 |
The
feast of
the Passover and
the feast of
unleavened bread |
Most people understand
that the Lord’s Supper is related to the Passover. The truth is that
this is only part of the picture. The Lord’s Supper is actually
related to two feasts of the Lord; namely, the Feast of Passover and
the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I want to show here in this chapter
that the cup of the Lord’s Supper relates directly to the Feast of
Passover, while the bread of the Lord’s Supper relates directly to
the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Although these two feasts are
celebrated together, they are separate feasts (Leviticus 23:5-8) and
have separate and distinct themes.
As stated above, the
Feast of Passover relates directly to the cup of the Lord’s Supper.
The angel of death passing over the houses with the blood on the
doorposts is the theme of the Passover. This theme of deliverance
from death relates directly to the main theme of the cup of the
Lord’s Supper.
Surprisingly, the bread
of the Lord’s Supper relates directly to the Feast of the Unleavened
Bread. According to Luke 22:7, the Lord’s Supper was eaten on the
Day of Unleavened Bread. During the Lord’s Supper when Jesus was
blessing the bread, He had unleavened bread in His hands. The
unleavened bread had and has a specific meaning to the Hebrews. It
was eaten to commemorate how God delivered them out of Egypt. In
fact, the phrase, "out of Egypt," is the key phrase used in
scripture to define the meaning of this particular kind of bread.
3You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall
eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for
you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember
the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of
your life. Deuteronomy 16:3
7Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened
bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in
all your quarters. 8And 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.' 9It 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
3 And Moses said to the people: "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
In Deuteronomy 16:3 the
bread was eaten to commemorate the day that the Hebrews were
delivered out of Egypt. Jesus had this bread in His hands when He
said, "This is My body which is given for you...."(Luke 22:19) In
other words, He was saying that this bread which symbolizes
deliverance out of Egypt now symbolizes deliverance out of sin
through His body given for you. This broken bread stands for the
fact that your body of sin (pride, selfishness, self consciousness,
bondage) is broken in your lives because of that one day in history
when His body was broken on the cross for you. By grace, you were
crucified with Him on that day. By grace, you were included in His
death.
Man’s worst enemy is
himself; thus, Jesus solved man’s most pressing problem. What
complete liberation and freedom; just to know that we do not have to
be stuck up on ourselves. The bread declares that we have the
authority to reckon this body of sin to be dead and to be a vessel
for God to live through by His Spirit.
Thus, the Feast of
Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread each have a specific
theme. The Feast of Passover has the theme of deliverance from
judgment of the Egyptians. The Feast of Unleavened Bread has the
theme of deliverance out of Egypt.
To summarize; the two
feasts of the Lord, the Feast of Passover and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, relate directly to the Lord’s Supper. The Feast of
Passover relates to the cup. The Feast of Unleavened Bread relates
to the bread. The theme of the Feast of Passover is deliverance from
the judgment of the Egyptians. The theme of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread is deliverance out of Egypt. The picture of the cross for the
Feast of Passover is the blood on the doorposts. The picture of the
cross for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as will soon be discussed,
is the Lord’s opening of the Red Sea so that the Hebrews could
escape out of Egyptian bondage.
These two feasts and
their themes and their pictures of the cross, harmonize perfectly
with the meanings of the two elements of the Lord’s Supper. The cup
represents deliverance from the judgment of sin. The bread
represents deliverance out of sin. Can you see the harmony and
clarity and how everything falls into place when the cross is
properly understood?
There is another feast
that is celebrated along with the Feast of Passover and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread. This is the Feast of First Fruits (Leviticus
23:9-14). To the Hebrews this feast was to celebrate the first crops
of the barley harvest. To the Christians this feast pictures the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead,
and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21For since by man came death, by Man also came the
resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23But each one in
his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are
Christ's at His coming. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23
The Feast of First
Fruits was celebrated on the day after the Sabbath (Leviticus
23:11). This would be a Sunday. Jesus was resurrected on Sunday (the
third day).
Thus, just like the two
elements of the Lord’s Supper also proclaim the resurrection of the
Lord, so there is a third feast that pictures the resurrection of
the Lord. The three above mentioned feasts relate directly to the
Lord’s Supper.
To repeat, both
elements of the Lord’s Supper proclaim a vital message of the cross.
Both elements of the Lord’s Supper also have a resurrection side to
them. Corresponding to the truths of the Lord’s Supper, there are
two feasts of the Lord that each portrays a vital message of the
cross. There is also a third feast celebrated with these two and
this third feast pictures the resurrection. What harmony! What
assurance of the validity of the old and New Testament! And, are we
not on the right track here?
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