The Feast of Unleavened Bread

Today we are going to take a look at the second Jewish feast. As I have stated before, it is important for us today understand the meaning behind the different feasts and also see how Jesus Christ has and will fulfill them. Last week we discussed the first feast, the Passover feast. We saw that for the Jews, this feast is important because it showed how God protected them through the blood. This is important for believers today because we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. Today, we will be looking at the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

This feast follows after the Passover feast and last seven days to celebrate the Jews escaping from Egypt. “15 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do. 17 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 18 In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. 20 Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.” Exodus 12:15-20. This passage shows us the origin of when the feast began. During this feast, consuming unleavened bread (bread made without yeast) represents how quickly the Israelites had to leave Egypt. If anyone has made bread before, you will understand how long it takes for bread to rise in order to bake. The Israelites did not have this luxury and had to have ingredients that did not take long to bake. However, this feast also presents a spiritual significance. The yeast free bread represents a removal of sin and gives the individual time to reflect and repent on any sin that is in their life. This is especially important to do after a feast where a lamb had been sacrificed for the nations sins.

So, how did Jesus complete this feast? Scripture tells us that He is the bread of life, John 6:35 “35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Jesus is the only person to have walked this earth who has lived a sinless life. He is the only one who can remove our sins from us and make us clean.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex