The Christian calendar is coming up to Easter soon (and it is in Lent). One of the questions that often arises is, why do the Eastern and Western Churches often have Easter on different dates? And why doesn't Easter always take place at the same time as Passover?
The answers to these great questions are addressed by N. S. Gill on her Ancient History blog, with a brief explanation here, which is followed up by a fuller explanation here.
Thanks to Ms Gill for her help with this!
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why is passover in three weeks? Was it not passover that Jesus and the deciples were celabrating at the last supper? I am really confused by this
I believe the the differences have to do with the way in which the Christian calendar was eventually built, so that Easter was not correlated to the Passover season, but to how the months and lunar calendar aligned.
Here is a short form of the explanation:
The Nicene Council (ended August 25, 325 A.D.) decreed Easter to be the first Sunday after the full moon following the Spring Equinox, March 21, unless that full moon fell on a Sunday (in which case Easter would be the following Sunday). In 2008, Easter is March 23.
Clicking on the links in the blog above by Bob Webb will get you to more detail.
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