The Significance of the Unleavened Bread

What was its significance in the Passover Celebration?

The Children of Israel were finally being freed from Egypt's slavery but they had to hurry to get out of there lest Pharaoh change his mind, yet again. The bible tells us that because they didn't have much time to prepare for the journey they were going on, so  they didn't have time to wait for bread to rise and take with them. And so, on the very first Passover, they made it without leaven, known also as yeast.

Deuteronomy 16:3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you whall eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction-for you came out of Egypt in haste-that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of Egypt. 

Other references regarding the eating of unleavened bread are found in Exodus 12:8, 29:2 and Numbers 9:11. From that point on, Jewish homes still include unleavened bread in their Passover celebrations.

What did the Passover have to do with Jesus?

At the time of this event for the Children of Israel, they were required to take the blood of a male lamb and put it on the door posts of their homes, so that when God passed through, he would pass over their homes and their household was soared from the first born's death. The lamb had to be perfect  and could have no blemishes on it.

This act would represent the time when when Christ would come as the perfect Lamb of God that would take the place of us by dying on the cross and shedding his own innocent blood. It would cover the sins of all that would believe on and serve him and therefore God's judgement would pass from us.

While Passover began as a Jewish celebration, I know of some non-Jewish Churches that do practice or celebrate Passover the way it had been done much like those days when God's people were freed from the bondage of Egypt. It is not a required celebration in the Christian church. However, I am told it is a very moving experience for those that do participate.

There is much to be said about the Jewish feasts of the bible. Maybe at some point we can do a study on them. Jesus obviously did celebrate Passover himself. For now though, I will leave that for another time and go on with the questions that I had while reading the accounts of the disciples about his death and Resurrection.

The next question we will look at: What did Jesus mean in Mark 14:27 about the Shepard, and scattering the sheep? Please come back next time for that. Have a blessed day


(footnote: While looking for a graphic for unleavened bread, I also saw a recipe for it as well. I thought you might be interested in seeing it so have included it here if you want to check it out)

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