Published on 2 weeks ago
Easter came relatively late this year. Some have asked why the Feast of Easter isn't a set date, like Christmas which' always falls on December 25th. It definitely would make for easier planning our calendars. The date of Christmas is set by a historical Roman celebration. The date of Easter is set by its Biblical roots in the Jewish Passover.
Let's take Christmas first.
One of the hallmarks of the early Church was its ability to adapt and adopt what was good in a culture and Christianize it. The early Church grew up and flourished in the Roman culture that dominated most of the known world at that time. Its no accident that the center of the Church is in Rome and not Jerusalem, the city where our Lord taught, suffered, died and was raised from the dead. The historical fact is that Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans c 70AD, dispersing the Apostles and disciples. Peter and Paul both end up in Rome, where both were martyred. Peter's successor as leader (bishop) of the Roman Community continues to establish Rome as the center of the early Church.
In Rome there was a national religious holiday dedicated to the God of the Sun celebrated on December 25th. As Christianity became the religion of the Empire, the Church adopts and adapts December 25th as now the Feast of the Birth of the Son of God.
The people who held that date sacred in pagan times now can continue to celebrate that date but now with its Christ-centered meaning. It's a supreme example of the Church's sensitivity to every culture and acknowledgement that God is present and active throughout all history.
Now let's look at Easter and its link to the Jewish Passover.
In reading the Passion narrative, Jesus enters Jerusalem to celebrate Passover with his disciples. It's important to remember that the Jewish calendar is based on the phases of the moon, not as our calendar is based on the phases of the sun. One of the reasons is that it’s easier in a desert climate to observe the course of the moon (at night when it's cooler) than the course of the sun (in the heat of the day). The date of Passover is determined by the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nisan (corresponding to our months of April-May in our Gregorian calendar) which is on the first night of a full moon after the Spring Equinox. Interestingly, Passover always falls on the same day in the Jewish calendar but occurs at different times on our secular Gregorian calendar.
That said, Jesus enters Jerusalem to celebrate Passover with his disciples. It's the greatest of Jewish festivals recounting God's deliverance of the Jews out of the slavery of Egypt, through the desert to the Promised Land. The Angel of Death spared the Hebrew first born with the lamb's blood over the lintel of their doors. Jesus, who will become the Lamb of God, whose blood will be poured out for us, will become our Passover through His death and resurrection. He is taken down from the Cross immediately after His death because Passover was about to begin.