Artos by Peter Nathan

1.	Occasionally, people raise the question as to the nature of the bread that Jesus used as an emblem of His body in the Passover.  The confusion arises because of the Greek word used in the New Testament.

2.	Artos is the Greek word used for bread of any description.  By way of example we see that manna is referred to as artos (John 6:31) as was the shewbread which Leviticus 24:5 shows was unleavened loaves (Matthew 12.14, Luke 6:4, Hebrews 9:2).  Christ described Himself as the artos of life (John 6:48-51).  The bread taken at the Passover by Christ is also called artos (Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:19, John 13:18).

3.	The term Azumos, meaning “without leaven”, is used some eight times in the New Testament, but not to describe bread; rather as the name of the Festival itself. What we call the Feast of Unleavened Bread was simply called “the feast of Unleavened”. The term “bread” has been added in English language bibles.  Only once is the word Azumos used to describe the state of being unleavened (1 Corinthians 5:7), and even there it is not related to bread, but to our spiritual state.

4.	The conclusion that some reach as a result of the use of the word artos for the bread used at Passover is that Christ used leavened bread for the Passover.  Such was not the case.  The Greek term for “bread” was an all encompassing expression.  Artos could be used metaphorically for food generally, hence Christ prayed that God would give us our daily bread or artos.  Is bread all we are to pray for?  What about cheese to go with it, or some other food?  The point is that the Greek term artos has to be interpreted by its context.  Remember that the New Testament  was written principally to a Jewish audience.  How would they have associated the usage of the term artos with Passover?  They would have seen it as unleavened artos.  The problem is ours based on distance from those times and culture.

5.	James Barr, a noted writer on the semantics of the Bible speaks of the undergirding unity of Scripture.  He adds a valuable insight by stating that the real unity of the two [testaments] is in a  “. . .common way of thinking, a common cast of mind and mould of expression, which operates throughout the Bible and which is more noticeable and influential than the variations which it of course undergoes in the minds of individual authors and traditions.” In other words, we should interpret one part of the Bible in light of the other part or parts.  Inconsistency is not a feature of God’s Word.

6.	The result is that Christ was not introducing some new concept in observance but continuing what had been established from the beginning.  Hence the use of the term “bread” does not mean that our understanding and practice with the Passover has been wrong.  The difficulties that some people raise over words are easily explained.  

7.	However, it does give rise to another point regarding the emblems used at the Passover. 

8.	Frequently, Matzos are used as unleavened bread.  It is true that Matzos are unleavened, but the product is a relatively modern style of unleavened bread, that became possible with the introduction of machinery and production lines.  Like the rest of the processed food industry, Matzos are produced at the cheapest possible price with the longest attainable shelf life.  While the unleavened bread we use at the Passover is simply an emblem, perhaps we can still ask ourselves as to whether Matzos are truly an effective representation of Christ’s body or more a statement about the age in which we live.  If Matzos are the only form of unleavened bread available, then we can use them, but where possible it may be more fitting to use a better quality unleavened bread for the occasion.  The same holds true for the wine that is used.  While we do not advocate the purchase of the most expensive Premier Cru wine or a wine that is priced beyond our means, any wine purchased for the Passover service should be good quality in the first instance and price and affordability secondly.  We are remembering the most valuable sacrifice that has ever occurred.

710 words