How does the command in Exodus 12:18 connect to Jesus as the Passover Lamb? Setting the Stage: Exodus 12:18 “In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day, you are to eat unleavened bread.” (Exodus 12:18) A Seven-Day Picture of Purity • Unleavened bread is bread without yeast. In Scripture, leaven often symbolizes sin or corrupting influence (Matthew 16:6; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8). • For seven consecutive days Israel was to remove every trace of leaven. The thoroughness of the command underscores total separation from sin. • The seven-day span (14th–21st) brackets the Passover sacrifice (14th) and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (15th–21st), uniting sacrifice and sanctification. Timing That Points to Jesus • Jesus was crucified on the Day of Preparation for the Passover, the 14th of Nisan (John 19:14, 31). • His body rested in the tomb during the opening of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, fulfilling the picture of sin removed from the house. • Thus the very calendar God gave in Exodus set the prophetic clock for the Messiah’s death and burial. Unleavened Bread and the Sinless Savior • Just as the Israelites ate bread untainted by yeast, we partake of Christ, “who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). • Paul draws the parallel directly: “Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8) • The absence of leaven in the bread and of blemish in the lamb (Exodus 12:5) jointly prefigure Jesus’ perfect righteousness. From Shadow to Substance: Jesus Our Passover • Exodus 12:18 commands continual eating of unleavened bread throughout the feast. In Christ, the ongoing “feast” is an unbroken fellowship with Him, free from the leaven of malice and sin (1 Corinthians 5:8). • The blood of the lamb spared Israel’s firstborn; the blood of Jesus delivers from eternal judgment (John 1:29; Hebrews 9:12). • No bone of the Passover lamb could be broken (Exodus 12:46); likewise, “Not one of His bones will be broken.” (John 19:36) • Every detail—from timing to purity—finds its fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus. Living in the Reality Today • Celebrate deliverance: Just as Israel annually remembered redemption, believers continually remember through the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:19-20). • Purge the leaven: Remove attitudes and practices that contradict the new life in Christ (Ephesians 4:22-24). • Walk in sincerity and truth: The Feast of Unleavened Bread foreshadows a lifestyle characterized by integrity, made possible by the indwelling Spirit (Galatians 5:16). Exodus 12:18’s call to a week of unleavened bread ultimately points to Jesus—the true Passover Lamb—whose sinless sacrifice secures deliverance and invites a life of ongoing purity. |
    |