Origin of the Red Egg

My daughter and youngest son were in the kitchen this evening dying eggs, and my daughter was explaining the story of the Red Egg to her brother, so I decided to go online and research the legend a little. In Eastern Orthodox iconography, Mary Magdelene is normally pictured holding a red egg. In the simplest (and most plausible) version of the legend, Mary Magdalene left Jerusalem to preach the gospel of the Risen Saviour. Legend says that she was a Roman citizen, and as such was granted an audience with the Emperor Tiberius. At her audience, she presented him with a red egg and greeted him with the words: ‘Christ has risen.’ She then told the Emperor about Jesus, His preaching and miracles, and the meaning of His resurrection. The red egg symbolized life arising from a sealed chamber and was a symbol that would have been very meaningful and understandable to the Romans.

A more miraculous version of the legend says that when Mary was admitted to the audience with Tiberius,

“she protested Pilate's poor administration of justice at Jesus' trial and then announced that Jesus had risen from the dead. She picked up an egg from the table, an instinctive move to explain the Resurrection with new life breaking out. Caesar scoffed, claiming a man could no more rise from the dead than that egg turn red.

The egg did!

That's why Orthodox Christians dye their eggs red. And why an Easter greeting between believers calls for each to have a red egg in hand.

‘Christ is risen!’ says the first, knocking egg against egg.

‘He is risen, indeed!’ answers the other. ”^[1]

Another legend says that each drop of Jesus' blood became a red egg as it hit the ground beneath the cross. His mother Mary gathered them up in her apron and as she cried each teardrop falling on an egg became a spot of brilliant color; this is one explanation given for the elaborate dye schemes used in Ukrainian easter eggs.

In any case the Easter Egg clearly predates any ‘bunny delivery’ stories and can be a useful tool to explain the miracle of the Resurrection and the concept of new life springing from our redemption by Jesus' sacrifice. Happy Easter! Christ is Risen Indeed!

Posted by trygstad | Category: Personal | 11:36 PM