But I think the reason for choosing this particular celebration comes back to the idea of hope, because the Christian message of Easter is, more than anything else, a message of hope. It is the message of better times ahead. It is the message that Jesus, who entered the world at Christmas, died on a cross at Easter to remove the final barrier that stood between us and God so that we could enjoy a better life in his presence.
The bible says this about the hope of Easter and this is what we, as Christians, celebrate. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” (1 Peter 1:3-4).
Neil Percival
Young District Anglican Ministry
If we have a basic need for chocolate, then that need is well and truly met by Easter. However, chocolate has only been around for a few hundred years while we have been celebrating Easter for thousands of years. Chocolate was first brought to Europe from Central America in the 16th century courtesy of Ferdinand Columbus, the son of Christopher Columbus, so the need for chocolate can’t be the real reason for this season.
In the northern hemisphere, where our Easter celebrations began, Easter falls at the beginning of spring. Historically, people chose to mark the transition from the long, cold, lifeless darkness of a northern winter into the new life of spring in a special way. The melting of the snow and the appearance of the first green shoots were the first indications of the summer that lay ahead, of crops that would be grown and harvested, of food stores renewed, and the needs for another year met. I wonder if this doesn’t bring us closer to the real reason for Easter because, as human beings, we live in hope. Without hope, without the certainty of a better future ahead, we have no reason to struggle on in the present, and so we find ways to affirm and renew hope.
It has been argued that the early Christian Church took over and Christianised a much older pagan celebration of spring. That may be true. But I think the reason for choosing this particular celebration comes back to the idea of hope, because the Christian message of Easter is, more than anything else, a message of hope. It is the message of better times ahead. It is the message that Jesus, who entered the world at Christmas, died on a cross at Easter to remove the final barrier that stood between us and God so that we could enjoy a better life in his presence.
The bible says this about the hope of Easter and this is what we, as Christians, celebrate. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” (1 Peter 1:3-4).
Neil Percival
Young District Anglican Ministry