WHY THE DATE?

“One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.” (Romans 14:5-6)

I’m among a lot of people that can get very confused about the date of Easter. In the “western church” (pretty much Roman Catholic and Protestant) Easter can fall anywhere from March 22 to April 25. Some years (like 2010) the “eastern church” (Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc.) celebrates Easter on the same day as the western church, but most years, we don’t. In fact, Jesus Christ was crucified and rose from the dead at Passover time. I’ve often wondered why Easter doesn’t coincide with Passover each year, but it DOESN’T. Some years, Easter and Passover are about a month apart. In 2008, Easter fell on March 23. That just plain seemed SO early! It felt like celebrating Christmas on November 29. There have, in fact, been some icy and snowy Easters in March, and there have been some very summer like Easter dates in April.

A big part of the problem is that we’re dealing with THREE calendars here: The Jewish Calendar, The Julian Calendar, and The Gregorian Calendar. In the Jewish calendar, Passover is always on the 15th day of the month of Nisan. The “eastern church” uses the Julian calendar. The “western church” uses the Gregorian calendar. (In fact, my understanding is, pretty much all of Europe and the Americas used the Julian calendar until sometime during the 1700s when the “western world” switched to the Gregorian calendar.) The date of Easter is set as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox.

I was surprised to read this week that when the Catholic Church had its “Second Vatican Council” in the early 1960s, it seriously considered changing Easter so that it would always be the 2nd Sunday of April. I believe they made that RECOMMENDATION, in fact, but so far it’s never been changed. Also, I was reading this week that the World Council of Churches recommended in 1997 that the eastern and western churches come together and somehow make sure that everybody celebrates Easter on the same day every year. That also is a RECOMMENDATION that is no more than that at this point.

I hope I haven’t bored you, but as a guy who’s often been puzzled about the issue of “WHY does the date for Easter change from year to hear?” this is a big part of why.

The important thing is really not so much the DATE, but what Easter really means. For true Christians, Easter is a very special day; possibly the most important day of the year. My friend, Debby Seler, missionary to Jamaica, wrote a GREAT blog posting about why Easter is very important to her. I encourage you to click on her blog (in the column at the right) and find that posting. It’s really good.

I’m writing this on Maundy Thursday night, and tomorrow is Good Friday. These are solemn days, but I’m reminded of the great sermon by Tony Campolo of Philadelphia, “It’s FRIDAY but SUNDAY’S COMIN’!” (I suspect if you search for that on youtube you’ll find it; it’s pretty powerful.)

May you have a Blessed Easter; and if you have never PERSONALLY received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, may this be the year that you make that decision!