One of the world’s most valuable eggs to hit the shelves was in 2006. Encrusted with more than 100 0.5 carat diamonds, was the Diamond Stella Egg, standing 65cm tall. How much was this egg? Only £50,000! Take inflation into account, and add yourself another £20,000, equating to $128,000 Australian dollars. Thank fully, no one was actually crazy enough to purchase and consume it!
Much like Christmas, Easter is a sacred Christian holiday that seems to have been overtaken by commercialism and much of its symbolism hijacked by secular society. However, before Easter became all about chocolates, bunnies and bilby’s, the humble egg had a much more significant role…
Easter Eggs were originally boiled, dyed and painted in the Orthodox & Eastern Catholic Churches to commemorate Easter. The symbolism of the egg was a representation of new life, fertility and birth, with the outer shell representing the sealed tomb. During lent, eggs were also not consumed until Easter time. The significance of the hollowed egg has come to represent the empty tomb, where Jesus was not found after burial.
As eggs were more elegantly decorated by the talented, the gifting of them as an Easter present began in the 17th Century. The rich and royal would gift beautifully jeweled and luxuriously crafted eggs. If you’ve heard of the infamous 50 Imperial Fabergé Easter eggs, you’ll know how prestigious and highly sought after the eggs became throughout Europe (in 2013 one of these eggs was found in a scrap metal dump, selling for £20 million!).
Of course, not everyone could afford to gift these eggs worth thousands of dollars. And so, since the 18th Century, the confectionary industry has flourished with the creation of edible, chocolate Easter eggs.
Just to cater for the demand of Easter Eggs, Cadbury states that Easter eggs are in production for eight months of the year? That’s A LOT of chocolate!
To learn more about making ethical chocolate purchases this Easter, click here!
It makes you wonder, what’s the point of this sugar hype? Surely we’re getting a little distracted from Easter’s true meaning with chocolate bunny’s everywhere we look…
For those who have committed their lives to Christ, Easter is a time of reflection and gratitude for the sacrifice that Christ made for us when he ‘died on the cross’. In this act, the Son of God was wrongly accused, tortured and murdered. Jesus Christ went through physical agony for you and I, out of love.
Don’t let yourself miss it – Easter points to Christ. Focus on Christ, not the chocolate or the pressure to spend up big to celebrate. Take time to appreciate that the Prince of Heaven humbled Himself and put you first, on that ‘good’ Friday. It really was a good Friday.
Do you know what is even sweeter than the taste of chocolate this Easter? It’s the fact that Jesus defied death after his murder. He rose after 3 days, as it was foretold (Zechariah 12:10) and stood victorious over sin, shame and guilt. Thank you Jesus for Easter, and this new life that we have found in you!
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
– John 3:16
