Understanding Easter Through Multiple Views

In case you (or your children) don't quite get what Easter is all about, I here present a quick overview of Easter (and of Passover, the Jewish holiday that occurs around this time), plus a list of books you can use to get a feel for the holiday - and, finally, a look into Ukrainian egg dyeing (pysanky).

Easter: The Christian Holiday

To begin with, the good news: Jesus is alive! Easter is a time of great celebration because Jesus, who was put to death, came back to life (after his body lay for three days in a tomb!). His resurrection offers us the hope that we too can have new life - everlasting life, ours to claim right now if only we believe him and accept his offer.

John 5:24 says, "Truly, truly, I say to you: He who hears my words, and believes Him who sent me, has everlasting life, and will not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." Note the tenses: has everlasting life right now. Has already passed out of death into life. Will never come into judgment. This isn't some future gift that you can maybe possibly get if you can only give up your wicked ways, reform your life, and attend church on a regular basis. This is a gift you can have freely, right now, and it is a gift that can never be taken away. Everlasting life! No wonder Easter is a time of great rejoicing!

If you want to read the story of Jesus's resurrection, you can find it near the end of the four Gospels: Matthew chapter 28, Mark chapter 16, Luke chapter 24, and John chapter 20. They all cover the same event, but each concentrates on different details, so together they give you a more rounded picture of what really happened. (This is at the very start of the New Testament, or about two-thirds of the way through the Bible.)

Passover: The Jewish Holiday

The Jews, of course, don't believe the Easter story, so they don't celebrate Easter; they do, however, celebrate their own special holiday around this time: Passover. Passover is a time of great rejoicing too, but it is also a time to look back with a little sadness and remember that the Jews used to be slaves.

A long time ago, the Jews, or Israelites, were slaves to the Egyptians, and to the Pharaoh (basically the King of Egypt). The Pharaoh made their lives very hard, and he even killed some of them, even babies. The Israelites wanted desperately to be free, but they couldn't escape by themselves; they needed the help of God.

God spoke to the Jews through a man named Moses, who was a Jew but had been brought up as an Egyptian. Moses wanted to help his people, and God told him what he needed to do. Moses went to Pharaoh and told him, "God says to let my people go!" But Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go - so God sent terrible plagues against the Egyptians, destroying their crops and livestock and making everyone very sick. And when Pharaoh still refused to let the Israelites go, God told Moses that he would send one final plague against Egypt: He would send his angel of death to kill every firstborn son in all of Egypt.

God also gave Moses instructions on how to save the Israelites from the plague. Each family was to kill a sheep for supper, and spread the blood across the door of their house, on the top and sides. Then they were to stay inside, have dinner, and go to bed. When the angel came, he would see the blood and know that this family served God, and so he would "pass over" the house and not kill anyone inside.

The Israelites obeyed God, and the angel passed over all the houses of the Israelites, but he killed the firstborn sons of all the Egyptians. And then Pharaoh finally said, "Your god is too powerful - take your people and go!" So finally the Israelites were free to leave Egypt, and they were no longer slaves! This is why Passover is a time to rejoice - because the Jews are free - and a time to think back with a little sadness, because the Jews used to be slaves.

You can read the story of the Passover night in Exodus chapters 11 and 12 (the second book of the Bible).

Stories to Help You Understand the Christian Viewpoint

To get a clearer view of the death and resurrection of Jesus, pick up C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Aslan's death near the end of the book mirrors the death of Jesus, and takes you from the horror of watching him accept his death to the joy of seeing him restored to life. It also makes the reason for his death very personal: He is dying to save just one little boy, and a little boy who chose to do bad things at that.

For the flip side - the way Jesus works a change in a person's heart, and the wonder and awe a person feels when finally getting a glimpse of his love - there's no better choice than Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant. A short story, but a tearjerker, and a family favorite around my house.

To get a glimpse of the Christian view of Heaven, there are two books I would recommend. The first is another Narnia book: The Last Battle. The book may be a little hard to get through, and in my opinion you could probably skip most of it if you weren't interested. The final couple of chapters detail the children's ascent into everlasting life - before they even realize what's going on - and it gives a greater picture than any I can think of.

The second is, believe it or not, Watership Down. Not that the ending is particularly Christian in and of itself, but it resonates with the Christian worldview just as it might resonate with you. Now, you can't just pick up the book and flip to the end - it won't make any sense unless you've read it start to finish. It's a long book, and a grand journey, and it's all about the lives of a small group of rabbits (complete with their own language and mythology), but please give it a try, because it's well worth the effort. The final moments showcase joy and release almost beyond describing.

Together, these four books give a very good impression of the Christian view of the events that make Easter meaningful. For further reading, I suggest picking up any story that involves self-sacrifice - say The Light Princess (particularly good because the girl isn't grateful and doesn't so much as recognize that the prince is trying to help her, even as he's giving his life for her).

A Story to Help You Understand the Jewish Viewpoint

Pick up Sydney Taylor's All-of-a-Kind Family, which details the life of five Jewish girls living in Depression-era America. The girls celebrate several Jewish holidays (and the Fourth of July) over the course of the book. Unfortunately, when Passover rolls around, four of the five have come down with Scarlet Fever! They have to stay in bed and just listen to what's going on - but the youngest does at least get to ask the important question: "Why is this day different from all others?"

What About the Easter Eggs?

Well, for a more secular Easter romp with an exotic flair, there's nothing like the chapter from The Good Master. It's set in Hungary, and young Kate gets introduced to the country version of Easter, where the boys come along with spray bottles and spray the girls until the girls load them down with eggs and cakes and cookies. (Don't worry, the girls get their turn a month or so later.)

And if you're interested in dyeing eggs, let me introduce you to the art of pysanky, or Ukrainian egg dyeing. Pysanky is the art of drawing on an egg with bees' wax, using a tiny funnel-on-a-stick called a kistka. (You can order the supplies online.) You start with a white egg, put bees' wax on the bits you want to remain white, then dye it light yellow, put bees' wax on the bits you want to remain light yellow, then dye it darker yellow, and so forth, working through the colors until you finally hit black. After it's dry, you melt the wax off in a low-temperature oven, and the gorgeous blend of colors slowly reveals itself. You can read more about this art online ( http://www.learnpysanky.com/ ), or in the book Ukrainian Egg Decoration.

Wrap-Up

I hope this gives you a better understanding of why people celebrate Easter and Passover, and perhaps some books that you'll keep reading for other reasons as well. Have a great Easter!