Live Passover Easter Glory Broadcast

Passover and Easter are both spring festivals that celebrate themes of liberation and renewal, but they originate from different religious traditions. Passover commemorates the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt, while Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

What Is the Relationship Between Passover and Easter?

Every year people notice that the Jewish Passover festival and Christianity’s celebration of Jesus’ resurrection at Easter occur close together on the calendar. In some years, the commemorations even overlap. Many people who notice this understand that the proximity probably isn’t coincidental, but they don’t fully understand how Passover and Easter are related.

Passover in Judaism and Easter in Christianity are expressly connected. Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem during Passover when many Jews gathered in the city for the celebration. The New Testament presents Jesus as the ultimate sacrificial lamb who died on the cross to atone for people’s sin.

How did Passover get its name? Why does it occur in the Spring every year? What does the word “Easter” mean? Why does it happen in the Spring, too? How is Jesus like a Passover lamb? Keep reading to learn the answers to these questions and others.

Also, many traditions surround Good Friday and Easter. Learn what Easter Monday is and why it’s important to some Christians.

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What is Passover? Why is it in the Spring?

One of the most significant eras in Israelite history is when God rescued their Hebrew ancestors from slavery in Egypt. At the beginning of that 400-year period, God’s people had favor with the Egyptians. However, when the Israelites grew in number, the Pharaoh enslaved them as laborers (Exod. 1:8-12).

What is the festival called Passover?

Through the ministry of Moses, God sent plagues upon Egypt to free his people from Pharaoh’s grip. In the 10th and final plague, God killed all the firstborn Egyptian males (Exod. 12:29-32). Earlier, he told the Israelites to smear lamb’s blood on the doorposts of their homes, and when his “destroyer” (NIV, ESV, NASB, KJV) or “angel of death” (NLT) executed judgment, he would skip them, sparing their sons.

God soon rescued his people through the ministry of Moses, enabling them to leave Egypt and return home (Exod., Ch. 12-13). This event is known as the exodus, and it significantly shaped the Israelite’s identity for centuries, even millenniums. It’s also the title of the second book of the Hebrews Bible or Christian Old Testament, which records the story. The annual Jewish Passover festival celebrates this event.

Name	God “passed over” the Israelites’ bloody doorposts (Exod. 12:1-32)
Basis	Exod. 12:11-14; Lev. 23:5; Deut. 5:12-15
Date	14th day of the 1st month, Aviv/Nisan (Lev. 23:5)
Season	Spring (March or April)
Purpose	Recalls the Exodus from Egypt
Also called	The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exod. 23:15)

How is the date for Passover determined?

God told the Israelites to celebrate Passover on the 14th day of the first month of the Jewish year (Exod. 12:1-10). The first month of the Jewish calendar is Nisan, which is in the Spring. Therefore, the annual date that Jewish people celebrate Passover is Nisan 14 at twilight (cf. Lev. 23:5). On the Gregorian calendar, Nisan 14 usually occurs in April (see dates below). So why does Easter occur at this time, too?

Also, Judaism and Christianity have several beliefs and values in common. Learn if Jewish people celebrate Easter and why or why not.

Why is Easter in the Spring Every Year?

The Council of Nicaea decided how to determine the date of Easter every year, which would be on the first Sunday after the first paschal full moon after March 21. March 21 is the fixed date of the Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere on the Gregorian calendar. “Paschal” comes from the Latin word for Passover. “Full moon” in this context doesn’t refer to a literal full moon but to 14 Nisan.

How did the date of Passover play into the council’s decision?

First, the council based its decision on Jesus being crucified during the annual Passover festival (e.g., Matt. 26:17-26; John 19:14) as God’s sacrificial lamb (cf. John 1:29). Second, the council used the formula for determining the Jewish date of Passover for when to celebrate Easter, which committed them to a lunar calendar, not a solar one.

Unlike a solar calendar, such as the Gregorian calendar used in the West today, a lunar one is based on the moon’s phases. As a result, lunar months vary in length, and lunar years are shorter than solar years. One outcome of the lunar calendar is that Jewish holidays have different dates yearly.