The Sweet, Lowly Bread of Christ: Beware Religious Leaven

God is a good Father. Good fathers feed their children well. Jesus used the Matzah bread during the Passover dinner before he was crucified to show that the Passover feast is a symbol of his salvation. Matzah was considered “poor man’s bread”, or “bread of affliction" (Wikipedia). He was actually crucified at the exact hour in which the Passover lamb was sacrificed! Was God trying to underline this truth for us? It certainly seems so. He broke the Matzah and said, “This is my body. Take it and eat.” P

artake. Consume My Life. You live by receiving My Life by faith. Those who feel their need and weakness will eat the poor man’s bread. It is His presence with us and in us.

But not all bread is good. Jesus warned of tainted bread, and urged his disciples not to eat of it. "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees," he warned. Beware of their sinful influence in other words. These guys were the uber religious, totally dedicated to God. Following God’s law to the letter was what they were famous for in their day. Ironically, while they proudly observed the Passover feast and ate the lamb, a symbol of Christ, they would not partake of the true Lamb of God. Worse yet, they felt proud of their "perfect" religious performance. One Pharisee had the audacity to publicly pray, “God, I thank you that I am not like those sinners!” A Pharisee was not broken, weak, or needy. He was strong. Good. Not like those sinners. Beware of the teachings and influences that have been tainted by leaven, which is often very subtle-but always deadly.

As Jesus’s disciples, we must always be on guard against it. It is inside the church, not out. Interestingly, yeast gives bread a slightly bitter flavor (think sour dough bread). But isn’t man’s religious work bitter? In contrast, unleavened bread has a sweet flavor to it. Leaven, bitter, puffed up, self-confident. The bread of life, sweet, humble, lowly, broken. The leaven of man-empowered religion is a heavy yoke that is marked by either pride, or condemnation over failing to perfectly keep the law. What we commend ourselves in doing, we condemn ourselves in not doing. When the lowly bread of God is infiltrated by it, spiritual death is sure to follow-despite religious fervor and activity. Lord, keep us from this leaven.

If our spiritual life is not sweet and life-giving, we may be eating tainted bread. Jesus’s life is lowly, afflicted, and broken for our benefit! He is sweetness itself. He is the lowly Giver, and we are the lowly partakers. His life, broken for us, is a spiritual reality that nourishes, strengthens and transforms our dark hearts. The poor in spirit will gobble it up! For those who hunger. Come, eat. If all of this sounds foreign to you, just ask God for this bread. He is found by those who seek Him. It is free for the asking, and digested by faith. As the little children, we draw down this sweet life into hungry hearts. So eat to your hearts desire and allow no substitutes to taint it. He gave it for you!

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