Easter why does it fall on different days

Resurrection and of his continued appearances to his disciples. Luke, however, introduces the story of Jesus? In his Gospel, after Jesus is raised in glory, he teaches his disciples for 40 days so they can carry on his mission.

When these days of instruction are over, he ascends to heaven to be with God the Father. When the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit 10 days later, they are ready to carry on Jesus? This mission of the early Church is described in the Acts of the Apostles.

Jesus promised his apostles that he would send them the Holy Spirit to empower them to be Jesus? The universal Church celebrates the fulfillment of this promise on the feast of Pentecost, 50 days after Easter.

Shopping Guides. United States. Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories. Makeover Takeover: Colonial Comeback. Treat Your Family to Homemade Cupcakes. Perugino's "Resurrection of Christ," Getty Images. Related Stories. From then on the matter grew increasingly complex. To establish some consistency, the early church founders wanted to keep the observance of Easter in correlation to the Jewish Passover.

Because the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ happened after Passover, they wanted Easter to always be celebrated following Passover. Because the Jewish holiday calendar is based on solar and lunar cycles, each feast day is movable, with dates shifting from year to year.

Now, from here, the explanation grows more complicated. Today in the Western Christianity world, Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the Paschal Full Moon date of the year.

Much like other religious events such as the Hindu celebration of Diwali and the Jewish festival of Rosh Hashanah , Easter is a moveable feast. The date of Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox in March. By taking into account the date of the vernal equinox which this year fell on Saturday 20 March and the next following full moon Sunday 28 March , it was therefore calculated that Easter Sunday would take place on Sunday 4 April in Those who observe the Christian festival of Easter celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after he was crucified, as outlined in the New Testament.

Easter has strong links with the Jewish festival of Passover , another moveable feast which is taking place this year between Saturday 27 March and Sunday 4 April.