Sanctification
Cleansing the home of leaven speaks to us of the need of sanctification in our Christian lives. While we do not keep this feast as past of our Christian duty, the spiritual significance of it should not be lost on us. Our lives should be lived in holiness, purity and truthfulness (1 Corinthians 5:7–8). We must be separated unto God from this world that seeks to contaminate us. The word of God should transform our lives (Romans 8:29) instead of allowing the world to conform us to its standards (Romans 12:2).
The Feast of Unleavened bread memorialized Israel’s deliverance from a life of slavery under Pharaoh after the slaying of the Passover lamb, but it also now represents the Christian’s deliverance from a life of sin under Satan after the slaying of Jesus Christ, the “Lamb of God.”
“Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:7–8 RSV) There was, and is, nothing wrong with eating things containing yeast at other times, but for the purpose of the Days of Unleavened Bread it was used as an symbol of sin. It was also sometimes used as a metaphor for sinful pride and hypocrisy: “How is it that you fail to perceive that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:11–12 RSV)
God does nothing in vain. All of the Old Testament observances have Christian applications — that was their entire purpose, to preview what was to come in due time.
The passage in I Cor 5:6–8 uses this specific aspect to go on and speak of the spiritual celebration and fulfillment of Unleavened Bread, but it’s not the only aspect of Christ’s fulfillment on the cross. Although Paul exhorts the Corinthians (I Cor 5:7) to ‘…cleanse out the old leaven’ he doesn’t have a legalistic righteousness in mind for, later in the same sentence, he goes on to say that the Corinthians ‘…really are unleavened’ giving the reason that ‘Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed’
Paul is urging his readers to be the people that they already are, the people that they became by faith in the work of the cross, and not slip back into a lifestyle in which sin (leaven) is present and which will pervade their entire conduct in the world. But, more than this, the Corinthians are exhorted (I Cor 5:8) to ‘…celebrate the festival…with the Unleavened Bread of sincerity and truth’
Their houses (bodies) are not simply to have sin absent from them, but are to have righteousness and obedience to God indwelling. In a very real sense, Jesus should be considered as the Unleavened Bread of God. The body which knew no sin (Heb 4:14) is the body upon which believers are to feed and to gain nourishment (John 6:48–56) and which Jesus showed symbolized His body given for them in the broken unleavened bread at the Last Supper (Mtw 26:26).
Believers, therefore, are to assimilate Him into their experience and life, rather than to feed upon the old way of sin.
Exodus 12:15–20 tells us that the Feast of Matza is to last for 7 full days in which the Sons of Israel are not to eat any bread with yeast, and they must eat matza, unleavened bread. In all the ancient world, every housewife knew that yeast made the dough ‘to rise.’ It was also seen, as it is in our day, that a man full of pride, is said to be ‘puffed up.’ In this Feast, leaven pictures sin. (As it did of course at the Passover Meal which is eaten on the first day of Unleavened Bread.
