I love Easter Egg hunts. I always have. I was involved in a lot of them growing up. We would have them at church but we also did them as a family at home. I remember one Sunday we were sad to see it was raining and therefore we couldn’t hide eggs outside. So we had this brilliant idea of hiding them inside. These were real eggs, not plastic. The actual hunt was great as it always was. However about a week later we noticed a foul smell coming from somewhere in the den. There was an egg we had neglected to find and it had turned rotten. We finally located it under the couch.
Egyptians may have been the first to decorate eggs, but Christians did it too after the Roman Empire adopted Christianity. During the season of Lent you were not allowed to eat eggs, among other things. You can imagine the problems this must have caused the common family. Just think of the temptation you would have, with your hens producing eggs but you were unable to eat any of them. What would you do with all of those eggs? Well, one thing you could do would be to decorate them. That would effectively put a marker on each Lenten egg reminding you that you were not to eat it. Perhaps the decorations served as a fun activity that reminded you of your sacrifice.
Red was the only color used to dye eggs back then. The color was symbolic of Jesus’ blood. And the eggs themselves became symbols of the empty tomb. Have you ever wondered how Jesus got a tomb anyway? A lot of people crucified in the Roman Empire (though not necessarily in Jerusalem) were simply left on the cross for the animals. This was done to serve as a warning to others not to break the laws. And many of those bodies that were brought down from crosses were thrown into mass graves. You could pay the government to lesson the torture that your loved one received. And you could also pay to take the body off the cross for a proper burial. This is exactly what Joseph of Arimethea did, according to Matthew’s gospel.
Matthew 27:57-61
57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was himself a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth 60 and laid it in his new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
This is all we know of Joseph. He doesn’t get very many verses. But I argue that, up until that point, he is the greatest disciple. Why? Look what he sacrificed with this act.
Money. He had to “bribe” Pilot to be able to take Jesus’ body.
His own burial tomb. The tomb he put the body of Jesus in was his own tomb. He had already paid people to carve it out of the rock. There were no power tools back then so you can imagine how labor intensive this would have been. Now he gives all of that up to bury Jesus.
Association. Where were the other disciples? They had abandoned Jesus. Peter even denied he knew him three times. They ran and hid because they didn’t want to suffer the same fate. They feared their association with Jesus would kill them too. If Joseph had such fear he didn’t let it get to him. His act of burying Jesus surely associated himself as a follower. This would have been a dangerous thing to do.
The Passover. For Jews touching a dead body would automatically make you unclean. You couldn’t become “clean” again for another seven days. This means Joseph is effectively bowing out of the Passover. Imagine it. A rich Jewish man making himself unclean and missing Passover? People would talk.
The symbolism is very powerful. First, Joseph gives up his grave for Jesus. In other words, Jesus is taking the place in death for Joseph. Isn’t this what Jesus promised he would do? Next, by skipping out on the Passover Joseph is turning away from the old ways to embrace the new. The Passover recognized the sacrificial lamb whose blood on the door saved the Israelites’ first-born sons. Jesus called himself the Lamb of God. Jesus comes to replace that old sacrifice with a new one: himself. Joseph is perhaps the first person to embrace this concept. He gives up on the old sacrifice in favor of the new one.
I see several people who wear crosses to signify the triumph of Jesus over death. I think if I were to wear something like that it would be a miniature empty tomb. Or maybe an egg, painted red and cracked open to see there is nothing inside.
Happy Easter everyone, and God Bless