Rev'd James M. Hairston

Grant, we pray, Almighty
God, that we who celebrate with awe the Paschal feast may be
found worthy to attain to everlasting joys; through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for
ever. Amen.

– Collect from the
1979 Book of Common Prayer

REFLECTION

Easter Monday is the Monday after
the celebration of Easter or the Resurrection of Jesus of
Nazareth, the Messiah, the Christ. The picture above is Saint
Mary Magdalene holding what is known as an Easter Egg. The
origin of the Easter Egg has been lost and limited to bunny rabbits
and Cadbury, with their creme filled sugary treats. However the
importance of the Easter Egg will be revealed here. Below is a
quote that rightly describes the roots of the Easter Egg:

“Just so, on that
first Easter morning, Jesus came to life and walked out of the
tomb, and left it, as it were, an empty shell. Just so, too, when
the Christian dies, the body is left in the grave, an empty shell,
but the soul takes wings and flies away to be with God. Thus you
see that though an egg seems to be as dead as a stone, yet it
really has life in it; and also it is like Christ’s dead body,
which was raised to life again. This is the reason we use eggs on
Easter. (In olden times they used to color the eggs red, so as to
show the kind of death by which Christ
died,-a bloody death.)”

– Harbaugh, H.
The Guardian, Vol. 29. 1878

There are two accounts in ancient
Christianity that involves Saint Mary Magdalene.

ACCOUNT 1

When Mary arrived at the tomb, she was
carrying boiled eggs, presumable to eat with the women after they
checked the tomb. It is believed that when she saw the risen
Savior, the eggs turned bright red, to symbolize HIS blood that was
shed.

ACCOUNT
2:

Saint Mary Magdalene
was spreading the Gospel message after the Ascension of Jesus. She went to meet with the Emperor of Rome and greeted him with “Christ has risen!” He then pointed to an egg on his table and responded with “Christ has not risen any more than that egg is red.” Upon completing this statement the egg immediately turned blood red.

Regardless of which account is correct or whether or not either occurred, the point is that the notion of the Easter Egg is bigger than an animal with a cotton tail and a multinational candy company. Lessons and celebrations of the Easter egg ought to be pointed back to Jesus and his Resurrection. When children hunt for Easter eggs, they should be reminded about Jesus, not candy. If that was the case, perhaps there would not been any Easter egg hunt injuries and fights in some parts of the country.

-JMH+