The Jewish Spring Festival of Passover was an integral part of Jesus’ last days as a living human on earth. Most Christians and Catholics honor it as part of Holy Week — Holy or Maundy Thursday — the Thursday before Easter. However, this year — 2024, Holy Thursday was March 28, and Passover landed on April 22. Why is there almost a month’s separation? We’ll look into Christian Church History to determine how and why there is a discrepancy. Let’s dig in…
Jesus’ Passover
First, let’s examine what happened in that fateful last supper during Jesus’ final week…
- As a devout Jew, Jesus observed all the Jewish holy days.
- He and His disciples made it a point to go to Jerusalem to eat the Passover meal together.
- It was on that Passover feast day when Jesus was betrayed by Judas.
- On that Passover, Jesus was arrested, mocked, and tried.
Passover, a God-mandated Festival
Technically, God set the date when all Jews are to celebrate Passover annually…
16 “On the fourteenth day of the first month, you must celebrate the Lord’s Passover.”
Numbers 12:16 NLT
See, the Hebrew calendar follows lunar months — from full moon to full moon. Technically, according to the Jewish calendar, today is 14 of Nisan, 5784. All their holidays are based on their calendar, not the Western Gregorian Calendar, which began in October 1582, following a papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII.
The principal change was to space leap years differently so as to make the average calendar year 365.2425 days long, more closely approximating the 365.2422-day ‘tropical’ or ‘solar’ year that is determined by the Earth’s revolution around the Sun.
Wikipedia
This year, 2024, is a leap year, which added an extra day to February, thus, adjusting when the full moons land on the calendar.
How the Date for the Catholic and Protestant Easter Celebration was Chosen
In 325 AD, the First Council of Nicaea, established the date for the Easter celebration for 2 reasons:
- To separate themselves from the Hebrew calendar and
- Worldwide uniformity.
They set it for the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, which is March 21st. It’s when daylight and nighttime hours are equal. Many pagans celebrate this. Given that 2024 is a leap year, throwing in that extra day, the first full moon after March 21, landed on March 25, thus making Sunday, March 30, Easter Sunday.
Interestingly enough, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, who went their own way in 1054 AD, their “Orthodox Easter”, 2024, is on Sunday, May 5th!
What if Easter Stuck with Passover?
Let’s imagine that the Early Church Fathers stuck with the Hebrew calendar and celebrated Easter 3 days after Passover. This year, Passover begins on a Monday at sunset. Then it wouldn’t be “Easter Sunday”! Presumably, that may have been a reason for setting it that way.
Why Sunday?
Sunday became the “Lord’s Day” or the Christian Sabbath, to commemorate Jesus’ Resurrection weekly.
In each of the Gospel accounts of the Resurrection, it opens with…
Early on Sunday morning (on the first day of the week)…
John 20, Mark 16, Luke 24, Matthew 28
The first day of the week is Sunday.
Should Christians Celebrate Easter?
After all, it’s become another pagan holiday like Christmas and Halloween, right? According to Truth Unedited, we shouldn’t…
Now that you’re totally confused, the question is when do we celebrate the Resurrection?
Answer: EVERY DAY!
Without the Resurrection, the purpose of Christianity is nothing. Even though it felt strange to celebrate Holy Week so far removed from Passover, this year it was my first Easter at New City Church and it was amazing!
Holy Week Celebrations at New City
The Easter Sunday Message was Special
Back to Passover
According to God…
5 “The Lord’s Passover begins at sundown on the fourteenth day of the first month (Nisan). 6 On the next day, the fifteenth day of the month, you must begin celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This festival to the Lord continues for seven days, and during that time the bread you eat must be made without yeast. 7 On the first day of the festival, all the people must stop their ordinary work and observe an official day for holy assembly.
Leviticus 23:5-7 NLT
In Israel, Passover 2024 is an extremely hard one. Watch these videos…
The Passover Ceder
Top image by Noamfurer, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Oct. 7th Miracles
In every generation, a person must see him or herself as if they came out of Egypt. See yourself on Passover as Redeemed — FREE!
From One for Israel:
Isn’t it about time you let Him in?
