Kids will tell you that one of the best parts of Easter is hunting for colored eggs. I remember the cute kits with colored tablets we’d use when I was a boy. Some of the bright colors, then creative methods like mixing colors, writing on them first with wax crayons or using oil in the dye for a marbled look.
Why do Christians dye and then hunt for Easter eggs each year?
Eggs were an ancient symbol of fertility and rebirth, so Christians used them to symbolize parts of the Easter story. The hard shell represents the sealed tomb of Jesus and the cracking of the egg represents Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
In early Orthodox churches, Easter eggs were blessed by the priests and distributed to the congregants on Easter Eve. While it might seem like a strange tradition to hand out Easter eggs in a church service, early Christians abstained from eating eggs and meat during the 40-day season of Lent. Easter was the first time they could eat eggs again. It was a practice of fasting, with deep devotion and focus.
The early Christians began the custom of dyeing Easter eggs red to represent the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross. Then Christian missionaries dyed the eggs different colors to represent different aspects of the Easter story. They used yellow to represent the resurrection, blue to represent love, and red to represent the blood of Christ.
Sometimes, the missionaries would paint biblical scenes on the eggs and hide them. This is one of the earliest forms of the Easter egg hunt. The children would find the Easter eggs and tell the story associated with the paintings.
One of the earliest Easter egg hunts that most resembles the modern Easter egg hunt can be traced to Martin Luther, a leader of the Protestant Reformation. Men would hide eggs for women and children to find. The joy the women and children experienced as they found eggs mirrored the joy the women felt when they found Jesus’ tomb empty and realized he had risen.
These days, since we’ve now mass-produced egg hunts with synthetic, colored plastic eggs that snap open, we like to hide goodies inside for kids to find. Their gleeful giggles finding these goodies is the joy we love to see.
For the kids at CrossLife, I like to add a surprise. I’ll tell them to find the best eggs, which gets their attention. They eagerly open them to find … nothing! They sigh, until I teach them that this represents the tomb of Jesus which is empty because he rose from the dead.
“He has risen! He is not here” (Mark 16:6).
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, with bright colors we celebrate the Easter season and the joy of your resurrection, and the resurrection of all believers. Give new life, spiritual rebirth and eternal blessings by your grace. Empower me to rise from sin now, and from death forever. Amen.
EVANGELISM ACTION: Share this blog with a friend who needs Jesus.