Easter and Passover are similar in that both are celebrated by Christians, both use the symbol of a slain lamb to prevent God's wrath, and both dates are determined by a lunisolar cycle (i.e. both dates are movable on the Gregorian Calendar).

The Passover is predominately celebrated by Jews but some Christians celebrate it as a foretelling of their messiah Christs' sacrificial death. The Jews celebrate it as the historic salvation of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt according to the account in Exodus. This story tells of a leader named Moses who warns the Pharaoh to let the Hebrew people leave Egypt and travel to the land of Canaan, which was the land promised to Abraham by God. Moses tells of ten plagues that will strike Egypt if his people were not let released; the final one being the death of all the first born children in Egypt. Even after nine plagues the Pharaoh refuses to let the people go so God instructs the Hebrew people to kill a firstborn lamb, spread the blood of the lamb on exterior frame of the door, and eat the meat of the lamb at dinner with unleavened bread. God told Moses that "the angel of the Lord" was going to go through the city, passing over the homes with blood on the outside but enter the homes that did not and slay the first born children. Pharaoh finally releases the Hebrew people only after the death of his own son. Moses and the Israelites pack up and move out.

Christians take this symbolism from John the Baptist's statements recorded in the book of John (New Testament) about Jesus, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" This symbolism was built upon by the apostles in the early church; Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:7 "...For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed." Christians believe that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice because His once and for all death cover the sins of those who trust in Him, they are like doors with the blood of Christ covering them. They reason His death was powerful enough to take away all sin because he was flawless, as it says in 1 Peter 1:17-18 "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." And in the book of Revelation Jesus Christ is the slain Lamb seated at the right hand of God.

Jesus had the Passover meal with his followers and late that night in the Garden of Gethsemane was betrayed by Judas. Thus, the timing of the two holidays are close, occurring anywhere from late March to mid-April. Easter is always on a Sunday but Passover is usually during the week.

As discussed above, Easter is a Christian celebration of the resurrection of their Savior Jesus, while Passover is the celebration of a historical salvation of God's people, the Israelites, by both Jews and Christians. So the differences include the object of celebration, one being a resurrection and the other emancipation.

Easter and Passover are different in that Easter is more commercialized than Passover. The Easter Bunny has secularized the Christian celebration to the point that many non-Christians buy a lot of candy, and chocolate and have easter egg hunts without an the celebration of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Passover lasts for seven days but Easter only one day. Passover also is different in that it has very specific ritualistic elements that most Jews celebrating follow. For example the Counting of the Omer which begins on the second day of Passover and is a time after evening prayers in which everyone recites special blessings and count down the days till Shavuot, which is another festival 50 days away. I won't go into all the details of all the rituals but many Jews practice some of them and some Jews practice them all strictly.

A lot of my sources are from the Bible itself, use http://www.biblegateway.com/ to find anything I referenced just type in either the verse reference, the words that I quoted or the book Exodus in the search bar.

These are the similarities between Easter and Passover:

1. Both holidays fall in Spring

2. Both deal with rebirth and renewal.
Easter: celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ; deals with theme of rebirth
Passover: commemorates the Jews' gaining their freedom from Egyptian slavery; in a way the rebirth of a nation who now has freedom to celebrate and observe as they choose

3. Both use an agg as a symbol which symbolizes rebirth
Easter: easter egg is one of the common symbols associated with easter
Passover: an egg is observed on the Seder Plate that contains the ritual items

One of the similarities between Easter and Passover, is that both are celebrated at the earliest onset of Spring. Another noted similarities is that, both religious festivals conveys a message of HOPE, that is the Passover speaks of deliverance from the slavery of Egypt whereas Easter conveys deliverance from the wages of Sin which is Death through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

With regards to differences, it was noted that Passover speaks of birth of a nation founded on good while Easter, speaks of individual salvation through eternal life.

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"Passover reflects a worldview that devalues life after death and privileges the community over the individual. Easter bespeaks a religion that reverses both sets of priorities, enabling it to comfort those who had lost faith in the gods of Rome."

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