Luke Chapter 22
In Luke chapter 22, we’re reminded that ‘unleavened bread’ is assimilated with the Passover meal. Israel’s exodus from Egyptian slavery had to happen quickly. They did not have time for bread to rise from leaven, also known as yeast. Every year the Jews would celebrate the Passover meal with unleavened bread to remember God’s mercy in the face of judgment.
In the Bible, leaven is almost always symbolic of sin. Like leaven that permeates the whole lump of dough, sin will spread in a person, a church, or a nation, eventually overwhelming and bringing its participants into its slavery ultimately ending in death. Christians must be quick to remove all ‘leaven’ from their midst before it spreads throughout their lives. You cannot feed on the bread of life and persist in sin at the same time.
We’re reminded from the story of Judas Iscariot that the same way that the Holy Spirit fills and influences people; the spirit of anti-Christ fills and or influences people. God has his servants and the devil has his as well. To be a Christian is to face betrayal as Jesus did. It’s to be rejected as Jesus was. It’s to be mocked, slandered, potentially put in way of physical harm.
If we’re going to remain faithful to Jesus Christ in a world that John tells us is controlled by the evil one; we must continually remember Christ’s suffering for us. Christ ‘earnestly desires’ to share the Passover meal with us before WE suffer. Just as Simon had Satan coming to cause him to stumble, we too will be challenged, tested, in our faith.
While Jesus is interceding for us, we must not make the same mistake that Peter did in the comfort of His Master’s love. That mistake being to put confidence in ourselves to be able to stand against Satan’s tactics. As Jesus made a habit of going to the Mount of Olives in prayer; we must create whatever environment necessary to get times of focused prayer. We must NOT fall asleep in the battle. We must work to get up and pray with Jesus that we don’t fall into temptation and allow the leaven to start spreading through our lives into the lives of others.
Peter failed to pray and therefore Peter failed Jesus when temptation came. Do you have a habit of prayer? Where will you go to find focused time with the Lord to overcome? It’s to them who overcome that Christ will give eternal life.
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