Dear Brethren and Co-workers with Christ,
Those of you who are baptized members and attend our weekly Sabbath services are actively preparing to observe the New Testament Passover the evening of March 31 this year—and also the seven Days of Unleavened Bread that begin the next evening. However, some of you faithful and dedicated co-workers may not be as familiar with these observances.
We read of these two Festivals in the writings of the Apostle Paul to the Church of God at Corinth. There was a man in the congregation who was having improper relations with his stepmother. The members knew about it but allowed him to remain in their fellowship. Paul four times used the expression “puffed up” to describe their misplaced compassion for the man (1 Corinthians 4:6, 18, 19; 5:2). They needed to put him out of the church for his good—to wake him up—and to stop further spread of sin in the congregation.
He went on to explain, “Your glorying [being puffed up in self-righteous pride] is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6). Allowing such blatant sin in the congregation would cause some to relax, and sin would spread to others, just as a little yeast in a lump of dough will cause the whole lump to be puffed up. He commanded, “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (v. 7).
Why did he call Christ “our Passover?” How many realize that the so-called “Last Supper” was actually the Passover (Luke 22:7–20; see also Matthew 26 and Mark 14)? It was no accident that He kept that last meal with His disciples, was taken into custody, was brutally beaten, crucified, and put into the grave, all on the day of the Passover. This was foretold nearly 1,500 years earlier in Egypt when Israel slaughtered lambs and goats and painted around their doors with the blood of those sacrificed animals to protect their firstborn from death. And we too must be covered by the shedding of blood, not that of lambs and goats, “but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19).
Paul explained to the Corinthians that we must properly respond to the New Covenant Passover by putting sin out of our lives. “Therefore [because Christ is sacrificed for us] let us keep 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 5:8). The Feast that follows on the heels of Passover is clearly the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Note that this instruction to “keep the feast” was to the Gentile brethren at Corinth. It was not for the Jews only.
Many sincere but misguided professing Christians think that Easter has replaced Passover and that the Days of Unleavened Bread are “Old Covenant”—therefore done away. Nothing could be further from the truth! This idea goes back a long way. The Quartodeciman [meaning “fourteenth”] Controversy was a dispute during the second to fourth centuries over whether to observe the Passover or Easter. Many sources confuse it by saying it was a dispute over which day to keep Easter, but that is patently false. It was over whether to observe the death of Christ through the Passover on the 14th day of Nisan or to observe the resurrection on Easter. (For further information on the observance of Easter, please request our free resource Easter: The Untold Story.) The historian Eusebius was a supporter of Emperor Constantine and wrote about this controversy:
For neither could Anicetus [Bishop of Rome] persuade Polycarp [a disciple of John] not to observe what he had always observed [the Passover] with John, the disciple of the Lord, and the other Apostles with whom he had associated; neither could Polycarp persuade Anicetus to observe it, as he said that he ought to follow the customs of the elders who had preceded him (A Source Book for Ancient Church History, Ayer, p. 164).
Note that Polycarp followed Jesus’ Apostles, but the Bishop of Rome followed a different group of unspecified leaders. Who do you think we should follow? Later in the second century, Polycrates—the disciple of Polycarp—also came into conflict with the western churches, led by Victor, the Bishop of Rome. Again, from Eusebius:
But the bishops of Asia, led by Polycrates, decided to hold fast to the customs handed down to them [Passover]. He himself, in a letter addressed to Victor and the church of Rome, set forth the tradition which had come down to him as follows: “We observe the exact day, neither adding nor taking anything away. For in Asia, also, great lights have fallen asleep…. Of these were Philip, one of the twelve Apostles… moreover, John, who reclined on the Lord’s bosom… further, Polycarp in Smyrna.... All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover, according to the Gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. And I, Polycrates, do the same, the least of you all, according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have closely followed…. I, therefore, am not affrighted by terrifying words. For those greater than I have said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (A Source Book for Ancient Church History, Ayer, pp. 162–63).
Obeying God rather than men was not easy for those who lived in earlier times when the power of the state was waged against them. But neither is it today. Most prefer to follow traditions handed down by family and friends rather than Christ and His Apostles. The Passover is a memorial of Christ’s sacrifice for us and how we all need it! “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Jesus told His disciples, “‘With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer’….And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you’” (Luke 22:15, 19–20).
Many have misunderstood Paul when he later told the Corinthians in the same letter, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). They interpret it to mean that we should partake of the symbols of His suffering and death as often as we want to, but it is evident from the whole letter that Paul was referring to taking them on Passover—an annual remembrance (1 Corinthians 11:23; 5:7–8).
We hear a lot about how Jesus loves us, and He does, as shown by the Passover—but professing Christianity says very little about the Feast of Unleavened Bread that follows. That seven-day Feast shows us that we must respond to God’s love. We are not to remain “just as I am.” We must repent—change—by identifying and putting sin out of our lives. Sadly, far too many talk about Jesus, but they are talking about a very different Jesus than the One in Scripture (2 Corinthians 11:4).
In the meantime, we are living in dangerous times. Here at Tomorrow’s World and the Living Church of God, we continue to do the Work of God with your help. Just today I received an encouraging report regarding our Tomorrow’s World YouTube channel. It grew steadily but slowly for many years, reaching 300,000 subscribers on September 20, 2025. We have now surpassed 700,000 only six months later. These are people who like what they see on our YouTube channel and sign up for more.
Passover and Unleavened Bread are special times for the people of God. Those of us here in Charlotte, North Carolina, wish all of you a profitable Festival season. And thank you, dear brethren and co-workers, for your prayers and faithful support. May your reward be great upon Christ’s return!
Sincerely, in Christ’s service,
Gerald E. Weston