Time sure flies. It seemed like Christmas and New Year’s Day were just a few weeks ago. Now, birds are singing and the warm sunshine tells us that spring has finally arrived. Well, it’s April, and it’s time to paint some eggs. Yes, I am talking about Easter! The funny thing is that although many Christians celebrate it, they don’t know its significance. Throughout the world, Easter is entrenched as a cultural tradition. Let’s look into its origin and why it’s celebrated.

To understand Easter, you need a little background in Christianity. Most likely, every reader would know that Jesus was arrested and crucified at the hands of the Roman governor. After the crucifixion, Jesus was apparently and this belief fueled the rise and spread of the Christian religion. Simply put, Easter is the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

So, when was the first Easter celebrated? Reports from scholars show that Jesus was crucified sometime between 26 and 36 A.D. Although there are many guesses as to when Christians first celebrated Easter, critics and skeptics say the Gospel accounts can’t be accurate. Virtually, all scholars assume the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection can be traced to the time of the event itself.

The early Christians honored Easter with feasts and festivities. When the Vatican and the Bishop of Rome had central authority over the Christian community, Easter was turned into a movable feast. It is now celebrated on a Sunday on varying dates between March 22 and April 25. The Christian festival of Easter embodies a number of converging traditions.

Scholars emphasize the original relation of Easter to the Jewish festival of Passover. Many early Christians were of Jewish origin. Since they were brought up in the Hebrew tradition, Easter was regarded as a new feature of the Passover festival.

So, why give out painted eggs on Easter? Specially decorated eggs are given out to

celebrate the Easter holiday. Early Christians considered this as a symbol of the rebirth. The old tradition was to dye or paint chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to give out chocolate eggs or plastic eggs filled with confectioneries such as jellybeans. For kids, eggs are hidden, allegedly by the Easter Bunny, for good children to find on Easter morning. Otherwise, they are generally put in a basket filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a bird’s nest.