Spring has finally arrived in Oklahoma as it has around the world. New life is everywhere with flowers and greenery poking through the still-cold-soil, bringing hope of warmer days. With this beautiful season of new life comes the gorgeous colors of soft blues and pinks and yellows and all the good feeling colors that make you know winter is over – hopefully.
Like so many other women, I was preparing for the spring feasts of Passover and Easter thus the reason for my going to one of the large hobby stores – you know the kind – abundance of anything you could think of to make beautiful decorations for the holiday tables.
I wondered aimlessly through the store looking for paper plates and special items that would make my table settings special. I loved all of the little signs about faith and love and camping and sports and everything spring. I could spend hours in that store and hundreds upon hundreds of dollars, which I did not do. I kept reminding myself that I am in the ‘getting rid of mode’ so I kept myself under control putting only what I needed into my basket.
Standing in line at the checkout counter I noticed a never-ending gondola of adorable little bunnies in all shapes and colors, Easter eggs of all sizes and shapes and pastel flowers along with other decorations. I looked at the Easter bunnies and wondered where that idea came from and how we got so far off the trail of what is right for this holiday season.
Biblically, this season is about the LAMB – the LAMB of God that was sacrificed on a cross so that we – all of us – could accept that LAMB of God a/k/a Jesus Christ and become heirs of the Kingdom. Initially, the lamb was the animal sacrificed at the first Passover and its blood was painted on the doorposts and the lintel of Jewish homes in Egypt so that the death angel would pass by. That blood was sacred as it represented life and sanctity and protection.
Generations later, it was the blood of Jesus that was sacrificed for us on the cross of Calvary that allowed entrance into the faith and freedom He represented. It was not a bunny – it was a LAMB. I didn’t see any lambs in that store – not one. They may have been there and I may have overlooked them, but truth be told, I don’t think so.
To take it one step further, the bunny was initially the symbol of love as represented by the goddess Aphrodite – sexual love – not the kind of love that we associate with the Cross of Calvary. And, to fully understand the perversion of the bunny – the hare – we need to understand that the hare is a non-Kosher animal that would never have been acceptable in any Jewish sacrifice.
You might ask why I care since I am a Christian and not a Jew. It is because it was the blood of a Jew – Jesus Christ – that I am a Christian today. To adorn my table, my home or even my yard with a bunny at this time of year – no matter how adorable – is a direct affront to all that is Jewish. My thoughts, opinions, and attitude about all of this is, “What would Jesus do?” I do not believe he would be dancing with a bunny when it was about the LAMB – the LAMB of God and the sacrifice made a great cost.
Think about it. It does matter.
Heartland Heartbeat 