ALT-1 Why are Chocolate Easter Eggs associated with Easter
Behold the egg. Hard and smooth as a rock, and with just about the same amount of life, it would appear. But aha!, the mother hen knows better. She knows that within that smooth, apparently lifeless object, her little chick awaits the appointed time when he (or she) will be too large for the shell to contain. And on that day, the little chick will emerge.Have you ever had the experience of having a brooding hen? Nowadays, most people haven't. But for a short time, I was on a little farm and we had broody hens. Broody hens are hens that have a nest with fertilized eggs in it. When the chicks began to hatch, it was no big secret to anyone on the property. The hen would start with a soft purring, cluck like noise. Then that noise would get louder and louder to she was making a noise that we knew meant only one thing, the chicks were hatching. She was joyful at this new life, and she wanted everyone in the neighborhood to know. Believe me, people for miles would have known, if they had taken the time to listen!Before sundown on Good Friday, they put Jesus' lifeless body into a cold dark tomb. Then a stone was rolled into the entrance so no access would be possible. The tomb was cold, hard, silent. Lifeless.But then, on Sunday, the stone had been moved away. The tomb was as empty as eggshells my broody hen had been setting on for so long. On Sunday, the tomb could no longer hold Jesus. He had overcome death.That is the symbolism of why we have eggs on Easter. At least to those who are Christians. To other faiths, the egg might have something to do with fertility. But for Christians, the egg represents the tomb that could no longer hold Jesus, it represents promises kept, it represents the resurrection and life immortal.So why chocolate? There could be many reasons. On Easter, or Resurrection Day, eggs are made of sugar, glass, marzipan, paper mache any medium that the artist wishes to use.What is important is the egg, what is more important is what the egg is a symbol of.
