On Pagan Tradition and the Hope of the Resurrection.

This morning at church, we hid Easter Eggs. I have never done that before. In  my family we didn't really follow the Church calendar or engage in the traditions of the Church because my parents believed that Christmas and Easter were pagan holidays that were appropriated, and because of that, they were inseparable from their pagan roots, and oughtn't to be celebrated.

This morning, one of the women objected to our Easter Egg hunt for much the same reasons. That got me thinking. Because in the past couple years I have begun to be involved in the Church calendar and to care deeply about the seasons of the Church and how we live life together celebrating the life of Christ, and what he has done for us.

Cruxifiction is the worst possible punishment one could be sentenced to. It is a horrific form of torturous death. But the power of Christ is such that He can redeem even that. That the cross, that emblem of the wickedness of the artifice of man, should become a symbol of hope and salvation, is one of the many evidences of the power, greatness, and glory of God.

If Christ can redeem the cross, surely He can redeem Easter Eggs and the Easter Bunny too. If Christ can redeem me, what is a bunny rabbit?

The empty eggs serve as a symbol of the empty tomb, and also as a symbol of the whitewashed tombs that we are. We decorate ourselves, and pretend to be righteous, but  without Christ we are as empty and worthless as those eggshells.

Today we celebrate the greatest thing to ever occur in the entire history of the human race. I mean that as literally as possible. There has never been, nor shall there ever be, as long as time itself endures, a greater event than Christ raising Himself from the grave. Three days ago, the worst catastrophe to ever be committed by the sinful mind of man occurred. We, humanity, murdered the only innocent man to ever live. In fact, we murdered God Himself. But the power and grace of God is so big, so magnificent and merciful is He, that He intended that we should, that He would become Agnus Dei, and swallow all our sin, that we might live forever with Him. Glory be to God.

He is Risen!