People all over the world commemorate particular days as a part of their culture or religion. One such day is Good Friday for Christians, and Passover is an important day for Jews.
Key Takeaways
- Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus, while Passover is a Jewish holiday celebrating the liberation of Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
- Good Friday is observed before Easter Sunday, while Passover is observed for seven or eight days in the spring.
- Good Friday is marked by fasting and solemnity, while a traditional Seder meal and the retelling of the Exodus story mark Passover.
Good Friday vs Passover
Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday and a Christian holiday commemorating Jesus’s crucifixion and his death at Calvary. Passover is a celebration that is observed by the Jews and celebrates the freedom from the slavery of the Israelites when they left ancient Egypt.
Good Friday is a sorrowful day, people observe it by fasting and prayers, and almsgiving. Lent days are observed for 40 days by the Christians that, start from Ash Wednesday.
Good Friday is the end of the Lent days that will be followed by Holy Saturday and Resurrected Sunday.
Food plays a significant part in Passover. Jews observe this ceremony by eating unleavened bread for seven days.
Jesus Christ celebrated his final Passover Seder with his disciples, which is commonly known as Maundy Thursday all over the world.
According to the Jewish calendar, Passover is fixed on the 15th of the month Nissan.
Comparison Table
| Parameter of comparison | Good Friday | Passover |
|---|---|---|
| Observed by | Good Friday is observed by Christians | Passover is observed by Jews |
| Celebration | Celebration of the passion of the lord | Passover Seder |
| Significance | Commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ Passover Seder | Celebrates the freedom from the slavery of the Israelites from ancient Egypt. |
| Date | The Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday | Nissan 15 (according to Hebrew calendar) |
| Type | Religious and Cultural | Religious |
What is Good Friday?
Good Friday is observed to mourn and to keep fast. The congregation will remember the sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ on Good Friday.
Since it is the day of grief, decorations in alters would be removed, and the priest will wear a black robe and even the church organs will not be played.
Although it is a sorrowful day, it is considered to be holy. That is the reason behind the name Good Friday.
The service will take place from noon to 3 pm. Elucidating the seven words that Jesus Christ said on the cross before his death will be given chief prominence in the Good Friday sermon.
Christians all over the world believe that the heavenly father sent Jesus to this world.
He was born as a human to die for this world’s sins, cleanse humans, and redeem them from their transgressions.
On the day of the crucifixion, he was betrayed by one of his disciples named Judas Iscariot. He just received thirty pieces of silver to stab Jesus in his back.
Judas used a kiss as a weapon to indicate Jesus to the soldiers in the garden of Gethsemane. He was then captivated by the Romans and went through excruciating pain, and buried.
He was resurrected on the third day of his death, celebrated gloriously worldwide as Easter Sunday.
What is Passover?
Passover is a major holiday commemorating the Israelites’ emancipation from slavery. The Passover Seder observes this occasion.
In Passover Seder, family members of multiple generations come to dine together. Though it’s a joyous moment, they have restrictions on diet.
Haggadah is also a part of the Passover Seder. The dinner served in Passover will be quite different from other family dinners.
The seder meal consists of unleavened bread which is known as Matza shank bone, and bitter herbs. Four cups of wine is will be drunk at a certain interval of time.
At the second cup of wine, the youngest child will be encouraged to ask questions about the rituals that the other family members would explicate.
In the third cup of wine, they express their gratitude to god. In the fourth cup, they acknowledge god’s love.
The final cup of wine is not drunk, but it is to honor Elija. It is believed that the spirit of Elijah would visit them during the Passover Seder.
Haggadah is the book read during Sedar that tells the story of Passover, explains the ritual and history, and it describes the ten plagues.
The story behind the Passover goes like this, Moses was sent to deliver the Israelites from the King Pharaoh, who enslaved them in Egypt.
Moses visited the Pharaoh and asked him to free the Jews, but he denied him every time.
God punished the people of Egypt by sending plagues like boils, water turning to blood, hail, locusts, darkness, lice, cattle disease, etc.
But Pharaoh was not merciful enough to librate Israelites, which eventually led to a grievous plague of killing all the firstborns by the angel of death.
To fend off the firstborn of Israelites from killing by the angel, they marked their doors with lamp’s blood. So the angel of death will Passover them.
The name Passover comes from this, which means Pesach in Hebrew.
Main Differences Between Good Friday and Passover
- The major themes of Passover are springtime, family, social justice, and freedom. Cross is the central theme of worship on Good Friday.
- Jews observe Passover for seven days, from the 14th day of the month evening till the 21st day of the month at evening that, starts from 15 Nissan to 21 Nissan some diasporic communities celebrate Passover till 22 Nissan. Christians commemorate Good Friday for one day, followed by Easter on the third day of Good Friday.
- Passover is related to Shavuot (festival of weeks ), which follows 49 days from the second night of Passover. Good Friday is related to the feast of the exaltation of the holy cross. This feast focuses on the grace and benefit of the cross.
- Passover over is celebrated according to the book of Exodus from the Old Testament. Good Friday is observed to remember the sacrifice of Christ, which is mentioned in the Bible’s New Testament.
- The major difference between Passover and Good Friday is that Passover is a cheerful event, but Good Friday is a grieving moment.
- https://www.advocatehealth.com/assets/documents/connections/luth-aprilmay2012.pdf
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07321870903459132
Last Updated : 13 July, 2023
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Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.
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