1 Corinthians 5:6: "Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?"
The feast of Unleavened Bread was a Jewish festival that took place during the week-long celebration of Passover. The feast lasted for seven days and was a time of celebration and thanksgiving for the Israelites.
During the feast, the Israelites were required to eat only unleavened bread, or bread made without yeast. This was a reminder of the haste with which they had to leave Egypt, as they did not have time to let their dough rise. The feast of Unleavened Bread was a time for the Israelites to remember their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and to give thanks to God for his mercy and grace.
The feast of Unleavened Bread was also a time of spiritual cleansing for the Israelites. By removing all leaven, or yeast, from their homes and eating only unleavened bread, they were symbolically purifying themselves and ridding themselves of sin and corruption.
In the Christian tradition, the feast of Unleavened Bread is seen as a symbol of the purity and holiness of Jesus Christ, who is sometimes referred to as the "unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:8). It is also a reminder of the Last Supper, when Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover meal together and Jesus instituted the Eucharist, or Communion, by breaking bread and sharing wine.
"For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, 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. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (1 Corinthians 5:7-8)
"And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.' (Luke 22:19-20)
The Passover feast is celebrated on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan, and it lasts for seven days. During this time, Jews and many Christians abstain from eating leavened bread and other leavened products and instead eat only unleavened bread, or bread made without yeast. "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:35)
"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, 'This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.'" (1 Corinthians 11:23-25)
The Hebrew phrase for "keep the feast of unleavened bread" is (chag ha-matzot). The word "chag" means "feast" or "festival," and the word "matzot" means "unleavened bread.""And he said to them, 'I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
We are therefore called to a life of putting down any weight and embracing holiness. As Paul say, everything is allowed but not everything is beneficial. This calls us to leave the leaven (what is not neccesary) and focus on what is paramount to the kingdom.
"Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a foul odor; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor." (Ecclesiastes 10:1)
In this passage, the metaphor of leaven is used to represent the presence of folly or foolishness, which can corrupt and ruin something that is otherwise good or valuable.
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