I m caught in a resarch about origin of the christian pesach, passa, pasqua and easter festival, quartodecimans and western dates.
This text about the similiarities and differences of jewish and christian passa caught my eyes.
Passa und Ostern: Untersuchungen zur Osterfeier der alten Kirche
von Wolfgang Huber, 1969, Degruyter
"For the relationship between the jewish and the quartodeciman passover the following conclusions can be drawn:
[Commonalities:]
The christian passover [Pascha, Passa, German, pasqua, italian] developed from the jewish passover.
It takes place on the same day as the jewish.
Like the Jews the earliest christians also awaited in the night of passover the Parousia [Coming of the Messiah]
The jewish passover haggada/story corresponds in the reading and explanation of Exodus chapter 12.
Perhaps the usage of Psalm 118 as lession in the easter-service corresponds to the usage of the Psalm 118 at the end of the jewish Passover-meal.
Besides these commonalities theres are differences [in the early church].
Christians don't take part at the passover-meal but fast while the pessach-lamb is eaten.
While Jews ate the pesach-lamb the Christians (including christian with jewish roots) fasted, vicarious for the Jews! [because at Passover the Lord was crucified]
[compare fasting at Good friday...They didnt eat!.. after the destruction of the temple the sacrifices and eating of the lambs at pesach was given up, today Jews dont eat lambs at Passover]
The fasting began before the evening of the passover-meal and was ended after its end in the early morning by a celebration of Agape and Eucharist. Huber, 1969
But did they use symbols at all if they fasted?
The commemoration
of the death of Christ was called the pascha staurosimon or the Passover proper.
The commemoration of the resurrection was called the pascha anastasimon, and afterwards Easter
The Christian Passover naturally grew out of the Jewish Passover as the Lord’s Day grew
out of the Sabbath; the paschal lamb being regarded as a prophetic type of Christ, the Lamb of God
slain for our sins (1 Cor. 5:7, 8), and the deliverance from the bondage of Egypt as a type of the
redemption from sin. It is certainly the oldest and most important annual festival of the church, and
can be traced back to the first century, or at all events to the middle of the second, when it was
universally observed, though with a difference as to the day, and the extent of the fast connected
with it. It is based on the view that Christ crucified and risen is the centre of faith.
The Jewish
Christians would very naturally from the beginning continue to celebrate the legal passover, but in
the light of its fulfillment by the sacrifice of Christ, and would dwell chiefly on the aspect of the
crucifixion. The Gentile Christians, for whom the Jewish passover had no meaning except through
reflection from the cross, would chiefly celebrate the Lord’s resurrection as they did on every
Sunday of the week. Easter formed at first the beginning of the Christian year, as the month of
Nisan, which contained the vernal equinox (corresponding to our March or April.), began the sacred
year of the Jews.
Between the celebration of the death and the resurrection of Christ lay "the great
Sabbath," on which also the Greek church fasted by way of exception; and "the Easter vigils," which were kept, with special devotion, by the whole congregation till the break of day, and
kept the more scrupulously, as it was generally believed that the Lord’s glorious return would occur
on this night.
The feast of the resurrection, which completed the whole work of redemption, became
gradually the most prominent part of the Christian Passover, and identical with Easter. But the
crucifixion continued to be celebrated on what is called "Good Friday." The paschal feast was preceded by a season of penitence and fasting, which culminated in
"the holy week." This fasting varied in length, in different countries, from one day or forty
hours to six weeks; but after the fifth century, through the influence of Rome, it was universally fixed at forty days, with reference to the forty days’ fasting of Christ in the wilderness and the
Old Testament types of that event (the fasting of Moses and Elijah).
Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church
It would be trivial to say the easter-festival developped simply from a pagan tradition. It developped from the jewish passover.
Its part of a conspiracy theory coming from e.g. adventist side to say all church festivals like easter are pagan, after a socalled "fall of the church" about 100. AD. when apostel John died.
But the easter has its origin clearly in the jewish tradition and festivals and goes back to the first century and was originall called "The commemoration of the resurrection" "the pascha anastasimon", and afterwards Easter.
