There has not been much discussion and debate in this year’s Holy Week especially on the Passion of Jesus Christ since Mel Gibson’s film of the same title was released a few years ago. As per my observation, this year’s holy week was more focused on the self. And that meant going on vacation to take advantage of the long holiday or staying at home for some needed rest. The other people went about their regular routine like some normal and ordinary day. At least, that’s what I saw on what people posted on social media and when I went out for some errands. Does this mean the suffering, sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ is losing its meaning, significance and importance to the people?
I am not a religious man but I subscribe to the Christian faith. Although I still have a lot to learn from the story of resurrection, I know just about enough to understand what happened and the purpose of it all. It is for this reason that I set aside some time for some reflection just to acknowledge what Christ has done for me and the rest of mankind. Of course, as with any normal human being, it is my time to rest but there is that longing to spiritually recharge and organize my thoughts to restore the passion to serve God and commitment to serve the people.
Meanwhile, National Geographic posted on their wall a special presentation on the origins of Easter. I will not be discussing the presentation but what got me interested was the reactions and comments from people all over the world. While being engrossed in reading the comments, I suddenly asked myself whether Easter is the same as the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The world celebrates Easter Sunday and greet one another with Happy Easter like a regular occasion such as Christmas. Why would we say Easter rather than Resurrection Day? I got intrigued. So I went to do some research, well, it’s not actually a research but opened the Holy Bible to determine whether or not Easter is supported by the Scriptures. Unfortunately, I was frustrated. I could not see the connection of Easter with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Could it be possible that Easter and the Resurrection are two distinct unrelated events with completely different objectives and intentions? They may be coincidentally occurring on the same dates and through the passage of time, people just lumped the two into one big celebration. However, in this day and age, Easter is getting more attention.
Going back to my question, I am confused why the world celebrates Easter with bunnies and eggs rather than celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ by reflecting on what He had done for mankind. I really could not connect the Easter bunny and the Easter egg with that of the Resurrection. So for now, I am not inclined to use Easter to commemorate that particular day. I am more comfortable saying Resurrection Day rather than Easter Sunday.
