It is the Lenten season, which is the 6 weeks preceding Easter in the church calendar. Last week, I dug into the origins of fasting or giving things up for lent. In the process of researching the early church origins of the practice, I was surprised to find that they began in the earliest days of the church. This brought up many additional questions about Easter traditions. Easter Eggs, in particular, has often seemed wholly unrelated to the story of the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The connection never seemed obvious to me. I had heard that Easter eggs had been adopted from pagan religions, but never heard any supporting evidence.
As it turns out, there is more to the story. The argument that Easter eggs have pagan origins seems to arise from the fact that eggs have held symbolic meaning and, sometimes, religious significance for over 5000 years. In Greece, Egypt, Rome, and other ancient civilizations they were associated with renewal and given as gifts. In particular, eggs are associated with spring festivals.
The association of eggs with Easter seems to have come about to as a result of the Lenten fast. Beginning in the earliest days of the church, believers refrained from eating meat, fish, cheese, and eggs. After 6(ish) weeks of eating a plain diet, eggs were quite a treat. The argument is that eating eggs on Easter would be a treat for the celebration of the resurrection and the ending of the fast. It’s also a treat because there is actually a season for eggs. In the spring, chickens lay more, and higher quality, eggs. This means they’d be particularly popular that time of year.
The earliest instances of dyed Easter eggs in church history were in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) during the early Middle Ages. Mesopotamian Christians began dying eggs red to associate them with the blood of Jesus, which is central to the Easter story. The custom spread to the eastern Orthodox church, later to the Catholic church, and finally to Protestant churches.
The egg itself was not chosen without reason, apart from the fasting angle, there are associations of the egg to Christian concepts. The obvious comparison of the egg itself to new life in Christ is a beginning point. The shell of the egg was also compared to the tomb, which Christ was sealed in before it was opened and he emerged alive again. Thus, when the egg was cracked open and the contents emerged, it was supposed to be similar to the resurrection. Finally, the three parts of the egg (shell, white, and yoke) are sometimes compared to the Trinity. The Trinity is central to God’s nature, in which the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all one God but three distinct persons. The parts of the egg make one unit.
The practice of hiding Easter eggs seems to be associated with missionaries who would dye eggs different colors, which were associated with different aspects of the Easter story. When children found them, they would be told the story of the gospel. One of the earliest recorded instances of what resembles a modern Easter egg hunt can be traced to Martin Luther, the German monk who started the reformation. Men hid eggs for women and children. The joy in finding the dyed eggs was compared to the joy of the women when they found the tomb empty and realized that Jesus had risen.
The symbols associated with the various Easter traditions give the observations additional weight. In addition, they serve as excellent tools for teaching children about the true meaning of Easter.
