Expert: Elder Greg Madden - 11/20/2007

Question
QUESTION: Greg
 How and when did it come about that most christians stopped celebating passover and started celebrating Easter?
 Which one is correct to celebrate?
 Is it OK to celebrate both?
         thanks
         Bob

ANSWER:


Bob,

This is Elder Greg Madden, and I wanted to thank you for allowing me the privilege of answering your questions. And from my family to yours, I pray that you would have a blessed Thanksgiving Day!

Elder Greg
http://www.forministry.com/USOKPENTEMMM1




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Bob,

Thank you for your questions. Actually, Easter (as recognized by the Christian church) is the New Testament celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after His sacrificial, finished work on the Cross. Many prefer the term "Resurrection Celebration". The word Easter is found in the KJV in recognition of the early Christian celebrating Christ's resurrection on the same day as passover. But, passover is a Old Testament celebration that through types and shadows pointed to what Jesus would do. So if you will, the celebration of Easter (Resurrection) Celebration began in the first century church.

There are many Messianic Jewish congregations that still celebrate passover. However, they will show how the elements of the passover are fulfilled in Christ. I would caution you though, that passover is not required for the Christian. Nor is it forbidden. It would be a matter of your heart. So yes, if celebrated with the proper focus upon Christ, His finished work on the Cross, and the verification of that finished work by His resurrection, then both are OK.

Please let me know if this helps, or if you have any further questions.
Elder Greg Madden



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the answer

Answer
Bob,

Thank you for your questions. I will do my best to answer them.

Passover is also known as Paschal, a Christian holiday, and was observed historically by a number of early Christians. It is still observed today by a small number of Christian groups.

Originally, the Christian Church used some form of the Jewish Calendar. The early Jewish Christians kept most of the Jewish Holy Days and added Christian observances, most particularly the remembrance of the Resurrection on Sunday.  Most of them continued to observe the Sabbath as a day of rest and Sunday as a day of worship (Sunday was still a regular work day and they worshipped secretly, making time as their duties permitted). It was soon apparent, however, that Gentile Christians should not be expected to keep the Jewish customs, so they concentrated on the observance of the Lord's Day. When in the 4th century the Emperor Constantine declared Christianity a legal religion, he also decreed Sunday as a day of rest and the official day of worship for all Christians.

The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ had taken place at the time of the Jewish Passover. Because of this, the early Christians understood Christ's work of redemption as a new Passover, fulfilling the old. For this reason, they continued the custom of celebrating the Paschal as an annual event. The only question was, on what day? To some the answer was clear. Christ's own Paschal (Passover) had found its climax on Sunday; therefore, every Christian Paschal should be celebrated on a Sunday, the Sunday after the Jewish Passover. Since Christ had in His person fulfilled the Jewish Passover, the Christian Paschal should be celebrated on the same day on which the Jews celebrated theirs; and this could fall on any day of the week. The date of Passover in the Jewish calendar is the 14th day of the month of Nisan; Christians who celebrated their Passover on this date were referred to as Quartodecimans. It was not until 325 A.D. that the disagreement was finally settled. Henceforth, Easter was always to be celebrated on a Sunday. But on which Sunday? The majority of Christians were Gentiles, living not by the Jewish Calendar (which is Lunar), but by the Solar Calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. Called the Julian Calendar, and very much like our own, it had become the accepted calendar for the entire Western World except for the Jews. Faced with two conflicting calendars as Christians endeavored to settle on a date for Easter, turned to the Egyptian experts; and they by a calculation based on both the Lunar and Solar year, worked out the formulas still used: in any year, Easter will be the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, March 21. Thus Easter can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25; for many centuries it was the same day for all of Christendom. In 1582; however, the Julian calendar was found to be slightly out of line. It was then that the use of a new calendar, called the Gregorian calendar, was used to correct the discrepancies. This is the one most of the world uses today.

As to which is correct to celebrate, I would say that the Passover is fulfilled through the sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross, and that we should celebrate His victorious resurrection on Easter. I suppose to celebrate both would be alright. Though I would disagree with a Christian who would literally perform the Passover ceremony (the slaying and eating of a lamb, bitter herbs,ect...) Only because these things have been fulfilled in what Jesus did on the Cross. But to set aside that specific day to commemorate Christ's sacrifice would not be (in my opinion) a problem.

Bob, please let me know if this helps, and if you have any further questions.
God Bless, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Elder Greg Madden
http://www.forministry.com/USOKPENTEMMM1