The Bunny and the Messiah

Easter has come and go. To some, its departure might be the soft pads of a skedaddling bunny, and to others, an ascension of a devout, holy figure into the heavens. Two extremes - associated with one holiday. How did it come to this? Are they even related? And how deep does this rabbit hole go?

Everyone seems to walk on eggshells when it comes to the topic. How is the Easter Bunny associated with Jesus? They’d shrug, mumble something about the Bible, and that was that. However, nowhere in the scriptures, both old and new, talk of an egg-laying hare frolicking about with a seasonal basket in hand. In fact, bunnies don’t even lay eggs! The origin of this particular custom is still an enigma, but it has been theorised that its roots stem from pagan beliefs - where Eostre, the goddess of fertility, is symbolised as a nymphomaniacal bunny.

But how, exactly, is this hedonistic hare related to Jesus? Apparently, nothing at all. It seems that this association was mostly a consequence of marketing, and are only tied together by the symbolism that they both represent: new life. And it makes sense; eggs hatch into new younglings and Jesus resurrects from the dead.

The first ever instance of the Easter Bunny supposedly came from Germans immigrating to America in the 1600s, where writings mention of an “Oschter Haw” (German for Easter hare) leaving painted eggs to good children in the time of Easter. Eventually, this tradition has spread throughout the United States, marking the beginning of a more secular celebration of the holiday.