DELIVERANCE FROM SIN AND A NEW LIFE IN CHRIST
“And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation… The seventh day shall be a holy convocation…” (Leviticus 23: 6-8)
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is closely connected with the Passover. In the original Passover in Egypt, God commanded the Israelites to select a lamb on the tenth day of Nisan. (Nisan is the first month of the Jewish calendar and occurs in the Spring.) They were to keep this lamb until the fourteenth day of the month and sacrifice it late in the afternoon just before evening. After sacrificing it, they took some of the lamb’s blood and placed it on the doorposts and lintels of their home. They did all of this in accordance with God’s word.
That evening, the Passover Lamb was roasted over a fire and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. As they ate their Passover meals, they were not to recline, relax, or leisurely dine. Rather, they were to eat it with their belts on their waists, sandals on their feet, and staffs in their hands. They were to eat it quickly because it was the Lord’s Passover. That night, God would walk through the land of Egypt and execute judgment. All of the firstborn of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the lowliest servant in Egypt would die. Not even the firstborn of the animals would be spared. But when God saw the blood on the doors of the Israelites, He would pass over them. It is important to note that God did not pass over the Israelites just because they were sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God passed over them because He saw the blood of the Passover Lamb on the doorposts and lintels to their home!
God never wanted the Israelites to forget this day! “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.” (Exodus 13: 3) And so, God commanded Israel to celebrate a seven day festival called the Days of Unleavened Bread, from Nisan 15 to Nisan 21. The first and seventh days were holy convocations. During this festival, all leavening was removed from their homes and only unleavened bread could be eaten. While leavening represented the sin and corruption of Egypt, unleavened bread symbolized the holiness of their new lives as God’s people. And so, God commanded Israel to eat only unleavened bread during this festival in to celebrate all that God did for them when be delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh and brought them out of Egypt. “And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.’ It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.” (Exodus 13: 7-9)
The Days of Unleavened Bread are also rich in Christian meaning. John the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”! Peter referred to Jesus as a “lamb without blemish and without spot”. In the book of Revelation, Jesus is referred to as a lamb that had been slain. Finally, Paul says this in I Corinthians 5: 7: “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” Clearly, this festival looked forward to the coming of the true Passover Lamb who would be sacrificed for the sins of the world. We are “passed over” because He died in our place. It is no coincidence that Jesus was crucified on the very day that the Passover Lambs were sacrificed. In fact, as the sacrifice of the Passover Lambs began in the temple at about 3:00PM in the afternoon, Jesus said, “It is finished”. He then bowed His head and died.
Now, many suppose that Jesus died on a Friday afternoon. This belief is based in part on scriptures that records the anxiety of the Jewish authorities who wanted the legs of those crucified broken so that their “bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath”. However, we should remember that the next day, which began at sunset, was the first day of the Days of Unleavened Bread which was a “high” day. As such, it was considered a Sabbath! John makes this point very clear. “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” (John 19: 31)
For Christians the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread point to everything that is important to our faith. They teach us that Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb, that He died for us, and that we are saved from death through faith in His shed blood. They teach us about our deliverance from the bondage of sin and God’s grace, forgiveness, and love. The Days of Unleavened Bread are truly a Christian festival. Apparently, the Apostle Paul thought so when he gave the Corinthian church the following instructions: “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (I Corinthians 5: 6-8)
In celebrating the Days of Unleavened Bread, we remove leavening from our homes and eat unleavened bread. In doing this, we remember that the old, sinful “unleavened” self has been buried with Christ, so that the life of Jesus may live in us. As such, we are truly unleavened as we walk in obedience to God, growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior. After all, Jesus is the true unleavened bread who came from Heaven to give life to the world. “And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.’” (John 6: 35)
“Therefore, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you are truly unleavened. For indeed, Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast… with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (I Corinthians 5: 7-8)
Joe Weicks