Easter is a special day of feast for the Christians, which celebrates the famous resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion on Good Friday. The day is especially celebrated with pomp and show because it is preceded by a forty-day fasting of Lent. The day is called by various names like Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day and so on.
According to The New Testament, the day of Easter has a special significance because it establishes the special power of Jesus as the son of God and proves the faith of millions of Christians who believed that Jesus is truly the son of God. And so the birth of a new hope – a new faith was established after Jesus was resurrected from the dead. And thereby was the root of Christianity as a religious faith so that the followers could tread on earth in a new path. From here onwards what was a small group of believers in the faith of Christ turned into a major religious belief.
Easter is also connected to Passover and the Exodus from Egypt that was documented in the Old Testament. But as far as the belief in the New Testament goes, Jesus gave the Passover meal in order to prepare for the death on Good Friday for himself and as well as his followers. And thereby the Last Supper was important. He considered the loaf of bread as his body and the cup of wine as his blood that would have to be shed on the day of Good Friday. So after all this comes the happy occasion of Easter when Jesus Christ after so much blood and bearing the pain of crucifixion comes back again to reinforce the faith of his believers.
Easter is considered to be the most celebrated occasion for the Christians because the occasion marks the fulfilment of the prophecies in the Old Testament of the Bible and the fact that what God predicted for the believers from the very beginning was fulfilled.
Easter is also significant because on that day God showed what it means to live while bearing the pain of existence and the yet not deviate from the path of God and not do any kind of sin. Easter reinforces the faith of believers that the path of goodness is more elevated than the way of sins.
Jesus could have done some miracle and saved himself from the terrible torture he was subjected to. Yet he decided to suffer and pay the penalty of those who had blind faith in him. He paved the way of goodness by setting an example that one should have complete and unshakable faith in God and not deviate from the path of goodness. In this way the fact that Jesus was pure and the true son of God was reinforced.
In the end the sacrifice was paid off and the belief in Christ was reinforced through his resurrection. His believers received a new lease of life on Easter Sunday when Jesus rose from his grave on Easter Sunday. Their faith in him as the saviour and the true son of God was established firmly on this day. On Easter Monday he went about to visit his disciples. The week is celebrated as the entire Easter week and people decorate their houses too.
Eggs have a special essence during Easter. Eggs are decorated by being painted red and kept in various places in the house during Easter. Now even the eggs are substituted with cakes and sweets and jelly. According to an old school of thought the red dye on the eggs symbolise the blood of Christ that was shed during crucifixion on the Cross. The hard shell is the Tomb of Christ and the burst of the hard shell symbolises the resurrection of Christ from the dead. The yolk also symbolises a new life and resurrection is also about the new birth or rebirth of Jesus Christ and finally the birth of a new religious order.
For the true Christians, Easter is even more significant than Christmas because it is on that day Jesus proved himself as the son of God and the saviour for the millions of believers who had ample faith in him. There were many who had even questioned his faith and had thought that Jesus would never come back because he had to endure so much pain during crucifixion. Many thought that if he was the true son of God why did he not create a miracle and save himself. Thereby lies the significance of Easter because on this very day Jesus rose from the grave and then onwards explained and preached the people the essence of Christianity and the sanctity of sacrifice.
Devout Christians on this day attend a midnight mass at the church. The church proceedings are long and the people are given water and in the darkness of the night candles are lit to signify the birth of a new light – the birth of Christianity as a religion. During the Lent period the statue of Christ is covered. On the Easter night during the mass, the statue is unveiled with the burst of strong wind.
Image Credit: Grant Cochrane/Freedigitalphotos.net
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