The Leaven of Pentecost

At Passover, the bread eaten was unleavened and represented the idea of both bread made in haste as well as not taking the leaven of Egypt out with them as the Israelites were delivered from Pharaoh.  But the bread of Pentecost was leavened bread.  And this means that at the first Pentecost Lord’s Day after Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples would have eaten leavened bread.

Why would we use leaven in our bread on the Lord’s Day?  Because, while this feast is in one sense a Passover Feast fulfilled in Christ, it is also a Pentecost Feast fulfilled in Christ and His Holy Spirit.  And Christ’s kingdom is like a lump of leaven hid in three measures of meal until it was all leavened.

Because this is a leavening kingdom, we are here – halfway across the globe, two thousand years after the event, celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the gift of His Holy Spirit.  We are proclaiming His ongoing and spreading victory as we partake.  Come and welcome to Jesus Christ.