Easter or Passover? What Your Bible Actually Commands

Every spring across Jamaica, families head to Good Friday church service, share Easter bun and cheese with loved ones, fly kites on Easter Monday, and flock to the beach and river for the long weekend. It is one of the most beloved seasons in Caribbean culture. But ask yourself honestly — where in the Bible is any of this commanded? Where does Jesus say "celebrate Easter"? The answer might shake what you thought you knew.

Let's Start With a Simple Question

Open your Bible to the New Testament. Search for the word Easter. In most modern translations — the NIV, the ESV, the NKJV — you will not find it at all. In the older King James Version, the word "Easter" appears exactly once, in Acts 12:4, but scholars widely acknowledge this is a mistranslation of the Greek word pascha — which simply means Passover. Every other time pascha appears in the New Testament — over 28 times — it is correctly translated as Passover.

So the Bible contains exactly zero commands to celebrate Easter. But it does contain very clear commands to observe the Passover.

What Did Jesus Actually Observe?

On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus gathered His disciples for what He called the Passover. He had looked forward to it with deep desire:

He then took the bread and the cup and instructed His disciples to observe this memorial in remembrance of Him. This was not a new tradition He invented — it was the ancient Passover of God, now transformed and given its fullest meaning through His own sacrifice as the Lamb of God.

After Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead — what did His apostles do? They kept the Passover. The Apostle Paul, writing to Gentile believers in Corinth decades after the crucifixion, taught them exactly how to observe it and why:

No mention of Easter Sunday. No mention of Easter eggs, hot cross buns, or sunrise services. The early Church — Jews and Gentiles together — observed the Passover on the 14th of Nisan, the exact date God commanded in Leviticus 23:5, the exact night Jesus was betrayed.

Where Did Easter Actually Come From?

This is the part that most Christians have never been told. The word "Easter" does not come from any Hebrew or Greek biblical term. The English word derives from Eostre (also spelled Ostara) — a pagan goddess of spring worshipped by the ancient Anglo-Saxons of Northern Europe. The great English historian the Venerable Bede documented this in the 8th century, noting that the fourth month of the Anglo-Saxon calendar was named after this goddess and that pre-Christian festivals in her honour were held at that time of year.

The symbols of Easter are equally revealing. Eggs and rabbits are ancient symbols of fertility — not of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Hot cross buns were baked as offerings to pagan gods centuries before Christianity arrived in Europe. The sunrise service traces directly back to ancient sun worship — facing east to greet the rising sun, a practice God Himself condemned in Ezekiel 8:16.

The Quartodeciman Controversy — The Battle Over Passover

Few Christians today know that one of the greatest controversies of the early Church was over this very question — Passover or Easter? It came to a head in the second century in what historians call the Quartodeciman controversy ("Quartodeciman" simply means "fourteenth" in Latin — referring to the 14th of Nisan, the date of the Passover).

The Eastern congregations of Asia Minor — the ones most directly connected to the original apostles — firmly maintained the Passover on the 14th of Nisan. Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna who was personally taught by the Apostle John, travelled to Rome to defend this practice. He argued that he had received the Passover observance from John himself, who received it from Jesus. The Roman church, under its bishop Anicetus, had already shifted toward Easter Sunday.

Neither side yielded, and they parted peacefully — for a time. But as the power of Rome grew and the Roman Empire became increasingly entangled with Church affairs, the pressure to abandon the biblical Passover intensified. The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, convened under the Roman Emperor Constantine — a former sun worshipper — formally ruled against the Passover and in favour of Easter Sunday. From that point on, keeping the Passover became officially prohibited.

Think about what that means. The observance that Jesus Himself kept, that Paul taught to Gentile Christians, that the apostle John practiced and taught — was outlawed by a Roman emperor. And Easter, with its pagan roots, took its place.

Passover vs Easter — Side by Side

But Doesn't Easter Celebrate the Resurrection?

This is the response most people give — and it is understandable. Most Jamaicans who celebrate Easter are genuinely honouring the resurrection of Jesus, and God knows the heart. But sincerity does not make a practice biblical. And the Bible actually has something very specific to say about mixing pagan customs with the worship of God:

Jesus spoke these words to religious people who were sincere in their devotion but had replaced God's commands with human tradition. The question is not whether we mean well — of course we do. The question is whether we are willing to follow what God actually commanded rather than what tradition has handed down to us.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most glorious event in human history. It absolutely deserves to be celebrated and proclaimed. But God gave us His own calendar — His own holy days — to celebrate it. The Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and the fall holy days together tell the complete story of Christ's sacrifice, resurrection, and the plan of salvation in a way that Easter, with its borrowed pagan imagery, never can.

What Should a Jamaican Christian Do?

We are not here to condemn anyone. Most of us were raised keeping Easter, and our families taught us with love. But when the Bible clearly shows us a different path — the path that Jesus Himself walked — the loving thing to do is share it.

The Church of God International Jamaica observes the New Testament Passover each year on the 14th of Nisan — the exact day Jesus was betrayed and crucified. The service includes the foot washing Jesus demonstrated, the unleavened bread representing His body, and the cup representing His blood and the New Covenant. It is a solemn, meaningful, and deeply moving observance — rooted not in tradition, but in the Word of God.

We invite you to come and experience it for yourself. No eggs. No bunny. Just the Bible, the Passover, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ — exactly as He commanded.