When Will Christians Celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday 2018?

By Vianne Ilagan, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Christians around the world are now preparing for the annual Easter celebration. During Lent, before Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they celebrate different events to observe the season. This series of events begins with Good Friday, which falls on March 30.

Good Friday falls on different dates every year. This year, however, it will be on the second to the last day of March. Depending on traditions, Good Friday is also called Holy Friday, Great Friday, Black Friday or Easter Friday in other places. This day marks the beginning of the Easter-long weekend, which includes the Easter Monday. This year, Easter Monday is on April 2.

Christians believe that Good Friday represents the day that Jesus Christ was crucified and died on Calvary. They also commemorate this day because it represents the day that Judas betrayed the Son of God before he was sentenced to death.

Every year, Good Friday is celebrated on the Friday before Easter Sunday. There are times when it also coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover. Although nobody really knows where Good Friday got its name, experts believe that this day has been called Good Friday because of its holiness, as "good" means "holy."

The Sunday following Good Friday is the Easter Sunday, which is on April 1. This religious holiday marks the day when Jesus Christ was resurrected. Every year, this day lands between March 22 and April 25 and comes 46 days following Ash Wednesday. This year, Ash Wednesday fell on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14.

Christian bishops determined when to celebrate Easter Sunday in 325 A.D., when they agreed to commemorate this day following the first full moon after the start of spring — the vernal equinox. This Christian holiday is also one of the so-called "movable feasts" because its date changes year after year.