In the ancient church, Easter was viewed as one of the most important feasts of the Christian year. Early believers referred to the event as Pascha, a word derived from the Jewish Passover (Pesach). Passover commemorates the liberation from slavery in Egypt, which is described in the book of Exodus. In the text, the Israelites who were enslaved in Egypt marked the doorways of their homes with the blood of a lamb and shared a meal on the eve of the Exodus, their departure from Egypt. This was done as instructed by God to signal that the Spirit should “pass over” their homes and spare the firstborn of the Israelites. The event became a foundational act of remembrance within the Jewish faith, and each year, the Passover meal recalls God as one who intervenes in history to free His people and lead them into new life.

The Christians of the first Century, many of whom were originally Jews, saw the death and resurrection of Jesus within this same story of liberation. The crucifixion took place during the Passover festival in Jerusalem, and early Christian teachers interpreted this timing to hold great theological depth. In the 2nd century, Melito, the bishop of Sardis (one of the cities addressed in St. John’s Revelation (Rev. 3:1)), delivered a liturgical poem as the sermon during the Pascha celebration. In this sermon, he describes Christ as the true Paschal Lamb whose death brings salvation from sin and death.

The resurrection for the early church was seen as the completion of a new exodus, where humanity is led from the captivity of death into the life of God’s kingdom.

Because of this close relationship with Passover, early Christians debated when the feast should be celebrated. Some communities celebrated Pascha the same day as the Jewish Passover, while others insisted that it should always fall on a Sunday in order to emphasise the day of resurrection. It was decided that the celebration would unfold over several days, beginning with Palm Sunday (marking the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem), including Good Friday (commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus), and culminating in the Paschal Vigil on the night before what we today call Easter Sunday.

During this vigil, Christians would gather in darkness and remain awake in prayer and Scripture reading as they waited for the proclamation of the resurrection. Augustine of Hippo, who lived much later in the 4th century, called this vigil the “mother of all vigils.” The night itself would follow a pattern of storytelling. Scripture readings during the liturgy would trace the history of God’s saving work from creation through the exodus and the prophets before arriving at the gospel account of the empty tomb. As the readings progressed, candles were lit and the church gradually filled with light, symbolising the risen Christ as the light of the world. In this way, the Pascha celebration was experienced as the culmination of the entire biblical narrative.

The vigil has been referred to more recently as “the mystery of salvation,” in reference to the view that it is the night when the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ is enacted in the liturgy.

Another central feature of Pascha was baptism. Those preparing to join the Church were baptised during the celebration after long periods of instruction and preparation. Early Christian teachers explained baptism through the language of the resurrection: entering the water symbolised sharing in Christ’s death, and rising from it expressed participation in His new life. The Church, therefore, during this celebration would recall the resurrection of Christ while new believers were incorporated into that same resurrection life.

Pascha eventually became known as “Easter” in English-speaking regions primarily between the 7th and 8th centuries. The name change was largely attributed to William Tyndale’s English translation of the Bible in the early 1500s, in which he, in some cases, used “Easter” instead of “Passover” for the Christian holiday to distinguish it from the Jewish feast.

These early practices continue to offer the Church insight today because they encourage communities to see Easter as more than a single festive service. The movement from Palm Sunday to the solemn remembrance of Good Friday and finally to the joy of Easter morning reflects the rhythm of the Christian life itself, where suffering and hope are held together in the promise of resurrection.

The ancient practice of baptising or confirming new believers during the Easter season (which continues in many congregations today) also reminds the congregation that the resurrection is not simply remembered but shared in. In baptism, Christians are joined to Christ’s death and resurrection, receiving a new identity grounded not in their own spiritual strength but in the gift God gives. The joy of Easter, therefore, also grows from the assurance that forgiveness and new life come as grace rather than as something that must be earned.

Through these traditions, the Church remains connected to the same story that shaped the earliest Christian communities. Easter proclaims that the resurrection of Christ marks the beginning of a new creation, and that the life of believers unfolds within that reality. Remembering how the early Church celebrated this feast helps Christians recognise that their faith stands within a long and living history.

In light of this, one could say that what emerges from Easter is the confidence that Christ’s victory over death continues to hold the Church the same way that it did in the past, and that it continues to free believers to live with hope and generosity in the present while trusting the promise that God’s renewing work in the world is still unfolding.