What Is Easter and Why Does It Matter?

Easter is the oldest and most important Christian holiday, and also the one most likely to involve a basket of plastic grass and a chocolate rabbit. Both things can be true.

At its core, Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, three days after his crucifixion on Good Friday. For Christians, this is not a footnote in the calendar. It is the central event of the entire faith. The Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians that if Christ has not been raised, then faith is "futile." Easter is, in other words, the whole ballgame.

What Actually Happened (According to the Gospels)

The accounts of the resurrection appear in all four Gospels, each with slightly different details but unanimous on the central fact: the tomb was empty on the third day. Mary Magdalene is often the first person reported to discover this. She and others go to the tomb, expecting to anoint the body, and find the stone rolled away. An angel, or in some accounts two angels, tells them that Jesus has risen.

Jesus then appears to his disciples over a period of forty days before ascending into heaven. These appearances are described in detail: he eats with them, speaks with them, and notably invites a doubting Thomas to touch his wounds. These are not described as visions or metaphors. The New Testament writers present them as physical, historical events.

The Timing: Why Does Easter Move Every Year?

Easter is calculated based on the lunar calendar, which is why it falls on a different Sunday every spring. The short version: Easter is observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. This places it anywhere between March 22 and April 25. The calculation has its roots in the early church's connections to the Jewish calendar, since Jesus was crucified during Passover week.

The Traditions

Some Easter traditions are ancient and directly tied to the Christian story. Sunrise services, for instance, reenact the early morning discovery of the empty tomb. Hot cross buns, the spiced rolls with a cross on top, have been associated with Good Friday in England since at least the 16th century.

Others are more recent and their origins are murkier. The Easter bunny and egg hunts are thought to have Germanic or broadly European folk origins, absorbed into the holiday as Christianity spread through cultures that had existing spring festivals. American Easter traditions as most people know them, including the Easter basket, largely took shape in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Why It Matters

For practicing Christians, Easter is the answer to the problem of death. It is the event that gives meaning to Christmas, since Jesus was born to die and rise. It is the reason for baptism, which is described in the New Testament as a symbolic participation in death and resurrection. It is the source of what Christians call "the blessed hope."

Even for people who are not regular churchgoers, Easter marks a moment when American Christianity shows up in full force. Attendance at Easter services rivals Christmas. Families who might not otherwise gather do gather. The holiday carries the weight of something larger than its chocolate-and-plastic-grass presentation might suggest.

That weight is the point. Easter is when Christians say that death lost. And for two thousand years, that claim has been worth getting up before sunrise for.