Christ, Our Passover Lamb
"Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new batch, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." — 1 Corinthians 5:7-8
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Objective
To understand how Christ's sacrifice fulfills and transforms the meaning of the Jewish Passover, and how this calls believers to a life of moral integrity and sincerity before God.
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Historical Context
Paul writes this letter to the church in Corinth around A.D. 55, in a city well known for its wealth, religious pluralism, and moral permissiveness. The immediate context of 1 Corinthians 5 is deeply troubling: a serious case of sexual immorality within the congregation was not only being tolerated — it was actually being celebrated — by the community. Paul responds with pastoral firmness, using the metaphor of leaven to illustrate how unconfronted sin corrupts the entire believing community.
It is precisely in this moment of confrontation that Paul anchors his appeal in Passover theology. The Jewish Passover (Pesach) was the feast of liberation from Egypt, during which the people of Israel were required to remove all leaven from their homes for seven days (Exodus 12:15-20). This purification ritual was not merely symbolic: it represented a complete break from slavery and from the old way of life. Paul sees in this feast a prophetic type that finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ.
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Verse-by-Verse Analysis
"Clean out the old leaven" — The Greek verb ekkathairō (ἐκκαθαίρω) means to purge or cleanse completely, leaving no residue. This is not a surface-level cleaning. Paul is calling for radical renewal, not a cosmetic adjustment of behavior.
"So that you may be a new batch" — Here lies a precious theological tension. Paul says "just as you are in fact unleavened" — meaning the holiness God requires is grounded in the holiness God has already granted in Christ. Christian ethics do not precede grace — they flow from it. You already are unleavened in Christ; therefore, live accordingly.
"Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed" — This is the central declaration. The word pascha (πάσχα) connects directly to the Passover lamb of Exodus 12. The lamb had to be without blemish (Exodus 12:5), its blood protected the people from judgment, and its death made liberation possible. Paul states with full clarity that Jesus is the historical and definitive fulfillment of this type. The verb etythē (ἐτύθη) — "has been sacrificed" — is in the aorist passive, pointing to a singular, completed historical event at Calvary.
"Let us celebrate the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" — The unleavened bread (azymos, ἄζυμος) was a symbol of purity and separation. Paul is calling the church not merely to a ritual observance, but to a continuous Passover existence. Eilikrineia (εἰλικρίνεια), translated "sincerity," carries the connotation of something tested in sunlight — transparent, with no hidden impurities. The Christian life is to be exactly that.
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Group Reflection Questions
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Practical Application
The Passover of Christ is not merely a doctrine to profess — it is an invitation to live in a radically different way. Before each celebration of the Lord's Supper, set aside a time for honest personal examination: is there hidden leaven? Is there tolerated sin? The same Lamb who set you free is powerful enough to cleanse you today. The Passover life is a life of feasting — not of religious gloom — but it is a feast celebrated in the light, with transparency before God and before one another.
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Memory Verse
"For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed." — 1 Corinthians 5:7b