What exactly is Easter anyway?

My childhood memories surrounding Easter centered around family.

We would have a family gathering at one of three places: our home in North Bergen, N.J., my aunt and uncle’s home in the Bronx, or my other uncle and aunt’s home in River Edge, N.J. It was a fun day to see all of my cousins, dress up in nice clothes and eat lots of food.

Back in the day, we had chocolate eggs to eat, but now that I think about it, I don’t remember as much attention to Easter eggs that I see today. I’m not too familiar with the Easter egg tradition and where it comes from. My family did not have a practicing faith of any kind. Easter Sunday did not center around going to Mass or church of any kind. I don’t ever remember a family conversation about an empty tomb.

Without a doubt, the central focus of Easter Sunday across the world is the empty tomb. It could be the one unifying truth that unites every single Christian church throughout the world. As folks who profess a Christian faith, we have many things that we can disagree about. The list is long. The empty tomb is not one of them. It’s so central that the Apostle Paul would say this: “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Corinthians 15:13-14)

If the empty tomb is just a fairy tale, then close down all the churches. That’s what the Apostle Paul is saying. That’s how critical this truth is to our common faith. Theologically, the empty tomb has many themes that require deep thinking and reflection. Practically speaking, the empty tomb points us to the hope of new beginnings and a fresh start. It communicates the idea of spiritual renewal and better ways. The empty tomb even communicates that death does not have the last word.

Paul Haviland is the Associate Pastor of Flow Vineyard Church in Yorktown Heights.