1 Corinthians 5:7, 8 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened… The mention of leaven recalls to the apostle's mind the Jewish Passover, in connection with which the putting away of leaven was strictly enjoined. A most careful search was made forevery remnant of the forbidden substance, especially in later times, when every hole and corner was ransacked with candles. What was done then with leaven should be done now with that of which leaven is the type (comp. Exodus 12.). I. CHRIST OUR PASCHAL LAMB. Note the main points of correspondence between the type and the antitype. 1. The lamb was to be "without blemish." Jesus Christ was "holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners" (Hebrews 7:26); "a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:19). 2. The lamb was slain. It was a sacrifice, the victim's life going for the life of the people. Jesus Christ was crucified for us, "bearing our sins in his body upon the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). 3. The blood of the lamb was sprinkled "on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses." It was not enough that the blood was shed, it must also be put as a mark on the door. "And when I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:7, 13). Even so the blood of Jesus Christ must be applied to each individual sinner ere it can avail to deliver from the condemnation. Personal faith in him appropriating his atoning sacrifice, is the hand that dips the hyssop in the basin and sprinkles the blood on the house. 4. The lamb was to be eaten that night by the household. Its blood was their protection, its flesh their food. Jesus Christ is our Life as well as our Atonement. The believer sheltered by his blood draws his nourishment from him (John 6:51). II. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE AN UNLEAVENED FESTIVAL. 1. It is a festival. "Let us keep the feast." There is no special reference to the Lord's Supper, but to the whole Christian life. What the Paschal week was to the Jew, the believer's life is to be to him. It is to be (1) consecrated to God, and (2) spent in grateful remembrance of God's redeeming mercy. All through let us keep festival in view of the Lamb slain, with the joy of those who have been delivered from bondage. 2. It is to be kept without leaven. All sin is to be purged out. The Christian is ideally unleavened. Theoretically no leaven was to be found in the houses of Israel during the Passover, although some of it might escape the most diligent search; and so believers, as they stand in Christ, are dead to sin. This is the high calling which we are to make our own by putting away all sin. Let us be in reality what we are in idea (l Peter 2:9) - let us be a holy people. Every form of vice and wickedness must be cast away as inconsistent with our unleavened condition, and only "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" be found in our homes. A pure, transparent, honest life, corresponding in all things to the truth, becomes those who rightly "keep the feast." - B. Parallel Verses KJV: 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: |
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