Unleavened Bread

A Celebration of Our Freedom In Christ
by Lani W. Finley
 

On the fourth of July, millions of Americans celebrate their national freedom by taking part in family cook-outs and having fun playing with fireworks.  In the same way, Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are a celebration of our “Spiritual Freedom,” which has been offered mankind through the sacrifice of the Lord, Jesus Christ.   

The New Testament significance of this day is misunderstood by the majority of Christianity.  The key to understanding the true Biblical meaning of this joyful Passover season is found in a passage, which Jesus read aloud in the synagogue on the Sabbath Day. 

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.  17And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,  18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,  19To preach the acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 4:16-19). 

In this passage, Jesus explains how He will free those, who accept Him as Lord and Savior,  from the consequences of their sins and provide healing for their bodies and souls.  However, most Believers have never paid much attention to the words in the nineteenth verse “To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4: 19).  In this short verse, Jesus is making reference to a year of restoration, which He instituted in the Old Testament and is known as, “the year of Jubilee.”  This is verified by the Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary. 

[Acceptable year]-- an allusion to the Jubilee year (Lev. 25:10), a year of universal release for person and property (Luke 4:19).  

The “Year of Jubilee,” which Jesus referred to in the Book of Luke, is recorded in the 25^th Chapter of Leviticus and gives us insight into the events of this occasion. 

9  Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land.

10     Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan.

11     The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines.

12     For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.

13     "'In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to his own property. (Lev 25:9-13 NIV) 

The year of Jubilee was a holy year, which was established by the Lord and represented a future time when He would pay our sin debt, so that we might be freed from the slavery of sin, its penalty of eternal death and man’s relationship with God (his original master) could be restored.  This is why the year of Jubilee is mentioned among Christ’s declarations to, “preach the gospel to the poor,” and to "preach deliverance to the captives.”  “The acceptable year of the Lord” represents Jesus having paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay.  Jesus used His own blood to rescue us from the prison of our enemies and freed us to serve the only Living God.

This information is important for the New Testament Christian to understand.  For the Passover season, which includes the Feast of Unleavened Bread, is a spiritual celebration of our freedom in Christ and unveils the New Testament significance of the Eternal Jubilee that Jesus died to give mankind.  The events of Passover night symbolizes Jesus having cleansed, or sterilized us from all sin.  The reason He sterilized us, is so He could fill us with something – His Eternal Life.  Until we were cleansed by His blood, we could not be filled with the Holy Spirit, which imparts God’s nature and His endless life.  

During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we are commanded to eat bread without leavening for seven days (Exo13:7).  This is an ingenious method that God instituted in order to remind us of the works of His Son, Jesus Christ.  When we partake of the flat and hard unleavened bead; we are instantly reminded of the crucifixion of the Lord and how He has removed our sins and made us unleavened (without sin) in the sight of God.   

Some Christians have not fully understood the meaning of this joyous feast.  They have mistakenly believed that the eating of unleavened bead was instituted to remind us to “get sin out of our lives.”  While we do need to examine ourselves for sinful thoughts and behavior; it is impossible for humans to remove sin, apart from Jesus Christ.  However, we can surrender our hearts to God and call upon Him to remove these sinful habits, which plague our bodies and spirits.  For it is only God, who can change our hearts and consequently, our actions.  The Lord testifies of this fact, through the words of the prophet Ezekiel. 

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you and heart of flesh.  27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them (Ezek 36:26-27).

We must take note of how many times the Lord uses the phrase, “I will” in this verse.  This scripture does not say that man, apart from a divine transformation from God, will be able to “get sin out of his life.”  It plainly states that only God can make this change within us.  However, we must be willing to surrender our spirit and bodies to God and ask Him to bless us with a new heart and a new spirit, which yearns to walk according to His statues and judgments.  This is the only way that man can begin to experience a change in his sinful behavior.  

These great feasts of God are celebrations of His love, which is demonstrated by His awesome gift of Jesus Christ, whom He gave for the sins of all humanity.  We celebrate this wonderful event when we acknowledge and observe the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread.  By taking part in these annual festivals, we are outwardly proclaiming our faith in God's Son, who has swallowed up death and given eternal life to the Children of God.  Therefore, let us embrace and obey the words of the Apostle Paul, who exhorted all Christians to, “Keep the Feast.”   Let us celebrate our freedom in Christ.