Why Easter’s Date Changes
It seems like Easter is never on the same Sunday.
In some years it’s in March and in others it’s in April.
There’s a reason for that.
Not long after Christ died there was disagreement among Christians about when Easter should be celebrated.
Because the original Crucifixion had happened at Passover, many people felt it should be held close to that.
Others felt it wasn’t right to tie a Christian holiday (Easter) to a Jewish one (Passover).
After a lot of arguing the decision was made by the First Council of Nicene to use a set standard to calculate Easter each year.
The standard is that Easter is held on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox.
This is very similar to how Passover is calculated.
Passover typically begins on the evening of the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.
There is one big difference, though.