Christmas and Easter are the most important Christian holidays. While Christmas follows a fixed schedule (December 25) Easter follows a more complicated calculation based on the lunar calendar. But Easter mostly falls into the month of April heralding warmer days ahead.
Easter is preceded by Good Friday, the day that reminds us of the death of Christ 2000 years ago on a cross just outside of the walls of Jerusalem. Even though Christ was executed by the Romans he understood his death as sacrificial. Christ proclaimed that all who would claim his death for themselves could rejoice in the forgiveness of their sins and the restoration of fellowship with God.
Easter is celebrated on the following Sunday. This is the day that Christ rose from the grave. By his resurrection Jesus inaugurated a new age: through his spirit he would be present in his believers, building His kingdom of love, joy and peace until the day of his return when death and sin and tears would be swallowed up by Life for ever.
In Switzerland Easter is celebrated with coloured eggs, easter chocolate bunnies and more recently also with a lamb (a kind of sweet bread).
