Eric Reece
Easter: just to hear the word brings joy to my heart!
Easter is more than a day and a holiday. Easter is a promise from God: death does not win in the end.
Jesus has conquered death and His promise is, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live” (John 11:25).
I have so many wonderful memories connected to Easter: family gatherings, way too much food, malted candy eggs and fun. In my memory, Easter is always a beautiful, sunny day, meant to be enjoyed outside. On this day, the dogwoods are in bloom – and to look at the flowers is to recall the Easter story.
The early Christians called Easter “Pascha,” connecting it to the Jewish Passover celebration of freedom from slavery and the angel of death passing over. In Europe, Easter was the celebration of spring and new life and we kept the name to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the new life He brings.
I had the opportunity to visit a Greek Orthodox Church. I was not a fan of eating grape leaves, but thought if you cooked them like collards I may like them. One of the members told me about their Easter egg tradition. The story goes that Mary Magdalene spoke to a ruler about the resurrection of Jesus. He said a man could no more rise from the dead than an egg turn red. She presented him with an egg that turned red in her hand before him.
On Holy Thursday, Orthodox Christians boiled eggs in onion skins and vinegar, and the result is they are dyed blood red. They are polished in olive oil to bring out the color. The red represents the blood of Jesus shed for the forgiveness of sin. The shell represents the sealed tomb Jesus laid in.
On Easter, people tap their eggs. As they tap, one says, “Christ is Rise,” and the other says, “Truly, He is risen.” The one whose egg is not cracked on at least one side is the winner, and has bragging rights and good luck for the year.
As I planned one of my first Easter Sunrise services as a pastor, I asked the members what time they wanted to have Sunrise service. This was not a good idea, as they replied at “6 a.m.” I have since learned to find out the sunrise time (7:16 a.m., this year) on Easter and plan from there.
As we began the sunrise service, it was pitch dark. We sang, I prayed and started to preach. I preached and preached, and it was still dark outside. I finished preaching before the sun rose that morning. As we went into the fellowship hall for breakfast, the sun rose over a hearty breakfast and we all celebrated being together on Easter morning.
May you be blessed this Easter, as we celebrate the victory of Christ over death. He is Risen!
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church and can be reached via email, ereece@wnccumc.net.