The Feast of Unleavened Bread: A Christian Holy Day

What is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and what does it have to do with Christianity? One of the first mentions of Unleavened Bread is in connection with the Feast of Passover: “Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs” (Exodus 12:7-8). In verse 15, we are told that the Israelites were to eat bread “for seven days”, with the reason being “You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance” (verse 17).

In the New Testament, Paul makes the connection between Leaven and sin, highlighting the necessity of purging out leaven (or sin) from our lives: “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8). Interestingly enough, Paul not only makes the connection between Jesus as “our Passover”, but also encourages the Church of Corinth (a church largely Gentile in nature [1]) to “celebrate the feast“. Unfortunately, a great deal of Christianity largely ignores the Feast of Unleavened Bread, either ‘spiritualising’ the call to “let us celebrate the feast” (i.e., “I keep the feast spiritually every day”, etc.) or dismissing this command as only pertaining to that of “the Jews”. Learn more about the beauty and relevance of the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread for the follower of Jesus Christ…

Footnote:

[1] An investigation into the composition of the Corinthian church will reveal it was mostly comprised of Gentile believers. An example of this can be seen at http://christianity.about.com/od/newtestamentbooks/a/1-Corinthians.htm