HIGH SPIRITS: Easter Is in the Air
Aitken, Jonathan
PRIL IS THE MONTH OF EASTER,byfarthemostimportant,ancient,andauthenticfestivalinthecalendar ofChristendom.ButtheprimacyofEasterisalong wayfrombeingaccepted,letaloneobserved,inour secular age,...
...They are brought to a climaxbyalatenightvigilintotaldarkness,eventually broken by a dawn bonfire and a candle-lit service arounditasthefirststreaksoflightheraldthedawnon EasterSunday.Itwastoomuchofanoveltyforoneelderly resident of the parish whose apartment overlooks thechurch.Ataround5A.M.lastEastershethoughtshe hadspottedthesinistershadowsofanarsongangfumblingaroundwithmatches,firewood,andcandles.She dialed the emergency services and summoned the fire brigade...
...Ifwearegoingtobeworthyofsuchintercessions, God surely expects that our Easter spiritual commit-mentsshouldexceedournon-spiritualcommitments to Easter eggs, rabbits, and vacations...
...Yet it makes a lot more spiritual sense than bonnets, bunnies, and chocolate eggs...
...It took the Emperor Constantine to sort out this rift between the different sides of the Church...
...All this H I G HS P I R I T S 5 6 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R A P R I L 2 0 0 7 EasterIsintheAir by Jonathan Aitken A A P R I L 2 0 0 7 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R 5 7 wasmovingalongwayfromtheResurrectionofJesus ChristasthefocusofEaster,butitisaswelltoacknowledge that paganism, vernalism, and commercialism have played a major part in the traditions of Easter as weknowthemtoday...
...To burn away the old rubbish and to fire up with the energy of a renewedcommitmenttoJesusChristisasgoodawayas any of starting the year afresh with an Easter Resurrection in one's own life...
...Religious Easters in Europe seem to have accidentally absorbed these pagan symbols of the ancient worldalongwithsomeagreeableifexpensivecustoms...
...Forexample,theideaofEasterbonnetsorEaster outfits came from the Franco-German superstition thatitwasunluckyforawomannottowearsomenew headgearorarticleofclothingonEasterSunday.Easter brides and weddings had their popular origins in fertility superstitions that spring was a propitious time for starting the process of childbearing...
...As our first mass of Easter was unexpectedly interruptedbythearrivaloftwoorthreewagonloadsof fire fighters, explanations were needed...
...ThiswasauniversallyfamiliarpartoftheRussian Orthodox Easter liturgy until banned by Lenin soonaftertherevolutionof1917.Likemostbansitwas counterproductive and the prohibited words spread acrosstheChristianworldlikewildfire...
...Whoistocondemn...
...Paul bluntly emphasized in his letter to the Corinthians: "If Christ has not been raised your faith is futile" (I Cor 15:17).WhenitcametocelebratingJesus'risefromthe tomb,itwasnaturalfortheearlyChristianstoassociate the sacrifice of the true Lamb of God and his Resurrection with the traditional Jewish Passover observances.ThiswasbecauseJesus'finaldayscoincidedwith thePassoverandhisdeathfelluponthedayofthePassoverfeast...
...CombiningtheancientIsraelitecommemoration ofthePassoverwiththenewideaoftheMessiahasthe sacrificial lamb seemed a good reason for celebrating the old and new feasts at the same time...
...J O N A T H A NA I T K E N Oneofthemorebewilderingaspects ofEasteristhemoveabilityofits date.Theconfusionoriginatedina squabblebetweentheearlyJewish andGentilefollowersofJesus...
...THERE ARE SOME SIGNS in our present age that the Christiansofthe21stcenturyworldarebecoming more focused on the original meaning and purpose of Easter...
...In about 700 A.D., however, the Germans, or to be precise the early Teutonic tribes of central Europe who were embracing Christianity, started to connect thecelebrationsoftheResurrectionwiththecelebrations of spring...
...PRIL IS THE MONTH OF EASTER,byfarthemostimportant,ancient,andauthenticfestivalinthecalendar ofChristendom.ButtheprimacyofEasterisalong wayfrombeingaccepted,letaloneobserved,inour secular age, which gives rather higher priority to once-religious activities such as Christmas giving, St...
...It was the joyful commemorationoftheResurrectionofJesusChrist.Withoutabelief in that event there was no Christian faith, as St...
...This close as-sociation between the risen Christ and the Jewish PassoverorPesach(theHebrewword)islinguistically preserved to this day in several tongues such as the FrenchPaquesandtheLatinPaschalia...
...thatEastershouldbeobserved,asitisnow,onthefirst Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox.Despitefurtherconfusionduetoargumentsabout lunarastronomy,themeritsoftheJulianorGregorian calendars, and huge commercial pressure to find a fixed date for Easter once and for all, the Nicaean rules stillapply.ThisiswhyEasterremainsamoveablefeast...
...wrotePaulinRomans 8:34...
...Easter rabbits, originally hares, were also fertility symbols in the spring festivitiesofancientEgyptandPersia.Haresandeggsbecame rabbitsandeggsincountrieswherehareswereunusual...
...Many of the pagan rites in honor of Ostara, goddess of spring, crept into the religious rituals of Christian commemoration...
...OneofthemorebewilderingaspectsofEasteris themoveabilityofitsdate.Theconfusionoriginated in a squabble between the early Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus...
...Inmanycontemporaryliturgiesthereisnowrenewed attention on the interconnection of the three days known as the Triduum, the period between sunset on Thursday of Holy Week to dawn on Easter Day, when participants pass from darkness to light aided by the kindling of a new fire or the lighting of a new paschal candle...
...Well, that's a new one on me," said the puzzled fire chief, "starting EasterSundaywithabonfire...
...The Jews, mindful of the linkage between Christ's death and the Passover, insisted that the Resurrection must be commemorated on PassoverfeastdayorPesach,regardlessofthedayof theweekonwhichitfell.GentileChristiansinsisted thattheholydaymustbeobservedonSunday,sinceit was on the first day of the week that Jesus rose from thetomb...
...So as Easter 2007 approaches, it is interesting to look backonthefestival'shistoricalandspiritualroots,linking this retrospective exercise with a look forward to howweshouldmeaningfullycelebrateEasterinmoderntimes...
...TheearlyChristiansunderstoodexactlywhatEaster (although not given that name until about the sixth century) was all about...
...ItisChristJesuswhodied,yes,whowasraised, whoisattherighthandofGod,whoindeedintercedes for us...
...Eggs,bunnies,andEasterbonnetsalsoderivefrom several different non-Christian traditions celebrating spring...
...Valentine's Day betrothing, Lent dieting, Advent carol singing, or personal rejoicing in Epiphany moments...
...In the same era, liturgical theologians such as OdoCaselinhisclassicTheMysteryofChristianWorship (1932) began to emphasize the sacramental element of Easter as the accomplishment of the mystery ofGod'ssavingpurpose.Thisemphasisonthepaschal mystery of human redemption through Jesus Christ is at the heart of the Easter message both ancient and modern...
...Alleluia...
...But how should wemakesuchcommitments?Everyindividualbeliever will have his own personal answer to that question, but perhaps it should be an answer in harmony with the Easter-tide spirit of dying and rising with Christ...
...Many churches of all denominations now include in their Easter liturgies the words "Christ is risen" answered by "He is risen indeed...
...AtmylocalparishchurchinLondon,St.Matthew's Westminster,wehaveenthusiasticallyembracedthese Triduum rituals in recent years...
...He convened the Council of Nicaea, which ruled in 325 A.D...
...From these combined traditions came the German word Oster and our English word Easter...
...His biographies include Charles W. Colson: A Life Redeemed (Doubleday) and Nixon: A Life,nowavailableinanewpaperbackedition(Regnery...
...Jonathan Aitken,TheAmericanSpectator'sHighSpiritscolumnist,istheauthorofJohnNewton:FromDisgrace to Amazing Grace, to be published in June by Crossway Books...
...The ancient Egyptians gave us the custom of coloringandeatingeggs,whichwaspartoftheirfertility rites at the end of winter...
Vol. 40 • April 2007 • No. 3
