Easter Traditions

In my family, a good deal of meaningful conversation happens around our kitchen table. So when holidays like Easter come around, I am always looking for creative ways to incorporate teaching moments into our meal time.

One of our favorite family traditions is to make a lamb cake for Easter. No special pan is needed, just an 8” or 9” round pan. You can find the Easter Lamb Cake Recipe at celebratingholidays.com, along with several other Easter Recipes.

The imagery of the “lamb” has a special connection to Easter, so I like to encourage conversation about it. The Bible records that for hundreds of years, lambs were used as sacrifices for the sins of the Jewish people. Around 700 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah wrote that the Savior would be “led like a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7). When John the Baptist, a contemporary of Jesus, saw Him coming toward him, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). These words make sense to us as we read them retrospectively, but consider how odd they would have sounded to the hearers of both Isaiah and John. Yet, they both prophetically recognized Christ as a sacrificial lamb – the One who would give himself as the perfect and final sacrifice for our sin!

The good news is that though the “Lamb” was slain, he did not stay dead! He rose again, and sits at the right hand of his Father in heaven — where the angels declare, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12).

“Lamb” is the title used to describe Jesus more than any other word in the book of Revelation. The Bible tells us that all who believe in the Lamb will one day rise with new bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-58) to live on a new earth where “there will be no more death or morning or crying or pain!” (Revelation 21:4). Amen!

Another one of our special family traditions is to sing Easter songs and hymns around the dinner table. I have compiled an Easter Song Playlist on You Tube with lyric videos for singing along. Before Easter, we focus on songs about the cross, and after Easter, we sing songs about the resurrected Jesus. Of course, you don’t have to sing, you can just enjoy these songs as background music. Either way, I hope they are a blessing to your family.

May your Easter celebration be a special one!

Angie Mosteller

Celebrating Holidays