How to calculate the date of Easter using the Holy Bible:
If a person were to read the Holy Bible then he/she would know that the crucifixion of Jesus happened at the time of the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread because Jesus wanted to celebrate the Passover at the Last Supper with his disciples before he was delivered up as the lamb to be crucified.
Luke 22:15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
OK so when is the Passover?
The Old Testament says to get a Passover lamb on the tenth of the first month;
Ex 12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, in the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house.
Now notice in the New Testament that Jesus decides to come to Jerusalem as the Passover Lamb on the tenth of the first month. Jesus was in Bethany six days before the Passover
Lev 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’s Passover.
John 12:1 Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
On the next day, Jesus went to Jerusalem.
John 12:12 On the next day much people were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
So if you count the 14th as the first day then count back 6 days (14,13,12,11,10,9) you end up at the 9th which was when Jesus was in Bethany. Then the day after is the 10th when Jesus came to Jerusalem as the Passover Lamb and is why the New Jerusalem Calendar has Palm Tuesday on the tenth of the first month.
Ok so when is the first month? It all depends on what calendar you are using. If you use the Gregorian calendar then the first month is January. If you are using a lunar calendar the first month could be called Aviv or Nisan. Since we are using the New Jerusalem Calendar here, the first month is called March.
Why is the first month called March on the New Jerusalem Calendar?
Matthew 22:21 they say unto him Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
Society at the time of Jesus was using the Julian calendar installed by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. July is named after Julius Caesar and August after Augustus Caesar. The Gregorian calendar didn’t come around until 1582 AD. Before the Julian calendar was the Roman calendar of the ancient Roman Empire which had March as the first month and September was the seventh month. Sept means seven so it makes sense. So the reason we use the Roman names for the months and days of the week on the New Jerusalem calendar is because we are giving Caesar what is Caesar’s and God what is God’s.
You can see how things developed over time at the
Calendar Evolution pages.
OK so now we have the Passover in the first month on Saturday, March 14 on the New Jerusalem Calendar by using the Holy Bible. So in order to find the date of Easter Resurrection Day we need to know when Jesus was crucified. We can use God’s Holy Days to figure it out. The Pharisees didn’t want to crucify Jesus on Passover night.
Mark 14:2 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.
So the Pharisees let Jesus have the Last Supper for the Passover with his disciples, then they took him away early the next morning on Sunday, March 15 which is the first of God’s 7 Holy Days:
Lev 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD; seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
So March 15 is the first Holy Day of God and that is when they took Jesus away to be put on trial during the feast of unleavened bread week. Also it is the same day that Israel departed from Egypt in the Old Testament.
Note: Unleavened bread is sincerity and truth, so just try to be sincere and truthful. You don’t have to eat physical unleavened bread.
1 Cor 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
OK so the Pharisees had Jesus on trial during the week and the people crucified Jesus on Good Friday, March 20 which was the preparation day before the high day Sabbath on Saturday, March 21 which is the second of God’s 7 Holy Days (it is a high day Sabbath because it falls on one of the 7 Holy Days of God)
John 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken , and that they might be taken away.
Here is the verse showing when the second of God’s 7 Holy Days is:
Lev 23:8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work therein.
Since the first day of the feast of unleavened bread is the 15th then the seventh day is the 21rst. The seventh day of the feast of unleavened bread holy convocation is the second Holy Day of God and the high day sabbath that they are talking about in the previous verse.
So Good Friday, March 20 was the preparation day when they took Jesus off of the cross.
Then Jesus was in the tomb on the high holy day Sabbath on Saturday, March 21 which is the second of God’s 7 Holy Days.
So now here comes the date of Easter Resurrection Day which you have been waiting for.
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Heart of the earth means center of attention. Jesus was the center of attention as they crucified him on Good Friday. Then Jesus was in the tomb on Saturday and they were all wondering what was going to happen. Then Jesus rose from the tomb on the first day of the week on Sunday, March 22 Easter Resurrection Day which is also Wave Sheaf Day.
Luke 24:1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
Lev 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD
Wow! Absolutely amazing how the Old Testament and New Testament blend together to show us when Easter Resurrection Day is of the Lamb Jesus who represents the wave sheaf of spiritual food found in the Holy Bible.
So from Easter you count 40 days to Jesus Ascension Day and then 10 more days to Pentecost which is the third Holy Day of God and the birthday of the Church.
So everything I wrote about here you can see in a simple picture of the first month March here:
Here is a pdf if you want to read it here instead:
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