It seems odd, doesn’t it, that a Gentile church, 30 years after the ascension of Christ, was observing the Passover and the seven days of unleavened bread that follow it? And just as odd that there is not a single mention of Easter in the early church. Well, if that seems strange, consider this. The vast majority of the Christian world still observes the Passover—in their own way.

The word for the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus in Latin, Spanish, Italian, and all the Romance languages is Pascha. And Pascha is the Greek and Latin word for Passover. This is the word that is usually translated Easter. So in Latin or Spanish, resurrection Sunday is not called Easter. It is called Passover.

Now, why is that? And what is the connection of the Jewish Passover to Christianity? Well, the connection comes straight out of the ministry of Jesus Christ. If we turn to Matthew 26, we’ll find an interesting passage in here about the last supper of Jesus that many Christian-professing people don’t really understand.