This is one of those things that people just SAY and seldom stop to prove. It’s like an urban legend – no one ever stops to check it, but it’s always just stated casually in passing to prove another point.

Luke 22:19 And he took bread < Artos>, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

The Greek word Artos there translated as “bread” is used 99 times in the New Testament, being translated as bread or loaf 95 of those times. Since the usage is generally leavened bread, uneducated or deceitful people use that to “prove” that Christ ate leavened bread at the last supper, and that therefore it was not a passover service. The only way we can know for certain whether He did or not, is not to look at Greek lexicons or dusty commentaries, but to ask how the Bible uses the word – then we can be certain.

John 6:31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread < Artos> from heaven to eat.

So according to Jesus, Artos is what fell from heaven as Manna. But Manna was not leavened.

Matthew 12:4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread < Artos>, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

According to this, Artos can describe the Shewbread which was in the temple, before God daily. But Shewbread was not leavened. Sunday afternoon, after Christ was resurrected, He appeared incognito to His disciples…

Luke 24:15, 29 And it came to pass, that … Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. … they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.

And they invited Him in for dinner on that same day. This was in the Hebrew calendar late on the 18^th of Abib, right in the middle of the Days of Unleavened Bread. When, of course, NO leavened bread was to be eaten. Period. Ever. By anyone. It’s important to set the time frame clearly for it then says…

Luke 24:30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread < Artos>, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.

In the middle of the ONLY time of the year when leavened bread COULD NOT be eaten, when leavened bread could not even have been FOUND anywhere within a 50 mile radius, Jesus TOOK Artos, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His disciples to eat! So Artos does NOT always mean leavened bread! Not that more proof is needed, but as you probably know leaven represents sin throughout the Bible; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 is a good example. So a loaf baked with leaven represents a body that has sin in it. And yet Jesus said…

John 6:51 I am the living bread < Artos> which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread < Artos>, he shall live for ever: and the bread < Artos> that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

And so Jesus said that He was that ARTOS! So unless Jesus sinned, that word flatly, absolutely, CANNOT mean leavened bread! But as always, there is a simple answer – unless someone has an ax to grind. And that answer is, that bread means bread. It doesn’t mean leavened bread. It doesn’t mean unleavened bread. It doesn’t mean white bread, rye bread, or pumpernickel. It means bread. It CAN mean all of those things, or none of them, depending on context. If you tack another word onto it, it can mean bread fruit, raisin bread, French bread, or a 1970’s rock group. But the word bread still just means bread.

Jesus did NOT eat leavened bread at the last supper. For He said, AS HE BROKE IT, that this was HIS body. And His body was without sin, and therefore anything that represented Him was 100% leaven-free.

Luke 22:19 And he took bread < Artos>, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, THIS IS MY BODY WHICH IS GIVEN FOR YOU: this do in remembrance of me.