The Feast of the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread

The Feast of the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread and the Feast of the First Fruits

Most people understand that the Lord’s Supper is related to The Feast of 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.

The Feast of Unleavened 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 the 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.

COMMUNION ELEMENTS	UNLEAVENED BREAD	CUP
Feast	Feast of Unleavened bread	Feast of Passover
Theme of Feast:	Deliverance out of Egypt	Deliverance from the judgment of Egypt
Picture of the Cross:	Opening of the Red Sea	Blood on Doorpost
Truth of the cross:	Crucified with Christ	Forgiven in Christ

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?

The Feast of the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread and the Feast of the First Fruits

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. 21 For 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?