by Marlon Wade

Created on: December 02, 2006   Last Updated: May 14, 2007

The question itself begs another question: what does Easter have to do with Messiah? Easter, in its origins and adaptations through the ages, remains pagan as illustrated by its very name. Is "Easter" something Jesus or His Apostles would have known about much less observed? I think the chances of that are the same for them eating pork. Of course, if one sees it as as a semantic issue it could not be more important but as a linguistic issue, the urge to ignore meaning will tempt many away from close inspection of the matter.

In his text, Smith explains,
The origin of Easter predates Christianity. Christianity's meteoric growth can be attributed to the fact that wherever Christianity went, it was customary to extrapolate from the existing populations portions of their religions to include their rituals and sacred holidays and icons. The origin of Easter dates back to the ancient Baylonians and the celebration of their goddess of love and fertility, Ishtar. In ancient Phoenicia she was known as Astarte, who was the sister of Baal. The ancient Europeans called her Ostara, the goddess of spring and she symbolized renewal and rebirth, fertility and the rising sun.
During the second century A.D., Christian missionaries, who were attempting to convert the northern European tribes, recognized that Jesus' crucifixion occurred during the celebration of the Teutonic springtimecelebrations. The focus of these celebrations was to emphasize the successful victory of life over death. The old English translation of "Eastre" refers to Ostara, the goddess of spring and she symbolized renewal and rebirth, which was a perfect fit for the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God[1].

Respecting the question of why eggs are related to Easter itself, Smith says further that,
The relationship between the symbolisms of eggs and rabbits also dates back to ancient pagan rituals. Ancient pagans would scour the forests for brightly colored bird eggs to be used in their rituals. The Persians gave these colored eggs as gifts in celebration of their spring festivals. The ancient Europeans took eggs of various colors from the nests of the birds to be used as talismans and then they were eaten ritualistically. Over time, these rituals evolved into what is known as Easter egg hunts. Conversely, the modern Easter baskets that are used in these hunts resemble birds' nests[2].

At some point in the European tradition, Ostara transformed her pet bird into a an egg-laying rabbit to give to children to bring them joy and happiness. The Germans tweaked the tradition further by hanging the colored eggs on trees and making chocolate eggs.

There you have it. None of this would have been acceptable to Jesus nor any follower of His. Any Christian hoping to find biblical justification for christianizing pagan practices would only find many prohibitions against it in the strongest possible terms. Please don't take my word for it but see for yourselves: Eph. 5:10-12; Deut. 18:9-12; 2 Cor. 6:14-17; Cor. 11:14-15; Romans 12:9; Ex. 22:18; Deut. 18:20 & 32:17, 21; Jer. 2:11; Ps. 135:15-18; and more.

See here -> http://www.blessedquietness.com/journal/resource/eas ter.htm

REFERENCES
[1]Jerry Smith, LCSW, LISW, It's Time to Stop Blaming the White Man, p. 309 (2003).

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