Question:

Do Good Friday, Easter Sunday represent the actual date that Jesus was
crucified. and what is the significance of Church on Sunday?

Answer:

Jesus was crucified on a Friday; on the eve of the Passover. He was
raised on the day after the Passover, which was a Sunday. The early
church began to commemorate this by perhaps as early as the second century
AD. By the third century, the celebration of what we now call Easter
became common in most of the churches. Therefore, the answer to your
question is yes, these holidays fall on the actual dates of the events.
You should be aware that the date of Easter moves around on the Gregorian
calendar (the one we use) because the Jews use a lunar calendar. This
calendar is based on the timing of the new moons, so the dates on our
calendar changes from year to year. This is why Easter falls anywhere
from late March to late April. There is some debate about the correct
date for celebrating Easter. There was considerable debate about this in
the first few centuries. The Western (Roman) churches celebrate Easter on
a different date from the Eastern (Orthodox) churches. It would be fair
to say that the argument is over a disputable matter which is not
important in the big scheme of things.

The celebration of Good Friday and of Easter is not commanded or even
suggested in the Bible. Some would argue that these are therefore not
“Christian” holidays. Whether it is a good idea or not to celebrate
Easter as a Christian holiday is debatable. This is something for the
individual to decide.

As for the church meeting on Sundays, this tradition goes all the way back
to the time of the apostles. The Bible does not command that Christians
meet specifically on Sunday, but it is worth noting that this is exactly
what the churches established by the apostles did. Some would say that
this example is binding on all Christians for this reason. This may be
going a bit too far, but for the churches to follow the example of the
apostles seems like a really good idea to me. The early church called
Sunday “The Lord’s Day.” (Revelation 1:10). The Lord’s Day fell on the
day after the Jewish Sabbath, prompting the early church to call Sunday
the eighth day. Another example of the church celebrating together and
specifically sharing the Lord’s Supper on Sunday is found in Acts 20:7.
Whether the example of the church having its main worship on Sunday is
binding or not is a matter of opinion.

In conclusion, we know that Sunday worship was the practice of the
churches established by the apostles everywhere they went. The history of
Easter does not go back to apostolic times, making the holiday a bit more
debatable as a Christian holiday, but it is in fact celebrated on the
correct Jewish date.

John Oakes