The following is from something I wrote last year for the church in Middleton St George. It was based on my vague recollections of hearing Simon Oliver speak on the topic in much more detail online from Durham Cathedral in 2021, and on Radio 4 in 2022. I’ve just tracked down the first of these (embedded below), and I’m relieved that my vague recollections were reasonably accurate!
The events of Good Friday and Easter invite us to ask the question: Which is going to triumph? Darkness or light? Or will the conflict just continue for ever?
The date of Easter gives us a helpful reminder about the triumph of light over darkness.
The first Easter Day happened at the time of the Passover: the Jewish feast that celebrates God’s victory over the false gods of Egypt, and the deliverance of God’s people out of slavery in Egypt. Passover happens in the Spring, around the time of the March Equinox.
Easter Day is (more or less) as described by the Venerable Bede: ‘the Sunday following the full Moon which falls on or after the [March] equinox’.
Sunday is the first day of the week. It reminds us of the first day of creation, in which God spoke into the darkness and said, ‘Let there be light’ (Genesis 1:3). The resurrection of Jesus is the first day of the new creation.
The March equinox is the moment in the year when light triumphs over darkness, as the day become longer than the night. ‘The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light’ (Romans 13:12, NIV).
It is the full moon that dispels the darkness completely. Without street lights, it would be truly dark at night, except when the moon is shining. The moon is above the horizon for around 12 hours each day. But it is only when the moon is full that those hours fall during the night. Roughly speaking (astronomy is complicated), the first day in the year when you have 24 hours of light will coincide with the first full moon after the March equinox.
If you notice these things, let them remind you: Easter Day is on the way!
Here’s Simon Oliver on the topic, starting at 9:30.
(If the video doesn’t appear, click to watch it on Facebook.)