The Easter Bunny Flops
Why He Looks Lost, Lonely, and Confused
I remember a shopping trip to an area mall a few years ago. The large Stonebriar Center was teeming with people; the last weekend of Spring Break, and the multitudes were out. Easter was fast approaching. There were kids everywhere. Families were shopping for Spring sales. Kiosks are jammed with goods. It was a great day for commerce in North Texas, except if you were the Easter Bunny.
An Easter display was set up in the highest-traffic area of the mall. A white knee-hi picket fence formed the boundary of an artificial turf garden festooned with colorful flowers and ribbons. A lattice arbor was erected and covered with green vines and purple flowers (also artificial). Also fake were the giant butterflies that had been hot glued to the arbor. And under its arch sat the Easter Bunny. A photographer was stationed a few yards away. The intent was to have children line up for a picture with the Easter Bunny.
Does the Easter Bunny even have a name?
A few months ago, Santa was sitting in the same mall, in the same area. He had lines of kids ready for their Christmas photo. Now, the Easter Bunny couldn’t attract even one single child. Every parent wants their child’s picture with Santa. Not so with the Easter Bunny. He/she flopped.
Why? Isn’t Easter a bigger deal? Shouldn’t it be? Doesn’t the Resurrection trump Christmas in theological weight? Paul thought so: “…if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.” (1 Cor 15:17)
Here is the truth about the Easter Bunny: He can’t handle the truth.
The season's secular symbols are too light-weight; they miss the point of the Resurrection. The Resurrection is not about Spring because Spring is a seasonal cycle. It is not about caterpillars becoming beautiful butterflies because butterflies die again. It is not about the fertility of bunnies or the symbol of hope that is an Easter Egg. All these are natural things. They are wonderful, but they are not unique.
But the Resurrection of Jesus is a total surprise. There is nothing natural about it. It is supernatural. It was an entirely new, never-before-happened event in human history. The Resurrection was about God doing a new thing in Christ. Jesus died and was raised to eternal life to NEVER DIE AGAIN. A new order of life was established by God in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He is the new Adam for this new creation. As Bonhoeffer said, “After (His) death, something new begins, over which all powers of the world of death have no more might.”
I felt sorry for the Easter Bunny. He looked all alone. And he was.
If the mall marketing team wanted to put up a symbol that could bear the weight of the holiday, they might try an empty cross. The Cross is the ultimate symbol of the Resurrected Lord. Jesus bore the worst of the world’s evil and sin on the cross…but God raised him up to a New Life. The Cross of Christ is the greatest symbol of hope known to humanity.
Can you imagine the mall that might erect a Cross and offer to take children’s pictures next to its wooden beams? Neither can I. That is why we can’t turn to the secular world to show our children the truth. We must teach them the facts and the truth about the most important event in human history.
The Rev. David Roseberry is a writer, consultant, and advisor to pastors and churches. He is the Ex. Director of LeaderWorks.org. Many of his books are published on Amazon. Pick up a copy of The First 24, an hour-by-hour investigation into the first day of Jesus' ministry. Available on Audible.
