How Jesus Fulfills the Old Testament Feasts

Israel's festivals were communal and commemorative as well as theological and symbolic. They were
communal in that they drew the nation together for celebration and worship as they recalled the
common origin and experience of the people. They were commemorative in that they kept alive the
story of what God had done in the exodus and during their travels in the wilderness. They were
theological in that the observance of the festivals presented the participants with lessons on the reality
of sin, judgment, and forgiveness, on the need for thanksgiving to God, and on the importance of
trusting God rather than hoarding possessions. They were symbolic in that they anticipated a greater
fulfillment of the symbolism of the feasts. It is not surprising that each of the major feasts is in some way
alluded to in the New Testament and has Jesus as the fulfillment of them.

PASSOVER:
The first major feast is the Passover. READ LEV. 23:5. We don’t get much here about what the Passover
is. Do you any of you know what this feast was remembering? (READ EX. 12:1-14) Ultimately this feast is
about remembering God freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. How do you think Jesus parallels
this in the New Testament? (We are free from the slavery of sin for good through Jesus. READ JOHN
8:34-36)

-What did God tell the Israelites to do with the blood in Exodus? (Ex. 12:23; spread it on the door frame
so that the Angel of Death would “pass over” that house)
-How does Jesus fulfill this? (His blood covers our sin so that the judgment we deserve is passed over.
READ John 5:24; 1 Pet. 1:18-19)

In the bible, the lamb is a symbol of the Passover because a lamb was slain at the beginning of the
Passover and eaten that night. The Israelites knew the blood of the lamb had protected them from the
death of their firstborn on that first Passover night they kept in Egypt. In the New Testament, the
gospels record that Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples several times. On the night before His
death, Jesus knew He was fulfilling the symbolism of the Passover lamb in voluntarily giving His life for
the sins of the entire world. READ MATT. 26:26-29

Jesus instituted the new symbols that represented not the sacrifice of a lamb, but His far greater
sacrifice. The Passover symbols would now represent Christ’s complete sacrifice—the unleavened bread
representing His sinless body that was beaten for us, and a sip of wine signifying the lifeblood He would
shed to wash away our sins. From then on, this feast took on a much greater meaning to the Church.
Instead of stopping to practice the Passover feast, this feast now revealed its true, ultimate meaning.
The disciples now realized the Passover lam was only the physical forerunner of that perfect sacrifice
which was Jesus Christ. Now they would keep this feast with far greater significance and
comprehension, which we still do today.

FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD

This feast would last a week and start the day after Passover. READ LEV. 23:6-8. This feast also has its
roots in the Exodus from Egypt. READ EX. 12:15-20. What do you think this feast is supposed to remind
the Israelites of? (Remember how the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt in haste). In the New
Testament, it’s a little more difficult to see how Jesus fulfills this feast, but it’s definitely there. Most of
the time when yeast is talked about in the New Testament it represents sin. When you put yeast in
bread, it quickly spreads everywhere and makes the bread full of yeast. A little sin is all it takes to make
us sinful throughout our whole body.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul explains the spiritual symbolism of unleavened bread. While rebuking the church
members in Corinth for their acceptance of sin, he tells them this: READ 1 COR. 5:6-7. As Paul states, it is
the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that removes our sins, and so we become “unleavened” in a spiritual sense.
So, again, Jesus is the focus of this feast. The symbolism of this feast points to what Jesus would do for
all of us in cleansing us of sin and helping us to live sin-free lives.

READ 1 COR. 5:8. Paul told the church in Corinth that they should continue to keep this feast. We need
to remember that Jesus has purged us of all sin when we believe in Him. READ JUDE 24. Again, we see
we are able to be spiritually “unleavened” before God. God saved the Israelites in Egypt with great
haste, and Jesus’ work on the cross ultimately defeated sin and saved us from it in one great movement.

FIRSTFRUITS
The next feast is the feast of first fruits. READ LEV. 23:9-14. What do you think this feast represents?
(Recognize the Lord’s bounty in the land) The point of this feast is to understand everything that we
have comes from God and that He should be praised for that. What should we praise God for the most
in the New Testament? (Jesus dying for sins and raising from the dead to prove He has power over
death and sin) Paul explains in 1 Cor. 15 that the resurrection of Christ is the most important event in
history. READ 1 COR. 15:12-23. Who is the first fruit in this passage and why? (Jesus because He is the
first to resurrect from the dead) What does Christ’s resurrection guarantee for His followers? (That all
of God’s redeemed people will one day be resurrected and given new bodies to dwell with Him for
eternity) So Jesus is the real first fruits worth celebrating and the most important thing that has been
given to us. Because of this, He and He alone deserves all our praise and worship.

PENTECOST (OR FEAST OF WEEKS)

When you hear Pentecost is there an event that immediately pops into your head? (The day of
Pentecost in Acts 2 when the disciples receive the Holy Spirit) Let’s see what the point of Pentecost
was in the Old Testament. READ LEV. 23: 15-22. This feast occurred 50 days after the celebration of the
Passover. What are they celebrating here? (Showing joy and thankfulness for the Lord’s blessing of
harvest)

What’s more interesting is a parallel of what originally happened 50 days after the first Passover in
Egypt. In Exodus 19, Moses receives the Ten Commandments about 7 weeks after the death of the
Passover lambs. This signified the people receiving the law on stone tablets. On the day of Pentecost in
the New Testament, 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the disciples receive the Holy Spirit in
Acts 2; now the people have the law of life on their heart. Back in Exodus while Moses is receiving the
Ten Commandments and instructions on building the tabernacle, Aaron and the rest of the Israelites are
constructing a golden calf to worship. When Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai he asks what people are
committed to Yahweh. The Levites quickly rush to Moses’ side. Because of the sin of the Israelites,
Moses has the Levites kill about 3000 men (Ex. 32:28). Fast forward to Acts 2 where Peter preaches the
gospel for the first time after being filled with the Holy Spirit, and we see about 3000 men accept Jesus
Christ and eternal life.

So in the Old Testament, 50 days after Passover the Israelites received the Law and begin their covenant
as the nation of God. In the New Testament, 50 days after the resurrection of the true Passover Lamb
(Jesus) the Church is started when they receive the Holy Spirit.
FEAST OF TRUMPETS
The next feast is known as the feast of trumpets and is described in Leviticus 23:23-25. This day is also
known as Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish new year. It was an assembly on a day of rest
commemorated with trumpet blasts and sacrifices. Sounding of the trumpets was a way of gathering
God’s people together before Him. While the feast of trumpets isn’t directly seen in the New Testament
we do see trumpets playing an important future role in the works of Christ. READ 1 THESS. 4:16-17.
Christ will ultimately fulfill the symbolism behind the feast of trumpets. He is the center of this
foreshadowing feast. At His second coming, the trumpet shall sound, announcing the arrival of the King
of Kings. Rev. 11:15 says when this happens loud voices will proclaim, “The kingdoms of this world have
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” All of the world
will hear this trumpet and be gathered before our Lord. But until the sound of the trumpet is heard, this
feast is still pointing to the future, and its meaning is still to be fulfilled, with Jesus at its center.

DAY OF ATONEMENT (YOM KIPPUR)

The Day of Atonement was perhaps the second most important day of the year for the Israelites after
the Passover, though you could make the case it was THE most important. READ LEV. 23:26-32. Only
once a year, the High Priest, and nobody else, may enter the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the
Covenant was kept, and meet there the glory of the Lord. While in the Holy of Holies, the High Priest
makes atonement for himself and for the people of Israel by sprinkling the blood of a sacrifice on the
mercy seat atop the Ark of the Covenant. Then the High Priest would lay the sins of the people on a
scape goat, which would be cast out into the wilderness, outside of the camp of the Israelites, signifying
that sin cannot be in God’s presence and must be cast away from Him.

What are the immediate parallels you can think of in the New Testament for these rituals? (Through
Jesus’ death on the cross, the way to the Father is free for everybody at any time, not just the High
Priest on a certain day [READ MARK 15:37-38]. When Jesus was the sacrifice for the sins of humanity
He did not have to atone for His own sins first like the High Priest, because He is the only person to
ever be sinless. Jesus functions as our High Priest now according to Hebrews 9, and when He returns
to earth at His second coming He will be coming out of the true Holy of Holies (heaven), whereas the
High Priest in the Old Testament merely entered from out of a curtain). Our sins have been paid for
once and for all through Jesus’ work which is why we don’t make sacrifices today. We all have access to
the Father through Christ’s work on the cross and don’t need to have someone talk to the Father on our
behalf because Christ intercedes for us.

FEAST OF TABERNACLES (BOOTHS)

READ LEV. 23:33-44. The last feast is the feast of tabernacles or booths. This feast was a week of
celebration for the harvest and the people lived in booths (or tents) and offered sacrifices. The point of
this feast was to memorialize the journey from Egypt to Israel and remind the people they lived in tents
and to thank God for giving them Israel, a fruitful, productive land.

Jesus is recorded to have kept this feast in John 7:2-36. The symbol of the tabernacle in the New
Testament is rich with meaning. During Christ’s earthly ministry, John mentions that “the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The Greek term for “dwelt” here actually means that He
“tabernacle” among us. Just as Jesus Christ as the Creator God in the Old Testament “tabernacle” with
the Israelites in the wilderness, He now did so with His people in His physical life many centuries later.
When Jesus returns the harvest will be brought in. Those who have followed Him will get to live
alongside Him forever. According to Rev. 20, at Christ’s second coming, He will again “tabernacle” with
those who are saved. He will dwell with His people for a thousand years, and this 1000-year rule of Jesus
Christ over the earth is the ultimate fulfillment of this feast. So Christ is definitely the center of this feast
too—as the ruler who will “tabernacle” with His people for a thousand years when He returns, and who
allows all followers to “tabernacle” with Him in heaven forever.