THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD

The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6-8) follows immediately after the Passover - the next step toward the fulfillent of God's master plan for mankind. During the time of Christ, this seven-day feast was sometime called the Feast of Passover because of the proximity to the Passover. The purpose of the Holy Day is to stress the importance of removing sin from our lives. It first started out when God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses. God told His people that 'Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread' - Exodus 12:5. Since being driven out of Egypt, the Israelites neither had the time nor the provisions to bake leavened bread. Although they were instructed to do so for seven days as a symbolism, God's commandment is for His people to do so as an ordinance forever (Exodus 12:17).

Many presumed that the Feast of Unleavened Bread is meant for the Israelites of Old since Christ has "nailed the commandments to the cross". But nothing is further from the truth. Christ Himself kept the feast as a child and as an adult (Matt 26:17; Luke 2:41), and so did the early church during the time of the Apostle Paul. In fact, he instructed the Corinthian church to keep  the ordinances, as I delivered them to you (1 Cor 5:6-8; 11: 1-2)

In one occasion, Christ taught His disciples about the leaven in the bread. After performing two miracles on feeding the thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread, the disciples and Christ had gone around on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, they forgot to bring bread with them. Then Jesus said to them, 'Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.' - Matt 16:6. Christ's disciples thought that He was referring to the lack of bread. But the Lord used the incident to teach them to beware of the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees (Matt 16:12)  and not the leaven in the bread per se. For many religious figures in those days appear honourable but are wolves in sheep's clothings!

The main purpose of keeping this Feast is the spiritual intent - that believers through proper understanding and God's help must expel and avoid sin. True believers must take stock of our attitude and behaviour through soul searching and reflection and seek God to help us overcome our shortcomings (2 Cor 13:5). The seven day Feast is a time for self examination and reflection to help us get back on track in our walk with God. The ancient Israelites were delivered from enslavement to Egypt and so we ought to be delivered from our enslavement to sin (Rom 6:12-18).

Not only Christ observed all the Festivals, so did the Apostle Paul whose ministry showed an importance to observance of the Holy Days in his missionary itinerary. He arranged his travel schedule to accomodate the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 20:16; 1 Cor 16:8). He told the Ephesians, 'I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem' - Acts 18:21. In Acts 20:6, it was recorded that Paul remained in Philippi to clebrate the week-long Festival of Unleavened Bread and set sail to Jerusalem after that. Paul and the other apostles taught a consistent message of Christian's obligation to observe the celebration of God's Holy Days in the footstep of Christ. It is necessary for Christians to observe them today (1 Cor 5:7-8).





 

THE PASSOVER

There are seven steps in God's Master Plan of Salvation for mankind. In Scriptures, seven denotes completeness and perfection with a total of seven vital steps to fulfilling God's Master Plan. First on the list is the Passover to be observed by all true believers for all times with an annual feast celebration. "These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover" (Leviticus 23:4-5). Passover is the first feast and it precedes the First Day of Unleavened Bread. A Holy Day is a feast day for a convocation of God's people to accompany with an offering for which no servile work is to be done.

Christ's death at the cross was the fulfillment of the first step on God's Master Plan of Salvation for mankind. Much more work needs to be done by those whom God has called - like the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom of God and equipping the saints now for greater tasks ahead when He returns to set up the kingdom of God on earth. When Christ said 'It is finished ' - John 19:30, He meant His role as the sin offering for mankind has been accomplished. He had finished His part of God's Master Plan whom the Heavenly Father had commissioned Him to do (John 17:4). But the work for those whom He had called to form the church has just then begun! His sacrificial death (and subsequent resurrection) made possible for all the other six steps to follow thereafter.

The Passover is significant because without the death of Christ - perfect and without sin - mankind has no hope of salvation. This was foreordained by God the Father before the foundation of the world - 1 Peter 1:18-20. Those who are called of God are covered by the Blood of Christ and the death penalty for their sins are done away with. The rest of mankind will have their chance of salvation when Christ returns to set up the kingdom of God on earth. During the time of Moses, who was called upon by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, the command to smear the lamb's blood on the doorposts for the angel of death to pass over the house is a forerunner of the Lamb of God (Jesus Christ) to come to take away the sin of the world.

Christ's parents kept the Passover feast and so did He, even as a Child (Luke 2:41-42). As an adult, Christ kept the Passover feast (John 2:13, 23) and also together with His disciples (Mark 14:16; Luke 22:14-16). In John 13:1-17, Christ washes the feet of His disciples, setting an ordinance for all who are called into His true church to follow -'For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you' (John 13:15). As foot washing is usually done by the lowest of servants, it is a symbol of denial of self importance and to strip oneself of pride. For whosoever is humbled shall be exalted in the life to come! The purpose is to develop the disciple to have the right attitude of humility and strength of character in the 'give way of life' through serving others.

The memorial of Christ's death is to be observed on an annual basis, as it is done in rememberance of Him (1 Cor 11:25-26). The Greek word 'pascha' in Acts 12:4 was mistranslated as 'Easter' when it was correctly translated as Passover  in 25 other instances in the New Testament. Scriptures show that Christ and His disciples observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month and so do all of His true disciples down the centuries as church history bears testament to this fact. Polycarp, the trusted disciple of the Apostle John refused to compromise on the observance of the commanded feast of God, and so do Polycarp's disciple Polycrates, all observing the rule of faith.