In gaming, the term ‘easter egg’ refers to hidden gems within the game that can only be found by tooling around. Easter eggs cannot be found simply by following what you see on the surface; they are found only by exploring seemingly empty rooms and dead ends.
In the same way, Easter is not just about what we see in the shopping centres: bunnies, cute little easter chicks set atop giant eggs, and every manner of chocolate ever devised to tempt, entreat and catch the eye.
Sure, it’s easy to get swept away in the commercialism of the season, or in cynicism toward the same. I, for one, tire easily of the rather predictable hype surrounding this holiday. It’s enough to make one sit in a corner, pull one’s knees up to one’s chest, and rock back and forth mumbling incoherently.
But there’s more to Easter than sugar, more than children’s easter egg hunts, more than a couple of days off. There’s more to Easter than the obligatory church service, more than the social cynicism and even hostility toward all things Christian.
There’s more to Easter than sugar.
Easter is one of those few times in the calendar year when people are most likely to think about Christ. Whether it’s a token attendance at a church service, a dismissal of Christianity or a re-watching of Monty Python’s Life of Brian, people are thinking about Jesus.
And I love that.
I love that people have Jesus on their minds this time of year. I love that people who ordinarily have nothing to do with religion willingly attend churches where Jesus will be preached. I love that people are open to discussing Christ and Christianity with little prompting.
I love that people have Jesus on their minds.
It is a time when we who love Jesus can speak about the cross and the crucifixion, how Jesus who was fully God became fully man in order to die for us. We can regale others with Jesus’ willingness to take all our mistakes and inadequacies upon himself just so we’d get a shot at joining his family.
It is prime time for salvation talk.
And I’m not simply talking about the evangelical possibilities, although they cannot be denied. I’m talking about the joy of simply remembering and testifying to what Christ has done, for the world and for us. His sacrifice was not driven by obligation nor principles, but by love.
I’m talking about the joy of simply remembering and testifying to what Christ has done.
Let us remember him this Easter, beyond the chocolate and eggs and family get-togethers. Let us look below the surface, search the hidden rooms of our hearts, and see if there may yet be room for Christ to live there.
Happy Easter.
How do you see Easter? Have you invited Jesus into all the hidden rooms of your heart—even if you have been a Christian for a long time? How has Jesus’ crucifixion changed your life? Share your story. Let’s have a countercultural conversation.