Official Easter v. Passover Easter

Easter and Passover ... shouldn't they be the same weekend?  The entire Bible story of Jesus' death and resurrection revolves around the Jewish celebration in Jerusalem some 2000 years.

This coming weekend is the Jewish Passover weekend ... only we already celebrated our Easter holiday several weeks ago.  I was wondering why Easter was so far away from Passover this year.  Of course, a simple "google" on my keyboard and I have my answer.  (I'm not legalistic on the dates for holidays like this ... but I was curious about the date difference and I'm always looking to celebrate things ... especially the gift of Jesus and His resurrection.)

Since Easter is such an long-celebrated Christian holiday, the dates for Easter have always been determined by the moon's phases rather than the calendar and the dates for Passover.  The fact that the moon was full for Easter Sunday allowed early Christians to travel to various places for worship ... with longer travel windows due to the light from the full moon.

Our Easter holiday occurs each year on the Sunday following the first full moon of spring.  This year it was a very early Easter ... one of the earliest that we will see for many years to come.

Now, here's a thought ... we can celebrate Christ's resurrection again this Sunday with our family.  Now that we no longer need the moon for light to make our pilgrimage to the temple or to the closest village gathering of Christians, we can celebrate it on the actual weekend of Passover.  

We might have to celebrate in some other way than chocolate bunnies and marshmallow peeps.  Those have all disappeared until next year ... except that the kids probably have some chocolate bunny remnants under their beds or tucked in a drawer for safe keeping.  They've forgotten about it ... but our ant friends will probably find them before too long!  :)

I think that I might rent "The Passion of the Christ" and watch it again.  I haven't seen it in a long time and it's a very powerful reminder of the story of sacrifice and loss that ends with victory and joy.