How to Celebrate Easter as a Christian: A Guide to Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday

Easter is the great culminating celebration of the Christian year. But its meaning is most fully received when it arrives at the end of a season of preparation — Lent and Holy Week — rather than as an isolated Sunday of special services and Easter baskets.

Here's how to enter and celebrate Easter in a way that honors its profound significance.

Lent: 40 Days of Preparation

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (46 days before Easter, not counting Sundays) and continues through Holy Saturday. It commemorates Jesus's 40 days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness.

The purpose of Lent: Not obligation or punishment, but preparation. The 40 days create space for honest self-examination, for prayer, for the disciplines that prepare the heart to receive the resurrection with genuine joy.

Common Lenten practices:

• Fasting from a specific food or habit
• Taking on a spiritual discipline (daily Scripture reading, daily prayer, service)
• Studying the passion narrative
• Giving to the poor
• Attending mid-week Lenten services if your church offers them

Lent is not required of all Christians. But the seasons of preparation and celebration the church calendar provides are gifts — they shape spiritual formation in ways that independent, unstructured devotion often doesn't.

Holy Week: The Most Important Week of the Year

The final week of Lent — Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday — is Holy Week. The church calendar asks Christians to walk through this week deliberately, attending to what happened day by day.

Palm Sunday

Jesus enters Jerusalem in triumph, hailed as king (Luke 19:28-40). The crowd waves palm branches. The same crowd that cheers will call for his crucifixion within days.

Palm Sunday celebration: Many churches distribute palm branches and process into worship. The traditional reading is the Triumphal Entry. The mood shifts in the second half of the service toward the Passion narrative.

For your home: Read the Triumphal Entry together. Ask: What did the crowd expect from their king? What did they get instead?

Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week

Jesus teaches in the temple (Mark 11:15-12:44). He overturns the money changers' tables. He debates the Pharisees. He teaches in parables. He predicts the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs of his return (Matthew 24-25).

For your home: Read one of the significant Holy Week teaching passages. Consider the apocalyptic discourse — what Jesus says about the future and his return.

Wednesday

Sometimes called "Silent Wednesday" — the Gospels record no specific events.

For your home: A day of quieter reflection. Read Psalm 22 — the Psalm Jesus quotes from the cross. Consider what it would have been like to be among his disciples this week, not knowing what was coming.

Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday)

The Last Supper (John 13-17, Luke 22:14-23). Jesus washes his disciples' feet. He institutes the Lord's Supper/Eucharist. He gives his "farewell discourse" — the most extended teaching of his ministry. He prays the High Priestly Prayer (John 17). Then he goes to Gethsemane, where he is arrested.

Maundy comes from the Latin mandatum — commandment: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another" (John 13:34).

Many churches offer Maundy Thursday services with foot washing and communion. These are among the most intimate and moving services of the year.

For your home: Have communion together if your tradition permits household communion. Wash each other's feet as an act of intentional service. Read John 13-17 over dinner.

Good Friday

The crucifixion. Jesus is tried, condemned, crucified, and dies (Luke 23, John 19).

Good Friday is the most solemn day of the Christian year — some traditions observe it in near-silence, with dark and stripped-down services, sometimes including the Stations of the Cross.

The name "Good" is somewhat paradoxical — it is good because it is the day of atonement, but it is the day of Christ's death.

For your home: Read the passion narrative. Consider fasting or simplifying your day significantly. Don't rush to the resurrection — sit with the cross.

Holy Saturday

The day of waiting. Jesus is in the tomb. His disciples are devastated, confused, and afraid.

Holy Saturday is the church's great experience of waiting in darkness not knowing what comes next. For us, on the other side of history, it's difficult to fully inhabit — we know Sunday is coming. But spiritually, it's valuable to practice waiting in the darkness.

For your home: Prepare for Sunday. Keep the day quieter. Some families do a nighttime Easter Vigil — lighting a fire, reading through salvation history, and welcoming the dawn of resurrection.

Easter Sunday

The resurrection (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20-21). He is risen. The tomb is empty. Everything changes.

For your home and church:

• Attend Easter Sunday worship — ideally a sunrise service if your church offers one
• Greet each other: "He is risen!" / "He is risen indeed!" — the ancient Easter greeting
• Have a celebratory meal with family and friends
• Read one of the resurrection accounts — John 20 is particularly beautiful
• Thank God specifically for the resurrection and what it means for your eternal life

Easter for Families with Children

The Easter story: Tell it — all of it, including the cross. Don't skip to the bunnies. Children can handle the death and the resurrection; they need both to understand the meaning.

The Easter egg: Many families use Easter egg hunts with real resurrection significance — hiding them on Saturday, searching for them on Sunday ("we were looking for what wasn't there!"). Some families put small notes or scripture inside the eggs.

The Easter basket: Consider filling it with items that connect to the story — a small cross, a seed to plant (life from death), a small Bible or devotional.

A Prayer for Easter

Lord Jesus, you have risen. The tomb is empty. Death is defeated. Everything you promised is true. Let this truth be the most foundational reality of my life. Let Easter not be one Sunday but the constant orientation of my soul — living in resurrection light, every day. He is risen! Amen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to observe Lent to have a meaningful Easter? No — Lent is not commanded. But many Christians find that the season of preparation makes the celebration of Easter significantly more meaningful.

What is the Easter Vigil? The Easter Vigil is an ancient service held after dark on Holy Saturday or in the early hours of Easter Sunday. It includes lighting a new fire, reading through salvation history, baptisms, and the first celebration of Easter. It's one of the most powerful services of the year.

How do I explain Easter to young children? Honestly and age-appropriately. "Jesus died — it was really sad and scary. But then God did something amazing — he brought Jesus back to life! That's why we celebrate. Because Jesus beat death, we don't have to be afraid of dying either."

Is it okay for Christians to do Easter egg hunts and baskets? Yes — as cultural traditions that can be connected to the resurrection theme. The issue is whether the cultural celebration crowds out the theological celebration.

Should we fast on Good Friday? Many Christians fast on Good Friday as a way of observing the day with appropriate solemnity. This is not required but is a meaningful practice.