Paul's Analogy Between
the Community at Corinth, And,
"Christ, Our Passover"
By Jonathan Mitchell
Comments on 1 Cor. 5:6-8
6. The effect of your boast is not beautiful, fine, ideal or good form. Have you not seen so as to know that a little leaven (or: yeast) progressively leavens (permeates) [the] whole lump of dough (the result of that which has been uniformly mixed and kneaded together)?
7. At once completely clean out the old leaven, so that you folks would progressively be a fresh, new lump of dough with uniform mix-effect, just as you are free from ferment (or: in that you have continued being an aggregation which has been freshly mixed and kneaded together - correspondingly as you are continuing being unleavened ones). For also Christ, our Passover [= Passover lamb], was slaughtered (or: sacrificed; slain for food).
8. Consequently, we can (or: should) be continuously keeping and celebrating the Feast (7-day Festival of Unleavened Bread) - not in union with old leaven (or: yeast in old dough, from the previous batch), neither in union with or in the midst of a leaven of bad quality (worthlessness; ugliness; what ought not to be; malice) and painful misery (hard labor; evil disposition; mischief; wickedness) - but in contrast, in union with and in the midst of unleavened cakes (matzah) of genuineness (or: which are integrity and sincerity; from that which has been tested by sunlight and found to be pure and unadulterated) as well as truth and unhidden reality. [cf Deut. 16:3; Lu. 12:1; Rev. 5]
The "boast" to which he refers, in vs. 6, is their
"remaining inflated with pride,"
in vs. 2 above, as well as to his statements in 4:6, 7 and 18. The effect of this was "not beautiful, fine, ideal or good form." Now he did not say here that the failure of the man, above, was bad form (although it obviously was), but he is now addressing the second misconduct: that of the community in boasting in something other than Christ. It was their pride, and their boast, that was "progressively leavening the whole lump" - i.e., the whole community. The "effect of their boast" was permeating the whole group (the lump of dough - recall that they are "one loaf of bread" - 10:17, below). So Paul was instructing them to "clean out the old leaven" of boasting in things that are not "beautiful, fine or ideal" - i.e., that are not Christ. In Mat. 16:6, Jesus used the figure of leaven in instructing His disciples:
"be constantly seeing, and be then attentive in holding [yourselves] away from the leaven (yeast) which comes from, characterizes, [and puffs up or permeates] the Pharisees and Sadducees."
In vs. 12 Matthew explains the He was referring to
"the teaching which belongs to, comes from and characterizes the Pharisees and Sadducees."
As Paul reminds the Corinthians, even
"a little leaven progressively leavens (permeates) [the] whole lump of dough."
So even though the issue that he is addressing in this chapter might seem like something of no great consequence (a "little" leaven), its effects would spread throughout the entire community. So when he says,
"At once completely clean out the old leaven,"
he is speaking of the man's behavior and the community's inflation with pride that are both examples of the old Adamic life that would end up "fermenting them." They needed to be refreshed so that they would be a new lump (a body of believers that were free from that which would inflate their egos).
Next he reminds them that
"Christ, our Passover [= Passover lamb], was slaughtered."
This was a past event, and so now,
"the blood of, from, and which is Jesus, His Son, keeps continually and repeatedly cleansing us (or: is progressively rendering us pure) from every sin (or: from all error, failure, deviation, mistake, and from every shot that is off target [when it occurs])" (1 Jn. 1:7b).
Both Paul and John are keeping the Christ Event of the cross, and of Jesus' death, centered in Israel's story. The Passover reference speaks of the deliverance of Israel from their slavery in Egypt. Paul's use of the term "slaughtered" alluded to the evening meal that they were to eat (thus Jesus' reference to eating His flesh, in Jn. 6:53, and in Mat. 26:26, et al) in order to have strength for the next day's journey (Ex. 12:9-11, 29-41). But in that event, the blood was an identification marker for the Israelites; there was no mention of sin. Yet Christ served as the fulfillment of another Feast, the Day of Atonement, to which John's letter, above, would be referring. Christ's blood served multiple functions. Jesus also spoke of our need for LIFE:
"unless you folks should at some point eat the flesh of the Son of the Human (the Son of man; = the eschatological messianic figure), and then would drink His blood (or: since you would not eat the flesh which is the Human Being, and further, drink His blood), you are continuing not holding (or: habitually having or presently possessing) LIFE within yourselves" (Jn. 6:53).
This is the only place that Paul brings up Christ as being "our Passover." The only other NT letter that uses this term is Heb. 11:28, a reference to Moses. That Paul almost casually mentions the phrase tells us that they had been instructed about it. But we should observe that it is not stated here that he was using it in reference to the deliverance or salvation of the Corinthians. The point of the allusion is given in vs. 7,
"At once completely clean out the old leaven,"
where in vs. 13, below, he explains this by saying,
"Carry forth (Expel; Remove) the degenerate person!"
He was using the historical, Jewish preparation for the Passover Feast as a foundation for his argument that they needed to "clean up their act," to use a modern phrase. Also, as Heb. 9:23-26 instruct us, even the Day of Atonement had been fulfilled in the work of Christ, and thus Heb. 9:28 informs us of the ongoing situation for His followers:
"so also, the Christ - being once borne (or: carried) close into the many (or: being offered once unto and for the many) to carry failures (errors; sins; mistakes; deviations; misses of the target) back up again - will continue being made visible (or: will be progressively seen) forth from out of the midst of the second [place (cf 9:3, 7 & 10:9; {comment: = the holy of holies})] - apart from failure (apart from sin; apart from a sin offering; apart from error in attempting to hit the target) - in those (or: by those; to those; for those) habitually receiving (or: progressively taking) from out of the midst of Him, [progressing] into a deliverance (or: [leading] into a rescue; with a view to health and wholeness; into the midst of salvation)."
The works of both deliverance (Passover) and cleansing (Atonement) had been completed in the Christ, as a combined historical Event. And thus,
"Consequently, we can (or: should) be continuously keeping and celebrating the Feast... in union with and in the midst of unleavened cakes of genuineness."
Note: he did not say "once a year keep the Feast." He was using this part of Israel's history to make his point. They were the "heavenly temple" into which Jesus had entered, with His blood (Life) and the new mercy seat (in their hearts) had been "sprinkled" (Heb. 10:19-22), within the spiritual "holy of holies," which they now were (6:19, below). The old covenant was a thing of the past for the Corinthian community (2 Cor. 5:17). Although the Jews were still celebrating the Feasts of the old covenant (in those pre-AD 70 days), those outward rituals no longer applied to the Body of Christ. They were no longer slaves in the domination System (or either Egypt, in Israel's past, or Rome, in Israel's present) but had entered into "the promised Land" of the Spirit, the kingdom of the Atmospheres (heavens). In Gal. 5:1 Paul affirmed that the called-out had been brought into freedom. They could be "habitually receiving (or: progressively taking) from out of the midst of Him" (Heb. 9:28), the Christ that was continuously dwelling both within and among them.
So it is in the context of the Day of Preparation, and then the seven days of unleavened bread that followed the Feast of Passover, to which he is alluding. And the context is about cleansing their community (vs. 7a) so that they would not have the "old leaven" (vs. 8) in their midst. They were to get rid of
"leaven of bad quality (worthlessness; ugliness; what ought not to be; malice) and painful misery (hard labor; evil disposition; mischief; wickedness)" (vs. 8).
Everything that he had just brought up, as a critique of them, was something that had bad quality, was worthless, was ugly, and it was that which ought not to be in a new covenant community. And somehow their situation had puffed them up. Their eyes must have become blind, as did the eyes of the Pharisees (Mat. 23:26), and the community in Laodicea (Rev. 3:18b).
Paul instructed them that they could metaphorically "be continuously keeping and celebrating the Feast," not with "old leaven" that inflated them with pride (or, for the Jews of the community, not with the old covenant ceremonies or ritual cultus), but rather - and IN CONTRAST -
"in union with and in the midst of unleavened cakes (matzah) of genuineness (or: which are integrity and sincerity; from that which has been tested by sunlight and found to be pure and unadulterated)."
So he is figuratively talking about living genuine lives which are comprised of integrity and sincerity. Lives that have been tested by Sunlight, and found to be pure and unadulterated with pride or the wisdom of the domination System.
Added to the genuineness is "truth and unhidden reality." All of this is about the life that they were living as a called-out community of Christ. I conflated the meaning of one Greek word that equally means "truth, reality and that which is open to view - i.e., unhidden." The Secret (Christ) has been unveiled and is no longer hidden in a sacrificial system or a physical temple.
Paul now presents a catalogue of vices that are examples of "leaven of bad quality"... and thus continues his topic concerning the need for the community to be pure - free from adulterations which do not reflect the image of God. Jesus listed some of these in Mk. 7:21-23,
(or: acts of wickedness; malicious deeds; evil doings); bait to catch someone with deceit, treachery, guile or fraud; loose conduct (indecency); an evil eye
(= a focus toward malice or mischief); villainous and light-hindering slander, harmful and abusive speech, or blasphemy
(a hindering of light); pride, arrogance and haughtiness; acting without thinking (or: imprudence; unreasonableness; inconsiderateness; lack of purpose; folly). All these bad situations and misery-causing things are habitually issuing forth from within, and repeatedly contaminate the person (continuously make the human common, polluted and ritually unclean)." Cf Mt. 15:29; Rom. 1:29-31; 13:13; 2 Cor. 12:20f; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-5; et al
To be continued...
Jonathan
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