03/15/2026
It’s that time of year; Passover is upon us. Reposting my article from a few years back.
ARTICLE PASSOVER
“Get rid of the old hametz, so that you can be a new batch of dough, because in reality you are unleavened. For our Pesach lamb, the Messiah, has been sacrificed. So let us celebrate the Seder not with leftover hametz, the hametz of wickedness and evil, but with the matzah of purity and truth.” 1 Corinthians 5:7-8
Have you ever wondered where the term Spring cleaning comes from? Some say that it comes from the Jewish tradition of cleaning our houses out just before Pesach. One of the ways we prepare for this holiday, is to go through our homes cleaning them from top to bottom, to ensure we get all the chametz/leaven out. Now you might be saying, “leaven only applies to yeast”. Yes it does, but it’s not just the food in our cupboards that contains yeast. Yeast is also in the crumbs that we leave behind all year long, that fall behind appliances and other furniture. We not only take the food out of our cupboards, we clean inside and around our appliances, also behind and under the furniture. We have to clean every nook and cranny of our homes to get every spec of yeast out. Sounds like spring cleaning to me. But, sometimes we can miss some. This is why we recite in the second prayer after burning the Chametz, “Any leaven that is in my possession, that I have not seen or not removed, shall be unclaimed and considered as the dust of the earth.” God makes it null and void; our houses are clean. Now our homes are ready for matzah, or unleavened bread. Matzah represents purity and truth. Did you know that leaven can also represent sin in ours lives? Those things we thought we let go of, but maybe we have crumbs laying around; sin that clutters our hearts and our minds. Just as we clean the clutter (sin) out of our homes, we also need clean the clutter (sin) out of ourselves. We get into the nooks and cranny’s of our hearts, and clean out all the debris. We get out all the junk that we let wear us down. This sounds similar to what we do during the High Holy Days, atoning for our sins. It’s interesting that each is considered the start of a new year, and we get to start with a clean slate. By the first night of Pesach, when our homes and hearts are clean; we can then bring in the matzah of purity and truth.
“Also, taking a piece of matzah, he made the b’rakhah, broke it, gave it to them and said, “This is my body, which is being given for you; do this in memory of me.” Luke 22:19
While leaven represents the sin in our lives, for Messianic Jews, Matzah represents redemption and freedom. With this, we incorporate the sacrifice of Yeshua into our Seder. Taking a good look at the matzah, we see the piercing’s, the bruises, the stripes. Seeing this reminds us of His sacrifice; He has freed us from sin and shame.
“But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises we are healed. We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet laid on him the guilt of all of us. Is. 53:5-6 CJB
He gave all of himself so we could be freed from our sins. As we eat our matzah of purity and truth this Passover season, let us not forget the one who died for our sins; the One for whom we serve. Let us Empty our hearts and lives of sin and fill our hearts and lives with His truth. Let’s start a new season with Him.
