Easter or Passover?

by Leonard V Johnson

A great many people ── especially among the English-speaking world ── do not properly understand that this world’s holiday called Easter is supposed to be the LORD’s Passover.

The LORD’s Passover (Leviticus 23:5) is just after sunset on March 31st in 2026, whereas Easter (also known as the celebration of Ishtar) is April 5th, also known as Easter Sunday. In many other languages, a version of the Greek word páscha is often used.

Yet, sadly, a great many people do not properly understand.

The Hebrew word for Passover is “Pesach.”

Notice this man-made evolution of this word “Pesach” – Passover ──

“The ancient name for Easter is ‘Pascha,’ from the Greek and Hebrew words for Passover, ‘for Christ, our paschal lamb [sic], has been sacrificed.’”

(The church season of Easter. King of Grace Lutheran Church, April 18, 2019).

AI confirms this word evolution ──

“Is the ancient name for Easter Pascha?”

Yes, Sir. Pascha is the ancient name for Easter. It’s derived from the Greek word “Pascha,” which comes from the Hebrew “Pesach,” meaning Passover.

“Well … how is that possible, because Passover and Easter are two separate celebrations?”

That’s a great question, Sir! Pascha is actually an Aramaic word based on the Hebrew Pesach, meaning Passover. Over time, this word evolved to specifically refer to Easter in many languages.

Pascha originally meant Passover. 1

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, along with His disciples, kept and celebrated “Pesach” ── Passover, which is “Pascha” in the Greek language. True Christians kept and celebrated the LORD’s Passover just after sunset as a memorial of Christ’s death. Yet, instead of keeping and celebrating a memorial for our Lord Jesus’ death, the Greco-Romans (along with the Protestants) began keeping and celebrating a resurrection holiday. My friend, the word “Pascha” has, over time, evolved into the name for Easter. The Lutherans don’t mention the word’s evolution.

“Easter” derives from an Old English term linked to spring and dawn, while “Pascha”, from the Greek and Aramaic adaptation of the Hebrew word “Pesach,” means Passover.

Centuries after changing to Sunday worship, the very name of what is supposed to be the God-ordained observance of Passover was literally changed, in some Teutonic languages, to EASTER. In a nutshell, there was a Roman Catholic integration of the Ishtar celebration into this world’s modern Eâster. Ishtar ── a Babylonian sex goddess with her name roughly pronounced the same as Eâster. Ishtar was the ‘Queen of Heaven’ who was celebrated each spring by the ancient Sumerians, the Akkadians, the Babylonians, and even the Assyrians. Various non-biblical symbols have certainly been integrated from that ancient Ishtar celebration into what is known as Eâster. Still being celebrated by the Catholics and Protestants alike!

Some argue that instead of Ishtar, this Eâster was more directly connected with a pagan-German goddess Ēostre. This pagan goddess was the ── according to linguist Guus Kroonen, the name of the PIE dawn-goddess. In southern Medieval Germany, the festival Ôstarûn similarly gave its name to the month Ôstarmânôth, and to the modern feast of Ostern (‘Easter’), suggesting that a goddess named Ôstara was also worshipped there.

Now … whether or not the name originally derived from an ancient Babylonian goddess, or a late Germanic one, or some other source ── that is all splitting hairs! The important point: “Eâster” is not biblical! Furthermore, there should be no denying that certain aspects of both the pagan goddesses have been integrated into this modern Eâster celebration.

In all seriousness ── and when my niece was six years old, she liked to say, “Seriously, Uncle Lenny!” ── let us consider the “hot cross buns” baked during this Eâster season. Do you honestly believe that early true Christians baked and ate these? Especially since the faithful kept and celebrated the LORD’s Feast of Unleavened Bread ── which is the very following day after the Passover! And the fact that God’s living word warns us regarding ‘women kneading dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven’ (Jeremiah 7:18; 44:16-29). SERIOUSLY ── Eâster Bunnies delivering to our children colored chicken eggs? The tradition of the Eâster Bunny delivering eggs dates back to ancient pagan beliefs and Germanic folklore. The rabbit's role as a symbol of fertility.

NO TRUE CHRISTIAN SHOULD PARTAKE IN ANY OF THAT ABOMINATION UNTO GOD!

“Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21) You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. 22) Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?” – 1 Corinthians 10:20-22.

So, just when is the LORD’s Passover (or Communion, or the Lord’s Supper)? Is it kept early in the morning at the rising of the sun?

No.

The early morning celebration during this time of the year was observed for Ēostre ── pagan goddess of the dawn.

Our Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples kept the Passover at the beginning of the 14th day, just after sunset, as commanded by the LORD (Exodus 12:6; John 13).

Now … some interesting history concerning the Council of Nicaea of AD 325, not all the churches agreed “that Eâster, the ‘Christian’ Passover, should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon (14 Nisan) after the vernal equinox.” 2

Of course, the true members of the Church of God did not even attend this Council of Nicaea.

During the LORD God’s ordained Passover service, we read the majority of John 6. Be sure to see my “Passover Notes” below for keeping the Passover at home with no one other than God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Sadly, most of our peoples do not appear to properly understand that our Lord Jesus Christ taught John 13-18 that very night in which He would be betrayed. Also, that much of the Book of John has to do with two holy day seasons ── the final Passover season (chapters 13-21) and the Feast of Tabernacles season (chapters 7-9).

All true Christians keep and celebrate the LORD’s Passover.

How about you? □

1 Amazon.com, 21 Mar 2026

2 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 332.