Many people also offer lamb-shaped butter on this Resurrection Sunday. Originating as a Polish Catholic culinary tradition for Easter, the butter lamb may be purchased easily. Artistic folks may choose to carve it from cold butter, sculpt it with a frosting tip or cookie press, or produce it from a sheep-shaped butter mold.
Consider these possible explanations for lamb’s importance as an Easter dish.
Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This movable Christian feast, occurring on the first Sunday after the first full moon past the spring equinox, is also widely regarded as a sure sign of spring (even though spring officially arrives with that equinox). Easter is packed with meaning for Christians, and the lamb is an important feature for many reasons.
1. Lamb is central to the Jewish Passover.
Roast lamb traces back to Old Testament times, when a lamb was a frequent sacrifice the Jewish people offered priests to slay and present before God. The Passover story (see Exodus 12) outlines this in great detail. Essentially, the angel of death passed over every Jewish home, as their doorways were covered with the blood of spotless lambs. The angel smote the families of their Egyptian captors, killing the firstborn of each family. This plague, capping the famous series of dreaded plagues, convinced the Pharaoh to let the Jewish people go from enslavement. The parting of the Red Sea and other miracles followed, as the people departed for their journey to the Promised Land.
To this day, roasted lamb is a key element in the Passover Seder dinner, along with bitter herbs and unleavened bread.
2. Jesus’ Last Supper with His 12 apostles was a Passover Seder.
The Savior shared this final meal with His dozen disciples shortly before His betrayal and arrest on the night preceding His crucifixion (see Matthew 26:17-19). Christians remember this occasion regularly with bread and wine (or juice) during Holy Communion. The serving of lamb for Easter dinner also harks to the Lord’s Passover.
3. The Bible calls Jesus the Passover Lamb of God.
Jesus is referred to as Christ, our Passover, the spotless Lamb of God (see John 1:36 and 1 Corinthians 5:7-8), led to His death like sheep to the slaughter (see Isaiah 53:7) and sacrificing His own body to pay for the sins of the world.
In Christian tradition, the lamb is seen as a symbol of innocence and gentleness, just like Jesus. Jesus described His followers as “sheep among wolves” (see Matthew 10:16). False prophets have been called wolves in sheep clothing (see Matthew 7:15). Common language usage includes the phrases, “as innocent as a lamb” and “as gentle as a lamb.” Old-time superstitions suggested that the devil could never appear as a lamb, because the lamb stood symbolically for Jesus Christ.
4. Jesus is known as the Good Shepherd, and believers are tagged as His sheep.
Those who follow Jesus are called His flock (see Psalm 23 and Psalm 100:3), trusting His gentle and solid leadership.
5. God’s angels appeared first to shepherds to announce His birth.
The heavenly heralds arrived over a Bethlehem hillside to tell a group of humble shepherds of the Lord’s coming (see Luke 2:8-20). Clearly, God values shepherds and those they guard. Lambs are part of Christmas nativity pageants and displays, as well as the Easter table.
6. Lambs figure in end-times predictions.
Biblical prophecy indicates that one day, when the Lord’s kingdom appears, the wolf and the lamb will live peacefully together (see Isaiah 65:25). This gentle community is apparently a mark of Paradise to come. The highlight is said to be the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, wedding the Messiah to His Bride, the Church universal (see Revelation 19:6-9).
7. Lambs are plentiful in springtime.
Mutton, or lamb meat, may be particularly prevalent in the spring season, especially in certain parts of the world where winter makes livestock processing difficult. This, combined with its deep symbolism, makes it a popular choice for Easter fare.
Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter (which they call Pascha) on a different date, always after Passover (no matter when the spring equinox occurs). They traditionally eat lamb on this occasion. Lamb is a popular dish in the Mediterranean region, and lambs tend to be ready for slaughter in the springtime, but this holiday practice also arises more from its ties to the Jewish Passover.
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