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The First Day of Unleavened Bread
April 20, 2019

First Century Apostolic Christians like me find ourselves observing the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Today is the First Day of Unleavened Bread in 2019. Many think of this as the Jewish Feast of Passover, but as a Christian, we look at this week with a focus on Jesus. It was Paul who more than twenty years after Jesus was crucified wrote his first letter to the Corinthians, and in this letter he clearly showed that The Feast of Unleavened Bread was still being observed at that time.

1 Corinthians 5:6-8
Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 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.

Paul was writing with a concern to the church at Corinth because the word on the street was that everyone was OK with an incestuous affair between a son and most likely his stepmother. Somehow the people saw this as an opportunity for liberty and freedom from what they had been taught. Paul reminded them to purge out the old leaven and to be a new unleavened lump, and that this new unleavened lump we are to be is without malice and wickedness. What many overlook in their rush to liberty and freedom from the law is the simple reality that in the absence of the law and the teachings of Jesus, that there can be no act of righteousness; nor can there be an act of wickedness. Both good and evil acts are defined by the law and the teachings of Jesus. Paul did not say to not keep the feast. Instead, he said to let us keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The word Paul used translated as sincerity is eilikrineia, and this word means clearness and purity. In the politics of 2019 in the United States, clearness and purity might bring to mind the concept of transparency, that there is nothing we do that needs to be hidden, that what we do is unspoiled from the evils of this world. Paul wrote the word aletheia translated as truth, meaning true, truly, truth, and verity. For there to be truth, there must logically be that which is not true, in error, or false. Paul in these few verses shows that not only is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to be kept; he links the death of Jesus as what gives us the liberty to partake of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, not as was done prior to the death of Jesus and the giving of the Holy Spirit, but by giving us the ability to live our lives with transparency and truth.

Matthew 5:14-16
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

With transparency and truth, we have no reason to hide; in fact we cannot hide, just like a city on the top of a hill cannot be hid from approaching enemies, or just like a solitary light in the darkness of night is easily seen. When we do good works, when we toil in the faith, when we have acts of faith, when we do the work, what we do glorifies the Father in Heaven. James, in what is thought to be the first epistle of the new testament era, also wrote of works, using the same Greek word, ergon, also used in Mathew 5:14-16. James clearly shows there is no viable faith without works, but exactly what those works are becomes confused by virtually all who read this passage.

James 2:14-26
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

James uses the example of a naked and starving person and the need to feed and clothe that person to give a comparison of how faith and works are intertwined. Most incorrectly reduce works to providing for the physical needs of a less fortunate person. There is nothing wrong with providing for the physical needs of a less fortunate person. As we are able, we need provide for the physical needs of a less fortunate person. What James wrote about was faith, and what was needed to verify, or prove the faith. James shows that belief in God is not enough, showing even the demons tremble at the thought of God. He next gives the example of Abraham, and compares his works to the sacrifice of Isaac; definitely not providing for Isaac's physical needs. Yet what Abraham did was determined by God to be righteous. What was it that Abraham did? When given a command by God, even one as inconceivable such as sacrificing your only son, Abraham obeyed. Another example given by James is Rahab the harlot. In Joshua chapter two, it shows Rahab understood that God had given the children of Israel the land because everyone in her city had heard the story of the parting of the Red Sea. Rahab was justified because even though she had not been directly or indirectly commanded by God, she knew what God had done and would not challenge his authority. Those who know what God has done, believe, and take positive action to support the will of God, also have faith with works.

Unlike Abraham and unlike Rachel when we are told by God to do something and we don't, or we know of the will of God, and we take action against the will of God, our faith is dead because our works, what we do, contradicts what we believe.

Today we keep the First Day of Unleavened Bread, as Paul wrote, with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth knowing that our good deeds cannot be hidden from this world, knowing that what we do must always be aligned to what we believe.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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