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Easter 2026

April 5, 2026

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the central celebration of Christianity, and an archetype woven through every civilization on earth.

✦ The Crucifixion

The Passion of Christ

On the eve of Passover, Jesus of Nazareth was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, tried before the Sanhedrin and the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, and condemned to death by crucifixion. He was scourged, crowned with thorns, and forced to carry his cross to Golgotha, “the place of the skull.”

At the sixth hour, darkness fell over the land. At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out: “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). Then he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30), bowed his head, and died.

The temple veil was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook. Tombs broke open. A Roman centurion, watching from below, said: “Surely this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39).

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.”
, Matthew 28:6 ↗

✦ Easter Across Denominations

How Christians Celebrate

Roman Catholic

The Easter Triduum, Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper, Good Friday Liturgy of the Passion, the Easter Vigil with its Exsultet chant, blessing of the Paschal candle, and baptism of catechumens. Easter Sunday Mass completes the holiest week.

Eastern Orthodox

Pascha is the "Feast of Feasts." Orthodox Christians celebrate on a different date (following the Julian calendar). The midnight Paschal liturgy begins in total darkness; the priest announces "Christos Anesti!" (Christ is Risen), the church erupts in candlelight, and the faithful exchange red-dyed eggs.

Protestant

Sunrise services recall the women arriving at the empty tomb at dawn. Evangelical churches emphasize the personal salvation offered through Christ's death and resurrection. Many hold baptisms on Easter Sunday as a public declaration of new life.

Ethiopian Orthodox (Fasika)

After 55 days of strict fasting (no meat, dairy, or eggs), Ethiopian Christians celebrate Fasika with an all-night vigil, the slaughter of a lamb or chicken at dawn, and a feast of doro wot, injera, and tella beer. It is one of the oldest continuous Easter traditions in the world.

Coptic

Coptic Christians in Egypt observe a 55-day Great Lent. The Coptic Easter liturgy, one of the oldest in Christendom, includes the chanting of ancient hymns in Coptic and Arabic, the ritual lighting of candles, and communal feasting after midnight.

✦ Jesus Across Traditions

How Other Faiths See Him

☪️ Islam, Isa ibn Maryam

Jesus (Isa) is one of the greatest prophets in Islam, born of the Virgin Mary (Maryam), performer of miracles by God's permission, and the Messiah (al-Masih). However, the Quran holds that Jesus was not crucified but was raised up by God: “They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them” (Quran 4:157). Muslims believe Jesus will return before the Day of Judgment.

Read the Quran →

✡️ Judaism, Yeshu / A Historical Figure

Judaism does not accept Jesus as the Messiah or as divine. The Jewish expectation of the Messiah involves a human leader who will rebuild the Temple, gather the exiles, and usher in an age of peace, criteria Jesus did not fulfill in his lifetime. Jesus is acknowledged as a Jewish teacher who lived in first-century Judea, but his crucifixion and resurrection hold no theological significance in Jewish tradition. The timing of Easter alongside Passover reflects their shared historical roots in the Exodus narrative.

Read the Torah →

🕉️ Hinduism, An Avatar, a Yogi, a Guru

Many Hindu thinkers have embraced Jesus as a great spiritual teacher. Swami Vivekananda called him “a great Yogi.” Mahatma Gandhi said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.” Some Hindus see Jesus as an avatar, a divine incarnation comparable to Krishna or Rama. The resurrection parallels the Hindu concept of the deathless Atman (soul) and the cyclical nature of existence: death is not an ending but a transformation.

Read the Bhagavad Gita →

✦ The Eternal Pattern

Death & Resurrection in World Myth

The pattern of a divine figure who dies and returns is one of the oldest archetypes in human civilization. Whether these parallels reflect shared psychological truth, cultural diffusion, or something deeper, they reveal how every civilization has grappled with the mystery of death and renewal.

🇪🇬 Osiris (Egypt)

Osiris, king of Egypt, was murdered and dismembered by his brother Set. His wife Isis gathered his scattered body, reassembled it, and breathed life back into him. Osiris became lord of the afterlife, the first being to conquer death. Every pharaoh was believed to become Osiris upon death, promising resurrection to all who lived justly. The parallels to Christ's death, reassembly of the body, and lordship over the afterlife are among the oldest in comparative religion.

🇬🇷 Persephone (Greece)

Persephone was abducted by Hades into the underworld. Her mother Demeter, goddess of the harvest, plunged the world into winter in grief. Zeus brokered a compromise: Persephone would spend half the year below and half above. Her annual return brings spring, a literal resurrection of the earth. The Eleusinian Mysteries, the most sacred rites in ancient Greece, enacted this death-and-return as a promise of life after death for initiates.

🇮🇶 Inanna / Ishtar (Sumeria)

The oldest recorded descent myth. Inanna, Queen of Heaven, descended to the underworld to confront her sister Ereshkigal, was killed, and hung on a hook for three days. She was revived by divine intervention and ascended back to the world of the living. This 4,000-year-old Sumerian text, predating the Gospels by millennia, contains the three-day death, the descent to the realm of the dead, and the triumphant return.

🌿 Dumuzi / Tammuz (Mesopotamia)

Dumuzi, the shepherd-king and consort of Inanna, was sent to the underworld as her substitute. His sister Geshtinanna volunteered to share his sentence, each spending half the year in the land of the dead. His annual death and return was mourned and celebrated throughout the ancient Near East. The prophet Ezekiel (8:14) describes women “weeping for Tammuz” at the gates of the Temple in Jerusalem.

🌾 Attis (Phrygia) & Adonis (Phoenicia)

Attis, consort of the Great Mother Cybele, died and was reborn each spring, celebrated in Rome with the “Day of Blood” (March 24) and the “Hilaria” festival of joy (March 25). Adonis, beloved of Aphrodite, was killed by a boar and resurrected annually, with red anemone flowers springing from his blood. Both cults were active in the Roman world during the earliest centuries of Christianity.

✦ Holy Week 2026

The Road to Easter

March 29

Palm Sunday

Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey. Crowds wave palms: "Hosanna in the highest!"

April 2

Maundy Thursday

The Last Supper. Jesus washes the disciples' feet and institutes the Eucharist.

April 3

Good Friday

The crucifixion and death of Jesus at Golgotha. "It is finished."

April 4

Holy Saturday

The silence. Jesus lies in the tomb. The Harrowing of Hell in Eastern tradition.

April 5

Easter Sunday

The Resurrection. The tomb is empty. "He is not here; he has risen."