The Feast of Unleavened Bread teaches God’s people that they are both sustained by him and defined by him. Israel ate unleavened bread first because they left Egypt in haste and then because God was training them to depend daily on his provision as they journeyed with him. That pattern finds its fulfillment in Christ, the true Bread from heaven, on whom we must feed by faith for eternal life. At the same time, the removal of leaven marked covenant identity: those who shared the bread belonged to the redeemed people of God. In the new covenant, this symbolism reaches its climax at the Lord’s Table, where believers do not make themselves pure, but receive Christ by faith as those who already are “unleavened” in him—assured of their identity, sustained for the journey, and strengthened to live out who they truly are.

God’s holy presence is a danger to people stained by sin and death, and no sincerity, effort, or moral improvement can make us fit to stand before Him. In the Passover, God teaches that only the blood of a substitute life can cleanse what death has defiled, so that judgment passes over and God can dwell without destroying. This same logic is fulfilled in Christ, whose blood both saves us once for all and continues to cleanse us as we walk in the light.

In the first Passover, God did not save his people because they were good but because He is. Each household took a lamb, brought it into their home, and then watched as that lamb died in place of their firstborn. The blood on the door was a simple, visible confession: “The lamb died instead of me.” That night taught Israel — and now teaches us — that salvation is not earned, but received through substitution. This is the story Jesus fulfills as the true and perfect Lamb of God, who entered our world, was found without fault, and gave his life in our place. He did not die in general, but personally — for you. And because his sacrifice is finished, you are safe, you are loved, and you are free.

The firstborn stands as the representative of the whole, showing that all humanity is implicated in sin and justly under judgment, for God does not owe life to anyone. Yet the same God who judges also provides a substitute: his own Firstborn, Jesus Christ, who bears the judgment we deserve so that death might pass over us. The story of Egypt’s firstborn ultimately points us to the cross, where justice and mercy meet, and where those who are in Christ move from condemnation to life.

Christians should be the most joyful people on the planet — always! But we’re not always. This sermon explores why, from the book of Habakkuk. The prophet shows us how our joy can be as steady and sure as the promises of God in Christ, and we can (as Paul says) “rejoice always!”