Easter

Easter

Did you know …

Easter celebrates Jesus’ resurrection (rising from the dead) on Sunday morning after dying on a cross. Christians love this day because it reminds us that Jesus died to save us from our sins.

The stone is rolled away

Mary Magdalene and two other women went to Jesus’ tomb after sunrise on Sunday morning to anoint His body. They didn’t know how they were going to roll the heavy stone away from his tomb.

To their surprise, the stone was rolled away. Jesus’ body was missing, but an angel told them Jesus had risen and to tell the disciples.

Mary Magdalene is the first to talk to Jesus

Mary ran to tell the disciples. Peter and John searched the empty tomb and then went home. Mary was very upset and started to cry. Then Jesus asked her why she was crying, but she didn’t recognize Him.

When He said her name, she finally recognized Jesus. Then she ran to tell the disciples.

Jesus appears to the disciples

The disciples locked all the doors because they feared the Jews. Suddenly Jesus appeared in the home. He showed them his hands and side, and they were happy to see Jesus.

Lent

Some Christians begin remembering Jesus’ sacrifice on Ash Wednesday, which comes forty days before Easter. This time period is called Lent, which means “spring.”

Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness for forty days. Some people make sacrifices, such as giving up a favorite food, from Ash Wednesday until Easter.

Easter is not on the same date every year

Easter is not on the same date every year.

In 325 AD, church leaders met in Nicaea, a city in modern-day Turkey. The spring equinox occurs on March 21. The Council of Nicaea decided to celebrate Easter depending on the first full moon after March 21. The first Sunday after March 21 and the first full moon is Easter.

 

-Sandra Merville Hart

Resources

Burnett, Bernice. Holidays, Franklin Watts, 1983.

Griffin, Robert H. and Shurgin, Ann H. Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Holidays, U-X-L, and imprint of The Gale Group, 2000.

Women’s Devotional Bible 1: New International Version, Zondervan Publishing House, 1994.

 

 

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