For many people, the defining part of Easter revolves around chocolate, whether in the form of hollow Easter eggs, filled Easter eggs, a chocolate bunny or a chocolate bilby. This year I even saw a giant chocolate platypus. No doubt Easter egg hunts with young children can be lots of fun. But it’s typical of our culture that the commercial side of Easter wins out so much over the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.
As an aside, decorating and eating (chicken) eggs has a long history in the Orthodox tradition and throughout Eastern Europe, with some legends ascribing the practice to Mary Magdalene. The egg is of course a symbol of new life. In 18th century Germany, liquid chocolate was placed into an eggshell to make the first solid chocolate egg. In the 19th century in England, chocolate makers Fry & Sons and soon after Cadbury made the first hollow chocolate eggs, with the empty hollow of the egg representing the empty tomb of Jesus.
The joyous Easter festivals and traditions that we enjoy are a far cry from the original Easter story as told in Mark’s Gospel. Mark tells how the women, who had witnessed the death and burial of Jesus, returned to the stone tomb early in the morning of the third day to anoint Jesus’ body with spices. This was part of Jewish burial custom, but there was no time to do this special task on the Friday when Jesus died.
Surprise awaits them. The large stone rolled across the entrance to the tomb had been rolled back and there was no body inside the tomb. Instead they meet a young man dressed in white (an angel?) who tells them that Jesus has risen and will meet them in Galilee just as he promised. They are to go and tell the other disciples the news. Mark writes that the women were astonished and bewildered and flee from the tomb in terror.
Our familiarity with the story often robs it of its unexpected surprise and shock. So I wonder what surprises you about the Easter story and how you might recapture some of its strangeness and yet also its deep felt joy that slowly emerges as the disciples encounter the risen Jesus for themselves.