Resurrection Easter Eggs & What They Mean

Resurrection Easter eggs demonstrate the Christian symbols of the holiday.

Devout Christians struggle to reconcile the cultural popularity of secular and pagan-inspired holiday symbols, such as Christmas trees and Easter eggs, with scriptural teaching. One recent and popular way of bridging the fun and the lesson is a set of "resurrection Easter eggs," which count down to this most sacred of Christian holidays with 12 pieces of the Easter story.

History

A legend tells of Mary Magdalene's miraculous red egg.

Eggs have been a symbol of new life long before the first Easter. An Eastern Orthodox legend describes Mary Magdalene taking an egg to the Roman Emperor Tiberius to help her explain Christ's resurrection; the skeptical Tiberius scoffed that a man could no more come back to life than her egg could turn red. The egg miraculously changed color. Another, more practical explanation for the importance of eggs to Easter concerns the dietary restrictions of Lent; Christians were not allowed to eat eggs until Lenten rules were loosened for the Easter feast.

Type

Plastic colored eggs can contain candy or other small treats for children's Easter baskets.

In contrast to traditional Easter eggs, which are made from real chicken eggs--usually, in North America, hard-boiled--resurrection Easter eggs are made from plastic eggs. These eggs are frequently used in egg hunts and Easter baskets to hold candy and small treats for children, so they come apart in two halves that can be re-closed. Resurrection eggs should either come in 12 different colors or have the numerals one through 12 written on them with marker.

Contents

Small items inside the resurrection eggs represent features of the Easter story.

Resurrection Easter eggs contain small items representing an element of the Easter story and small pieces of paper or scrolls with relevant Bible verses. Children open the eggs in turn, like an Advent calendar at Christmas time, to reveal the story of Christ's arrival in Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the passion and the resurrection.

Symbols

One item typically found inside resurrection Easter eggs is a pebble, representing the stone covering Jesus' tomb.

The 12th egg, opened last, is empty, to represent the empty tomb from which Christ was resurrected. The other eggs typically contain some of these items: a leaf (for the palms); a tiny bottle or vial (for the perfume used to anoint Jesus); a chunk of bread (for the Last Supper); coins (for Judas' payment); a thorn or thorny branch (for the crown of thorns); a miniature cross; dice (for the soldiers who cast lots for Jesus' robe); string (for the scourge used on Jesus); a scrap of purple cloth (for the purple robe mockingly placed on Jesus); a nail (for the nails of the cross); a sponge (for the vinegar-soaked sponge given to Jesus to drink); cloves or other whole spices (for the spices used to prepare Jesus' body); a miniature spear (for the spear that pierced Jesus' side); and a pebble (for the stone covering the door to the tomb).

Other symbolism

The number 12 symbolizes Christ's disciples; it also fits conveniently into a normal egg carton.

Other symbolism is woven into the use of resurrection Easter eggs. The number 12, for instance, not only provides a convenient presentation--using a conventional egg carton--but it also serves as a reminder of the number of Christ's disciples. An egg carton, decorated with religious and springtime motifs, also has space for pictures and scriptures. Store-bought resurrection Easter eggs often arrive in customized cartons with text from the Gospels. Homemade versions can likewise incorporate longer selections from the Bible than the snippets included inside the eggs.

References

• The Nazarene Way of Essenic Studies: Saint Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Easter
• Just For Kids Magazine: Rainbow Castle: Resurrection Eggs

Resources

• Easy Fun School: Celebrating Easter: Resurrection Eggs
• Sharing in the Classroom: Telling the Easter Story with Easter Eggs