THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #222 | THE LIFE OF MOSES #203
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3908
THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #222
THE LIFE OF MOSES #203
MOSES AT MT.SINAI#102
THE TABERNACLE OF MOSES ( Part 61)
THE TABLE OF SHOWBREAD IN THE TABERNACLE OF MOSES #15
THE BREAD OF AFFLICTION AND JESUS
This term “bread of affliction” comes from Deuteronomy 16:3, where it says, “Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.”
Jewish tradition notes that matzah is called the bread of affliction due to its unsavory flavor, and as a reminder of the affliction of our forefathers in Egypt.
Messianic Jewish tradition has correctly noted the affliction that the matzah must go through—the punctures/piercings and the “stripes” upon it—is a reminder to them not only of their forefathers, but also and most especially about our Messiah and Redeemer.
Thus we can see that if this bread that we are invited to eat at the beginning of the Passover meal will satiate the hungry and the needy, how much more so will the Master, who is the bread extended to all who are hungry and needy in the house of Israel and among the nations!
For as He attests of Himself, He is the perfect, all-satisfying bread who brings resurrection and eternal life.
But remember this bread is the bread of affliction.
Jesus identifies with this bread directly years later at the last meal He eats with His disciples during Passover, the night before His death, when He tells them to eat this in remembrance of Him.
We do so even now, with varying frequency, and in so doing we remember His affliction, His sacrifice, and we take part in it in consuming the punctured and striped matzah.
Just as we share in His death and resurrection through immersion, we share in His affliction and the redemptive new covenant He heralds at Passover through eating the bread of affliction.
This bread brings about more than just the cessation of physical hunger; according to the Master it brings something eternally satiating; it allows us to merit the resurrection and the World to Come.
When eating this bread we “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26), honoring the greatest sacrifice that atones and initiates the start of a new order, a New Covenant.
We accept upon ourselves the yoke of the cross—the yoke of the kingdom of heaven—and the kingship of the Holy One when we eat.
In partaking of this bread we metaphorically pick up our crosses along with the Messiah and share in His affliction, remembering His death and resurrection, and we proclaim its significance and power until the time of His return.
It is no wonder that Paul warns believers not to partake with flippancy or in an unworthy manner, for in doing so, he says, we would be eating and drinking judgment on ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:29). We would not be sharing in the Master’s affliction, but rather adding our own affliction to ourselves.
As we eat the afflicting matzah and drink the wine this Passover, let us not forget the affliction of the Master, and let us thoroughly search our hearts before doing so. Partaking of this bread is extraordinary, and while it has no magical properties in and of itself, it represents our Messiah, the torture He endured on our behalf, and the redemption He brings.
This affliction we commemorate has inaugurated the coming of the ultimate redemption. May we see this redemption completed, coming to the house of Israel and then the entire world speedily and soon!
