Lessons from Passover - Unleavened Bread
1 1/2 tsp.salt
4 c flour
2 c water
Mix ingredients and add water until dough is workable. Spread in a flat baking pan. Shape as desired. Bake in moderate oven until browned. (Substitute-matzo or unsalted soda crackers.)
When the instructions to pack and leave Egypt came for God's people, it meant everyone hurried. Mothers had no time to mix dough, add yeast, let it rise, and bake it hours later. They just mixed flour and water and spread it out to bake quickly. It was hard but filling.
God used the unleavened bread of the Passover night to teach his people. Yeast working through bread dough is like sin in people's lives. Sin, whether large or small in our eyes, is deadly and separates people from God. Unleavened bread symbolizes the sinless lives God wants. Jesus' whole life was lived without sinning. Through Jesus' life and innocent death, the problem of sin in our lives is solved, and we are made one with God. That's why Jesus called himself the "Bread of Life."
In the Christian Passover meal, three pieces of bread are used—a symbol of the Trinity. The middle piece is broken in half, reminding Christians of Jesus' sacrifice for us. One half is hidden and 'resurrected' later in the meal, reminding Christians of Jesus' burial and resurrection from the dead. This broken piece is the one Matthew 26:26 tells about, "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take and eat; this is my body."
When Christians join in Communion in church, they participate in the meal that replaced the Passover. We no longer look forward to a promised Savior, but back to one who came. As a remembrance he gives us his true body and blood and now waits to welcome us home to heaven.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: Why is bread commonly used to signify life?
PRAYER SUGGESTION: Ask God to help us remember that Jesus is our life now and in heaven.
Thank you, Jesus, for sacrificing your body and blood to become our Bread of Life. Amen.