In response to my post Get Ready: The Fall Holy Days Are Almost Upon Us, CGI's Jeff Reed cited I Corinthians 5:8 as a prooftext for the obligation of Christians to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I responded by pointing out that Paul was addressing a particular problem in the Corinthian Church - a man was openly in a relationship with his stepmother. I quoted almost the entire chapter in my response and demonstrated that Paul regarded the toleration of this man's sin by the wider community as something that was corrupting/leavening the whole congregation/batch of dough. I went on to underscore the fact that Paul's reference to Christ as the Christian's Passover Lamb - the thing which makes us free of sin/unleavened - is what the apostle intended for them to celebrate.
Nevertheless, Jeff responded: "Lonnie's comments...are an interesting example of how the same text can be viewed so differently. To me, the entire context points to keeping the Festival. It is very clear. It sure sounds like Paul was speaking to people who kept the feast. Or how else would they understand the symbolism he is teaching? Use that same language to a group of Baptists and see if they understand the meaning without additional explanation. What Paul says makes more sense to an audience keeping the feast. Paul even gives instructions in chapters 10 and 11 about proper observance of the Lord's Supper (New Testament Passover), which precedes the Days of Unleavened Bread. Another indication this letter was probably sent shortly before the Festival was to take place."
First, I agree with Pastor Reed that this is a prime example of how a passage of Scripture can be viewed very differently by folks with an agenda (like proving that Christians are obligated to observe the festivals commanded in Torah). However, absent that agenda, if the passage is viewed in context (meaning subject matter and place in the larger epistle), I don't think that there is much room for confusion here. I invite my readers to read Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians (especially chapter 5) and make your own determination about the focus of his remarks. Was he talking about the Feast of Unleavened Bread or was he addressing the situation with a sinning brother and his situation's impact on the larger community?
Also, in so far as the passage is related to any festival, I would like to suggest that it clearly refers to the New Testament Passover - the Lord's Supper! After all, Paul did state that "Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed <for us>" Hence, in this context, Paul's remarks about the proper observance of the Eucharist in the eleventh chapter of the same epistle is much more consistent with the passage from the fifth chapter than any suggestion that he was speaking about the Feast of Unleavened Bread (unleavened bread was also an integral part of the Old Testament Passover). In other words, if Paul was focused on any festival, he was clearly speaking about New Testament Passover.
Finally, of course, these Gentile folks would have been familiar with these references to Torah! They would have been an integral part of Paul's preaching about Jesus Christ! Remember, Christ and his apostles used the Torah, Prophets, and Writings of the Hebrew Scriptures to preach the Good News about salvation through him to everyone - Jews and Gentiles. That does NOT, however, suggest that Christians should observe the Torah festivals - that would be a leap in logic that Scripture simply does NOT make.
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