Easter 2001 Anti-Jewish

Early in church history it was decided not to let Easter coincide with the Jewish Passover. Completely unjustified, for it is of crucial significance that Jesus Christ died precisely on the day preceding the feast of Passover. This was namely the day on which the Passover lamb had to be slain. “For even our Passover lamb is sacrificed: Christ” (1 Corinthians 5:7). And when Christ then rose from the dead on the third day, this coincided with the day of the (so-called) firstfruits sheaf. I will leave aside here the wealth of symbolism that lies behind this. The point is that the most elementary events of salvation history expressly coincide with notable dates on the Hebrew calendar.

The Christian tradition, however, has unequivocally distanced itself from this by adopting entirely different calendar principles. Just before the beginning of the (dark!) Middle Ages it was decided that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday in spring, after the full moon—unless this day were to coincide with the Jewish Passover. The year 2001 is such a year. Normally, according to astronomical principles, Easter this year should have been celebrated on Sunday, April 8. But since that was precisely when the feast of Passover began, the Easter date had to be postponed by a week… Hence Easter this year is celebrated on Sunday, April 15.

This year’s Easter in particular reminds us of the anti-Jewish roots of Christendom. Of a self-willed religion that prefers to invent its own dates rather than conform to the Hebrew calendar given by God (see e.g. Leviticus 23). A great disgrace!

Delen: