For some people, Easter Sunday means an egg hunt, a nice outfit, and time with family, but for the church, there’s a deeper meaning. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ and is considered to be the most important holiday in the Christian religion.
“Easter is the greatest day in all of the universe,” said Larry LeBlanc, Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church in Summit. “It’s the greatest day in all of history. When you look back over time and you celebrate a victory, Easter is the greatest victory that ever took place. It is the church’s celebration of Jesus rising from the dead, of defeating sin, death, and guilt. As we look at our culture and see how sports are celebrated, we can think back to the resurrection and realize that it is the greatest celebration that ever took place.”
The Easter week is comprised of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Resurrection Sunday. While historians say the origins of the name are unknown, some believe it to be derived from Eostre, who was a Teutonic goddess of fertility and spring. However, the English version of the word, Easter, is believed to have come from a translation error.
With Easter being a moving holiday it is never celebrated on a specific day. The holiday is celebrated on the first Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox. This means that Easter can fall anytime between March 22 and April 25.
LeBlanc added that the focus should never be on the egg hunts, or the Easter bunny, instead the focus should point directly to the cross.
“The focus has never been on the eggs, or on the chocolate, or on the bunnies,” LeBlanc said. “When we think about all of those things, the reason for Easter is grounded in the fact that Jesus Christ defeated sin and death, that he rose again on that day, and sometimes if we are not very careful we can make it about the trappings and miss the true identity of the event.”
