Why do we celebrate Easter?

The beginning of Easter is found in the story of the Israelites and their escape from Egypt. In Christianity, Easter has become a holiday to celebrate the rebirth of Jesus. But Easter is also about Easter eggs, cabin trips, crime books and holidays.

Påskebakgrunn med påskeegg
Påskebakgrunn med påskeegg

Lent

Lent is the time before Easter. Fsting, which means avoiding everything that is not strictly necessary, is part of Lent. In earlier times, fasting was more important than in our time, although many people still decide to fast today. Lent lasts from Ash Wednesday, six weeks before Easter, to Friday at Easter. There are forty-two days, which is as long as Jesus fasted in the desert, according to the New Testament.

During Lent, people were supposed to eat very little and reflect on the message of Easter. In the days leading up to Lent people could feast and enjoy food as they pleased. Celebrations and Mardi Gras, a French term meaning “Fat Tuesday” took place in this period. Many people still enjoy celebrating this tradition.

The period leading up to Lent is called Shrovetide. The first day of Lent is called Ash Wednesday. On this day some people wear ashes on their head. The ashes symbolize penance and the dust God made people out of. The ashes sometimes come from palm branches that were burned after Palm Sunday in the previous year.

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Fastelavnsris
Fastelavnsris

Pesach – Jewish Easter

Pesaḥ, or Pesach, is one of the most important Jewish holidays. Pesach is an eight-day festival in memory of the Israelites’ escape from Egypt. We can read this biblical narrative in the Book of Exodus. According to this story, the Jews were slaves to the pharaohs in Egypt, but Moses – with the help of God – managed to free them.

Before the Jews were allowed to leave, Egypt experienced ten unimaginable plagues. One of them was that all first-born Egyptian children were killed. The Jews escaped by smearing the blood of a lamb around their doors. Then God’s angel of death passed by.

A ritual meal

To celebrate in the right way, the Jews perform a ritual meal called the “Seder”. The exact rules for this can be found in the Haggadah book, which describes the escape from Egypt in detail. This celebration should create the feeling of being free people.

The meal is very symbolic, and on one plate there is food that tells the story of the Jews’ experiences in Egypt. The food on the plate is not eaten, but has symbolic value.

Symbolic food

Among other things on the plate there are bitter herbs, which is a reminder of the bitter time in Egypt. There is also lamb meat, which the Jews used for sacrifice. Haroset – a mixture of apples, nuts, raisins and spices – symbolizes the mortar the slaves used when they built for the Egyptians. Matza – the flat bread – is also served. The Jews did not have time to wait for the bread to rise before they fled, and the bread became hard and thin. They call it “unleavened bread”. There is also a bottle of salt water on the table to symbolize the tears of the Jews.

Forbidden food

During Pesach, it is forbidden to eat anything that is made with yeast. This is called “Hamets”. Hamets includes all foods made from wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt. It is even forbidden to have such foods in the house! One of the most important preparations for Pesach is to remove all Hamets – bread, cakes and pasta – from the house.

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Flukten fra Egypt
Flukten fra Egypt

Christian Easter

Easter is the oldest and most important Christian holiday.  It is celebrated in memory of Jesus’ coming back from the dead. This is a drama about life and death from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.

The various days of Easter week show  what happened in Jerusalem about 2,000 years ago. This was a week that changed our entire history. We call the time from Palm Sunday to Easter Eve Holy Week. In many languages Holy week is called “silent week”. The name comes from the fact that in the past the church bells were not rung, nor was the organ used during services. One should preferably not work, and it should be quiet everywhere.

Jesus inntog i Jerusalem
Papir bakgrunn
Papir bakgrunn

Palm Sunday

Israel and its capital Jerusalem were occupied by the Romans. The Jewish people grew tired of this, and wanted freedom. In the old prophecies they could read that a savior would come. They just didn’t know quite when.

Jesus and his disciples were to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Easter in Jerusalem. When they came to the city, Jesus asked two of the disciples to find a donkey. Jesus knew the old prophecies and wanted to stage one of them. “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” And that is exactly what he did on Palm Sunday.

On his way into Jerusalem, Jesus was hailed by the people who waved palm branches and shouted “hosanna” which means “save us”. Many churches still use the tradition of palm branches. Some churches also have a parade with a donkey and a person playing Jesus. Palm Sunday is supposed to be a day of celebration, and the Bible texts say that Jesus was hailed as a king.

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Palmesøndag
Palmesøndag
Papir bakgrunn
Papir bakgrunn

Good Friday

Throughout his life, Jesus understood that he had an important task: people sinned against God, and therefore Jesus had to die to save people from sin and doom. Like the lambs in Egypt, he had to die in order for the Jews to escape the angel of death. Pesach and Easter have this in common: the sacrificial lamb allows man to escape destruction for his sins.

Jesus was seen as a dangerous man by the authorities of Jerusalem, one who inspired the people to go against those who ruled. So they captured him and left him to die on a cross. In the Nordic countries this day is called Long Friday, to symbolize the long pain Jesus suffered on this day. 

In English it is called Good Friday. Some people believe it is called Good Friday because the old English word for holy was good. Other people believe the day got its name because the crucifixion marked the beginning of Jesus’ coming back to life, making it a good day.

On this day there is no organ music in church, and very few decorations. It is supposed to be a day of mourning, and the Bible texts about Jesus’ suffering and death are read. Some people march with crosses, and others let themselves be tormented.

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Jesus på korset
Jesus på korset

Easter Eve

On Easter Eve, Holy Saturday, some people have a special feast and enjoy Easter eggs. According to tradition the Easter Bunny lays these eggs, but we often have to look for them. When we find them, we can treat ourselves to chocolate, marzipan and other sweets.

In church, Holy Saturday is often celebrated with a service in the evening or at night. The church is often completely dark, and people sing Easter hymns. At sunrise, candles are lit, and the resurrection celebrations can begin. On this night we follow Jesus from death to life. From darkness to light. In the Bible, Jesus is called “the light of the world”.

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Påskeegg fylt med godteri
Påskeegg fylt med godteri

Easter Sunday

If Jesus had only died, there would most likely have been no such thing as Christianity, because the events of Easter Sunday are absolutely crucial for us to celebrate Easter and have a religion.

After Jesus died, he was placed in a grave. Three days later, some women were supposed to look after the dead, but the grave was empty. Jesus had risen from the dead. This is the event that makes Christianity the world’s largest religion.

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Jesu oppstandelse
Jesu oppstandelse

Watching the sun dance

A few hundred years ago, many people went to a mountain top on Easter Sunday to see “the sun dance”. People also believed in witches. It was best to avoid cutting nails, because the waste could be used by evil.

Whipping

On Good Friday, children and animals could be whipped before eating “old man’s porridge” made from fish water and rye flour. People also had to torture themselves with hard work, or walk with sand in their shoes.

Egg yolk and baptism

It was said that when you ate eggs, you were told fortunes in the yolk. The bigger the yolk, the better the year would be. On Maundy Thursday it was common to baptize and name newborn animals.

Half mast and shooting rifles

Those who had a flagpole, flew the flag at half-mast on Good Friday. Easter weekend often started with shooting rifles and pistols in order to protect oneself from evil.

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Eggeplomme på en gul bakgrunn
Eggeplomme på en gul bakgrunn

Easter today

For many Norwegians, modern day Easter is about cabin trips, Kvikk Lunsj, eggs, waxing skis, oranges, lazy days off and Easter crime novels. Some still celebrate Easter with church services, hymn singing, processions or Easter lamb dinners.

The Norwegian tradition of Easter crime started in 1923. Nordahl Grieg and Nils Lie published the crime novel “Bergenstoget plyndret i natt”. The advertisement was on the front page of Aftenposten a week before Palm Sunday. People thought it was a news headline, and didn’t notice the little sign “advert” at the bottom of the ad, which said that this was an advertisement.

Thus, people started a tradition of reading crime books during the Easter holidays. Norwegians are among the people who read most crime, and we have many crime writers who sell many books both in Norway and abroad.

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Et barn som detektiv
Et barn som detektiv

Why is yellow the color of Easter?

Yellow is the color of Easter, but why? When Easter comes, spring and brighter times also arrive. The sun is higher in the sky, and nature wakes up again. Eggs are the symbol of new life, and are yellow inside.

We decorate our homes with daffodils, eat oranges, drink orange soda and eat yellow marzipan.

Påskekylling
Påskekylling

How do you calculate when Easter is every year?

The first day of Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This means that there is the same number of hours with and without sunlight. The vernal equinox is always between March 20th and 21st. Easter can therefore take place in the period between March 22nd and April 25th.

Dame som markerer i en kalender
Dame som markerer i en kalender

Easter in art

In Western art, the story of Jesus’ suffering is very central. In the Middle Ages, themes from the Easter story became most common. We can see this in old churches where the altar is often marked by Jesus on the cross. He is often painted as a young man with a beard and long, brown hair, but also in other ways.

It is not only the moment of death that is shown, but also the resurrected Jesus, the Last Supper, Maundy Thursday and Judas Iscariot, the traitor. Easter has many central events in the life of Jesus, so it is only natural that the artists were inspired by this.

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Nattverden, Leonardo da Vinci
Nattverden, Leonardo da Vinci

Sources:

  • God påske – familieboken fra fastelavn til vår (1988)
    Sigrun Nygaard     Moriggi / H. Aschehoug & Co.
  • Stordalen, Terje; Thorbjørnsrud, Berit S.; Stensvold, Anne; Barstad, Hans M.; Kværne, Per; Winje, Geir: Påske i Store norske leksikon på snl.no. Hentet 23. februar 2021 fra https://snl.no/påske
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Media Rights:

    1. Getty Images
    2. Getty Images
    3. James Tissot
    4. The Musée Condé, Chantilly / Getty Images
    5. Meister der Palastkapelle in Palermo
    6. Catholic Online – YouTube / Getty Images
    7. Gabriel Wüger / Getty Images
    8. Getty Images
    9. Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov / The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – YouTube
    10. Getty Images
    11. Getty Images
    12. Getty Images
    13. Getty Images
    14. Leonardo da Vinci