Today is Palm Sunday, which, for this year, follows the first night of Passover. Thus begins the most sacred times on both the Jewish and Christian calendar. Generally, these holy times overlap, with Passover beginning on the fifteenth of Nissan, the first night of the full moon, and Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal or spring equinox.
For Orthodox Christians, Easter is celebrated on the Sunday following the end of Passover. In 2025, Passover is celebrated from the night of April 12 to the night of April 20.
According to the Bible and other historical records, Passover occurred because God gave Moses a command to lead the Jews, who Pharaoh held as slaves, out of Egypt and led them to a Promised Land, far beyond the Red Sea and the Sinai, while the Angel of Death "passed over" Pharaoh and his followers, spreading plague to the Egyptians’ first-born children, as Moses saves the Jews. The story is told in the Book of Exodus.
During the journey to Israel, Moses receives the Ten Commandments, which serve as a foundational moral and ethical code for both Judaism and later, Christianity.
Palm Sunday marks the triumphant return of Jesus to Jerusalem, after serving forty days in the desert, in prayer and penance, in the days just before He would celebrate Passover with His disciples. His followers waved and laid palms in his path as he rode in on a donkey.
In the Book of Matthew, Jesus’ final days are documented as He goes from hero, celebrating Passover on Thursday before he is arrested, to criminal, finally placed on trial and then dying, after the crowd calls for Pontius Pilate to crucify Him. Christians believe He was buried on Good Friday, before the beginning of Passover, and rose from death on Easter.
There are many modern cinematic stories, including The Ten Commandments and Jesus Christ, Superstar which detail both these events.
There is a movement in the United States called Messianic Judaism-Evangelical Christianity which combines Jewish and Christian theology and discusses both religions as one.
Notably, Rabbi Pastor Jonathon Cahn, author of the book, The Harbinger, is a well-known leader and preacher of this movement. He recognizes that both religions together provide invaluable life lessons for all people. And his book discusses the similarities of ancient Israel and the modern United States.
So, for the next several weeks, we should celebrate what the Passover and Easter seasons teach: to remind us of the wrongs we have done to others, to forgive those who have wronged us, and to endeavor to correct those wrongs, to heal our relationships, and to live in peace, harmony and love with our neighbors. To love one another as we wish to be loved by others.
May the Peace of Passover and Easter be with you the whole year.
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