Why Do We Celebrate Easter

Easter Commemorates the Resurrection

Easter is the annual Christian observance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. The resurrection is described in all four Gospels:

• Matthew 28:5–6 — "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said."
• Mark 16:6 — "He is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him."
• Luke 24:6 — "He is not here, but is risen."
• John 20:14–18 — Mary Magdalene's encounter with the risen Christ.

The Apostle Paul treats the resurrection as the load-bearing claim of the Christian faith: "if Christ be not risen, then [is] our preaching vain, and your faith [is] also vain" (1 Corinthians 15:14).

The Name "Easter"

In most languages, the holiday's name derives from Pascha — Greek Pascha (Πάσχα, G3957), from Hebrew Pesach (פֶּסַח, H6453), meaning "Passover." This is because the resurrection occurred during Passover week (Matthew 26:2). The French Pâques, Italian Pasqua, Spanish Pascua, and Russian Paskha all preserve this root.

The English word "Easter" (and German Ostern) comes from a different line. The eighth-century English monk Bede, in De Temporum Ratione, wrote that the month Anglo-Saxons called Ēosturmōnaþ was named after a goddess Ēostre. Modern scholars are divided: some accept Bede's explanation, others argue the word simply derives from the proto-Germanic root for "east" or "dawn" — pointing to the direction of sunrise on resurrection morning.

The Date

Easter's date is calculated relative to the Jewish Passover, because the Gospel accounts anchor the crucifixion to Passover week. The First Council of Nicaea (AD 325) established the formula still used today in Western Christianity: the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox. Eastern Orthodox churches use a similar formula but calculate it on the Julian calendar, producing a different date in most years.

Biblical Foundation for the Timing

The Gospels are explicit that Jesus rose on the first day of the week:

Matthew 28:1 — "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre."

Sunday ("the Lord's Day," Revelation 1:10) became the primary Christian gathering day for this reason. Easter is thus both a specific annual celebration and the reason every Sunday was, from the first century onward, treated as a weekly commemoration of the resurrection.

What the Biblical Text Says — and Does Not Say

Scripture does not prescribe an annual resurrection feast. The New Testament records only the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23–26) as a commanded ongoing observance. Easter as a yearly liturgical feast developed in the second century. Some Christian groups therefore observe every Sunday as the celebration of the resurrection and hold no special Easter service; others maintain Easter as the principal feast of the Christian calendar. Both practices trace to the same underlying event: the empty tomb.