What is the Meaning of Easter? The Christian Perspective Explained
The following article is written by Max Jeganathan, author and speaker at OCCA, The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics.
What is the Meaning of Easter?
Beyond the Traditions
Chocolate. Hot cross buns. Holidays. Indulgence. That sums up what Easter means for a lot of people. However, the true meaning of Easter runs far deeper for the world’s 2.6 billion Christians. Easter is the central event of the Christian faith. It is the heart of Christianity, both literally and theologically. The Christian message rises and falls with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Core Principle: Relationship
Understanding the meaning of Easter begins with an understanding of the central principle of Christianity: Relationship. According to the Christian message, God created humankind for the primary purpose of relationship. We were made for a right relationship with Him and with others.
The Problem of Brokenness
However, the immutable imperfection and intrinsic brokenness of humankind makes this ideal vision of relationship impossible in the way in which God envisioned it.
In the Bible, this state of brokenness is referred to as sin. Sin is a more complicated word than we often assume. While yes, it refers to things we do that are not in keeping with God’s design, it is more fundamentally something we are.
The problem is not merely that we are bad and need to be made good; that is just a symptom. Our problem is that we are dead to God in our sinfulness and need to be made alive. Human moral imperfection cannot be squared with God’s moral perfection.
God’s Rescue Mission
Human moral brokenness makes relationships with one another difficult. The world history of human conflict is evidence of this.
And that’s what Easter is all about.
Easter is all about God solving the problem of the broken relationship between Him and humankind. God’s response to this state of brokenness was to step into the world as a person—Jesus Christ.
- The Sacrifice: Jesus took all brokenness, sinfulness, and moral fallenness to pay the price for it through his death.
- The Substitution: Instead of humankind bearing the costs of our sin, God stepped in and bore it for us as a person.
- The Necessity: If it wasn’t God who did it, it would not have been sufficient. If it wasn’t a person who did it, it would not have been substitutionary.
- The Fulfilment: In Jesus, both requirements were fulfilled—God as a person taking our place to set us free.
Historical Commemoration
Easter marks the commemoration of God’s rescue mission. In human history, around 2,000 years ago, Jesus died on a cross (commemorated on Good Friday) and two nights later, rose from the dead (commemorated on Easter Sunday). Because of these historical events, all people are offered forgiveness of sins, redemption from brokenness, a loving relationship with God, and eternal life.
The Final Invitation
Easter marks at least two things: a week of astonishing historical events and an invitation into relationship with God for all people. While hot cross buns, the holiday and indulgent feasts are part of the fun, the Easter story demands a deeper response from each of us.
The ultimate question remains: what are you going to do with Jesus’ offer of forgiveness and relationship?
Learning More
OCCA The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics was established in 2004 to raise up the next generation of evangelist-apologists. By 2021, around 350 emerging evangelists from around the world had studied on the OCCA one-year programme. This course equipped each of them to share and defend the gospel message and to come alongside others to help them with their intellectual objections and heartfelt concerns about the Christian faith. Subscribe to our weekly newsletters to see our latest articles from our team of speakers.
Max Jeganathan