Resurrection Sunday was this past week. So, is Easter over? You might think so, but it is not! It is the season of Eastertide on the Christian church calendar. Eastertide is the season of 50 days that leads to Pentecost. This year, Pentecost is May 19. If you have been reading this blog very long, you know that often Holy Week and Passover coincide. This year that is not the case! Whaaat???? You may ask.
Remember that the Gregorian calendar and the Jewish calendar are different. Here’s a quick review. There are 12 months in the Gregorian calendar for a total of 365 days except in Leap Year, this year, 366. In the Jewish calendar, which follows a lunar dating system in which the change of months happens with first sighting of a new moon. A month can have 29 days or 30 days depending on the moon. During a Jewish leap year an extra day is added to the month of Adar.
“During a Jewish leap year, which occurs seven times in a 19-year cycle (approximately once every three years), there is an added month called “Adar I,” inserted before this month of Adar (termed “Adar II” in leap years). This aligns the lunar months with the solar year, ensuring that the holidays fall in the proper seasons.” 1
This year the biblical feasts do not align with the Church calendar. So what happens and what to do? Well, it is a bit challenging to discern an exact answer. But here is what I have discovered in my research. The date for Easter go way back to the second century and the writings of Justin Marytr (c. 160 C.E.) and Melito of Sardis (c. 170 C.E.) Melito was most likely a Quartodeciman who celebrated Pascha (Easter) on the 14th of the first month in the lunar year. This was the same time that Jews began celebrating Passover (Lev 23). The Quartodecimans celebrated the Pascha on whatever day of the week it fell on.
“In the first centuries after Yeshua, the early disciples naturally remembered his death and resurrection every Passover, which was when it happened. And rightly so, since the Passover feast was designed from its outset to foretell the redemptive sacrifice of the Messiah. It is laden with symbolism all pointing to Yeshua, and how his death and blood would purchase our freedom, forcing death to “pass over” us as it did for the faithful Israelites who daubed the blood of the lamb on their door frames. But as the years went by, the Messianic community became more and more Gentile, and Gentile leaders grew weary of liaising with, and depending upon, the rabbinic authorities for the right date on which to commemorate this important event. Relations between the Rabbinic Jewish community and the Christians had deteriorated significantly by this point, and there was a lot of hostility in both directions”. 2
In the year 325 C.E. Constantine the Great convened the Council of Nicea. One of the outcomes of the council was to set a date for the celebration of Easter. It was determined that it would fall on the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the spring equinox.3 The council also determined that this would make a break with the people of Israel.4 This was MOST unfortunate! Antisemitism has always been around.
So what happens then to Pentecost and Shavuot, you might be thinking? Are they the same dates or different? They are different also this year. Pentecost is May 19, 50 days after Easter. Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after his resurrection (this year that’s May 9 and celebrated the following Sunday in some churches). Shavuot begins June 11, 50 days after Passover!
There is still plenty of significance to celebrating Holy Week, Passover, and Resurrection Day during the same time frame. Perhaps your church did a Passover on Maundy Thursday as part of the symbol and significance of the events of Jesus earthly mission coming to its final conclusion.
For me, having this extended time of Eastertide, the days following Easter, and then counting the Omer from Passover to Shavuot, opens another season that I expect to find new ways to grow in knowledge and understanding as well as faithfulness, thankfulness and great gratitude for how God has revealed himself through his Word. I pray that you, too, will find this extended season refreshing for your soul.
Shalom!
1. Chabad.org (accessed 4/1/2024).
2. One For Israel. Why Are Easter and Passover Celebrated at Different Times? (accessed 3/25/2024).
3.One Carlie Procell and Veronica Bravo. Why Does Easter Change Every Year? published in USA TODAY; 3/26, 2024.For Israel.
4. One For Israel.
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