Dear Friends

Whilst thinking about Easter, my mind turned to an old riddle: ‘I’m a box without hinges, key or a lid, yet inside a golden treasure is hid.’

The answer? The box is an egg and the golden treasure is the yolk. I was reminded of this riddle because eggs and Easter are connected in several ways.

First, eggs are similar in size and shape to a small stone, and a big stone is crucial to the Easter story. When Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body down from the cross, we read that he 

‘wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb’ (Matthew 27:59b, 60)

Note, the tomb was cut in rock and sealed with a great stone. Then, on the third day,

‘an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it’ (Matthew 28:2b)

Notice the similarity between an egg, which looks like a lifeless stone yet holds new life, and the rocky tomb, from which Jesus rose to new life. Life coming from, what looks like, a lifeless place, is the second connection between eggs and Easter.

The third connection is that eggs roll quite well, so are used to re-enact the angel rolling the stone from the tomb. Like many people, I have lots of happy memories decorating and rolling eggs, both as a child and with my own children.

Finally, as the eating of anything containing eggs, was traditionally avoided during Lent, it’s no surprise that eggs, in some form, were used in Easter feasts. Although many people miss it, today’s chocolate Easter eggs bring all these ideas together.

I started this letter with a riddle. Often, riddles can be difficult to solve, but become obvious once the answer is revealed. Many people find Christianity to be like a riddle, but it is really quite simple. Although the Bible contains about three quarters of a million words, when Jesus was asked what was most important in scripture, He replied,

‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matthew 22:37-40)

This can be reduced to just six words,

‘Love God and love your neighbour.’

That’s both a simple Bible summary and an easy reminder for living a Christian life.

Many blessings,

Carl