When Moses and the Hebrew people had followed God’s command and been spared the deaths of their firstborn in the worst and final plague that God brought upon the Egyptians, God instituted two festivals: the Passover and the Feast of Unleaven bread. He also instituded a ritual that was to be practiced throughout the entire year: the sacrifice of the first-born. As it is explained in Exodus 13:11-16:

11 “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12 you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s. 13 Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt” (ESV).

The celebration of salvation brought by the sacrificial lamb at passover was given once a year to remind the people of how God had delivered them From Egypt. The feast of Unleaven Bread was celebrated once a year to remind them of what God had delivered them from: the sin of Egypt which puffs up. Yet the response of God’s people in gratitude for all that he had done for them was to be practiced the entire year.

The first born animal, the first fruit of the season, and the first born of a man’s children are all the best a man can give. As sinners we were lost and enslaved in sin–in our Egypt. But the blood of the lamb which covers the sin of the all who believe has delivered us from that Egypt and made us a people, set free from bondage. That sin which holds us down demands all that we are, for we have rejected the life of God. All that is left is the shell of the flesh, enslaved to sinful passions. So what is the best we can give? We are unfulfilled, and slaves to our unfulfillment. For this reason it was the “first born of all creation” who came from heaven to give up his life. Not that Christ was incarnate before his birth, but that he is the greatest of all creation for he is God, veiled in human flesh.

We celebrate his death and resurrection for our deliverence from sin on various occasions throughout the year. But the reason that we were saved, the reason that Christ delivered us from Egypt, is so that we might enjoy abiding in him at all times, in all places. This means that we don’t need to keep pursuing the things on this earth that seem so promising, but yeild so little. We can celebrate the Feast of Unleaven Bread, for when we abandon the leaven of pride in possession and ability, we can truly feast on the fulfilling bread that came down from heaven: our Christ, the one who delivered us from Egypt and now gives himself to us for our spiritual nourishment.

This feast is the enjoyment of the life of Jesus Christ. He sacrificed his life so that we, being filled with the gratitude of his gift, would in turn sacrifice our own lives for his glory. Thanksgiving is the one thing that we are called to do in every moment of every day. This thanks is not just lip service, or even a constant ‘feeling’ of gratitude, but an active giving of the best that we have. Christ gave all that he is for us, and in thanksgiving we give all that we are for his use. Nothing we have is worthy of him; but thankfully he does not demand what he has not given. He never has. He has only desired that we give back to him the best of what he pours into our lives.