Easter eggs have been used by Christians since the first century to symbolize the significance of Easter for several important reasons. Eggs have always been a symbol for new life, and the hope which that new life brings. Eggs symbolize that, with our creating, resurrecting God, new, inexplicable, indescribable, life is always cracking open. Eggs symbolize the truth that with our creating, resurrecting God, our best days of life are always ahead of us.

There is much evidence that the early Christians saw the egg as a symbol of immortality.  Archaeologists believe that Christians in the first century met on Easter at the tombs of deceased Christians, and they ate a meal called a re-frig-ria. In fact, at the supposed tomb of St. Peter in Rome, when excavations were undertaken during the last century, piles of egg shells were discovered. Throughout the centuries, Christians have gathered in cemeteries on Easter Sunday morning to eat breakfast, to eat eggs, a sign of eternal life.

This leads to a more profound way I believe eggs symbolize Easter. Read John 21:12-25 NRSV.

When does the risen Christ appear to the disciples? He appears at breakfast. Why is this significant?  I will tell you.

Few of our meals are more ritualized, more predictable, and more routine than breakfast.  Some of us eat the same thing for breakfast every morning. It is the most ordinary meal of the day.  Yet, this is the time and the place the risen Christ meets his disciples. During the most ordinary time and place, the disciples experience the risen Christ and hear his call.

The good news is the risen Christ may appear to us on a very special Easter Sunday morning in a very extraordinary worship service; however, if we pay attention, he might also appear to us on a very ordinary Monday morning at home around a mundane breakfast table.