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The Feast of Unleavened Bread Teaches Replacement Behaviors

As a Christian, I observe the weekly Sabbath, and I observe the annual Sabbaths, and these are sometimes referred to by some as the Jewish Holy Days. They are Holy Days observed by the Jewish community, but they are also Holy Days listed in the Bible. I believe there is no specific command in the New Testament to repeal the observance of the Holy Days. I believe the Holy Days have a robust spiritual meaning that advance Christianity, and choose to observe these days instead of the days commonly observed by most of Christianity.

Today, let's look at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that is also referred to as the Feast of Passover. During this feast, we are to remove leavening and leavened bread from our homes, and refrain from eating leavened bread while in the community, and instead eat unleavened bread.

From the New Testament we read in 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 5:7-8
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened.For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

These verses show that the church and even its gentile members kept the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

There are many ways one may choose to look at this feast. This is a feast about coming out of sin and becoming close to God. It is also a feast about allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us rather than our human nature. As a special education teacher, I would like for you to consider how God is using a substitute behavior to teach how we are to come out of sin so that we may come close to God, so that the Holy Spirit can work with us.

In the world of behavior modification, commonly needed by special education teachers, it is often necessary to teach a student a desired behavior to replace an undesirable behavior. In Paul's example, leaven represents malice and wickedness. Unleavened bread represents sincerity and truth, so the replacement behaviors of sincerity and truth are replacing malice and wickedness.

In the end Christianity is about changing from the way we were to the way we need to be. Immediately prior to his crucifixion, what replacement behaviors did Jesus teach his disciples? Let's look at Matthew.

Matthew 25:31-46
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Christianity is a calling to service, and in the end, if the result we seek for ourselves in our salvation, we must live a life of service to those who are in need. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a feast that not only commemorates the exodus from Egypt, but it teaches us the importance and need for replacement behaviors in our lives, and in the end the replacement behavior we must have is service to those in need.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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