As I was picking up the fake grass this Easter morn that my son had strewn from his Easter Basket, I began to reflect on the symbolism of this tradition. I don’t claim to have the only “right” symbolism but these were my thoughts…
Isaiah tells us that, “All flesh is grass.” And here we can reflect on the grass sitting in the bottom of the Basket as that mortality into which each man is born, by virtue of Adam’s sin. It is like that dirt into which our mortal flesh shall be committed.
On top of this grass lies the egg - colored, fertile, a sign of the Resurrection of the Body. That which is committed to the earth “in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection,” (’28 PB page 337), God shall raise. “At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies : and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting : and they that have done evil into everlasting fire” (Athanasian Creed). “New Life” is a fairly standard interpretation of the eggs themselves.
Yet, we might reflect even further on the Basket itself. It is made of dead grass as well, straw, but is fashioned into the shape of something that carries the eggs and carries the grass at the bottom of the Basket. We, as Christians, through our Baptisms are shaped into the Church, woven into the fabric of Christ’s Body.
As we go forward in the liturgical year, we will note the emphasis. The first is Witness: We are to Witnesses to the Resurrection. “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son” (Reading from the First Sunday after Easter). The second is Evangelism - bringing people to church, as a Basket brings those signs of the Resurrection (the eggs) to individuals on Easter morn. “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd” (Reading from the Second Sunday after Easter).
To bring people to church is to bring a gift to them, and that Easter Basket is a symbol of that gift. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights . . .” (Reading from the Fourth Sunday after Easter). And this good work, we must do if we would be “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving [our] own selves” (Reading from Rogation Sunday).
Finally, we can reflect on the Easter Basket as far forward as Pentecost. “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all” (Reading for Whitsunday). Again, we are formed as a basket, woven into the fabric of Holy Mother Church, to work together to bring men to salvation.
The handle of the basket reaches up towards heaven. And it is God himself, in Christ Jesus, who works this work, making “you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:21).
Isaiah tells us that, “All flesh is grass.” And here we can reflect on the grass sitting in the bottom of the Basket as that mortality into which each man is born, by virtue of Adam’s sin. It is like that dirt into which our mortal flesh shall be committed.
On top of this grass lies the egg - colored, fertile, a sign of the Resurrection of the Body. That which is committed to the earth “in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection,” (’28 PB page 337), God shall raise. “At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies : and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting : and they that have done evil into everlasting fire” (Athanasian Creed). “New Life” is a fairly standard interpretation of the eggs themselves.
Yet, we might reflect even further on the Basket itself. It is made of dead grass as well, straw, but is fashioned into the shape of something that carries the eggs and carries the grass at the bottom of the Basket. We, as Christians, through our Baptisms are shaped into the Church, woven into the fabric of Christ’s Body.
As we go forward in the liturgical year, we will note the emphasis. The first is Witness: We are to Witnesses to the Resurrection. “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son” (Reading from the First Sunday after Easter). The second is Evangelism - bringing people to church, as a Basket brings those signs of the Resurrection (the eggs) to individuals on Easter morn. “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd” (Reading from the Second Sunday after Easter).
To bring people to church is to bring a gift to them, and that Easter Basket is a symbol of that gift. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights . . .” (Reading from the Fourth Sunday after Easter). And this good work, we must do if we would be “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving [our] own selves” (Reading from Rogation Sunday).
Finally, we can reflect on the Easter Basket as far forward as Pentecost. “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all” (Reading for Whitsunday). Again, we are formed as a basket, woven into the fabric of Holy Mother Church, to work together to bring men to salvation.
The handle of the basket reaches up towards heaven. And it is God himself, in Christ Jesus, who works this work, making “you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:21).
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