An Easter guide for students

Published on 16 Apr 2025

3:26 min estimated read time

Revd Dr James Grenfell, Chaplaincy Manager at UEL, explains the meaning of Easter, and shared a bit about the Chaplaincy team's work.

Easter Day, on 20 April this year, is the most important feast in the Christian calendar and, for Christians, is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

In the week before Easter, known as Holy Week, Christians remember the last week of Jesus’ life. The Bible records that Jesus’ work of teaching and healing drew him into deepening conflict with the religious and political authorities of his day. In a tumultuous last week of his life, we read about the last meal that Jesus had with his friends, his arrest at night, his illegal trial, his torture, and finally his crucifixion. After his death, Jesus’ body is retrieved by his disciples and placed in a donated tomb cut out of the rock. Roman guards are stationed outside to guard it. On the third day, two of the women who had followed Jesus went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body in preparation for his burial. They found the tomb empty.

Christian tradition records that first the women and then the other disciples met Jesus who had risen again. The experience of meeting Jesus transformed them and they went from being a group of disillusioned, frightened followers, feeling deeply guilty about their betrayal of Jesus during his final days, to suddenly being filled with joy, hope, and a sense of purpose. They started to look back at Jesus’ life and began to see and understand who Jesus was in a whole new light.

Churches throughout our local area will be marking the events of Holy Week and Easter in a rich variety of ways from public processions, to candlelit vigils, from ritual meals to a traditional three hour solemn service on Friday marking the three hours that Jesus spent on the cross. Easter celebrations begin on Saturday evening and continue with Services taking place at sunrise on Easter Day. There are services available in many languages and different traditions and further information about our local churches is available on the Chaplaincy pages.

There is a popular tradition of giving chocolate eggs to one another at Easter time. It is unclear exactly where this tradition has come from or why eggs are involved. Some people have suggested that the eggs are a symbol of new life or that the shape of the egg is a reminder of the rock that covered the entrance to the tomb in which Jesus’ body was laid. Still others have suggested that the eggs originate in an ancient pagan festival which Easter has overtaken. Whatever the origins, the giving and receiving of chocolate eggs remains an extremely popular part of the celebration!

Our richly diverse community here at UEL gives us unique opportunities to learn from each other about the different religious traditions and beliefs that shape and enrich our lives. This week as well as Holy Week and Easter in the Christian tradition is the Jewish celebration of Pesach or Passover and the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi. Our context at UEL means that there’s the chance to learn from one other’s different lived experiences of faith. These lived experiences are always much more interesting than the dry facts about religious tradition and they help us to understand one another’s faiths far more deeply.

The Chaplaincy team comprises faith representatives from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim faiths (with further links to Sikh and Jain colleagues) and we are here to support students and staff of all faiths and none. While we’re here to provide religious help and guidance to people in the observance of their faith, we are also here to provide a confidential, safe space where it’s possible to talk about anything that’s important to you – whether that be religious or not. If you would like to meet with a Chaplain (either in person or online), there are details of how to get in touch with us on Sharepoint (for current students) or please email chaplaincy@uel.ac.uk.