Leaven of Heaven

The question has been put to me, why do the LDS not use unleavened bread for the Sacrament?

The issue merits some attention. I believe that the question is not independent but part of a cluster of related matters:

Why was unleavened bread used anciently, that is, what was its significance

What Christians, if any, use it in religious worship today, and why?

Why do the Latter-day Saints not use unleavened bread?       

So why was unleavened bread used anciently? 

The Lord explained to ancient Israel that He led them out of Egypt in haste, on the heels of His taking the lives of the firstborn sons of Egypt. (Exodus 12:17,29,33,34,39)

(17) And ye shall observe unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.

(29) And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

(33) And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.

(34) And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.

(39) And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.

Notice how the Israelites are told they shall observe this “day” forever by an ordinance.  We already may notice a couple of interesting points. First, the day of deliverance was Friday evening, the “sacrifice” of the Egyptian firstborn males certainly has its echo in the upcoming Sacrifice of Heavenly Father’s “Firstborn” Spirit Son, His Only-begotten Son in the flesh, the blood of the sacrificial lamb that spared the Israelite firstborn sons appears to be a symbol of the upcoming sacrifice of the Lamb of God, whose blood saves us from death by divine justice, the bitter herbs recall the “bitter cup” that Jesus had to ingest, and then there is the question of the unleavened bread.

The Function of Yeast/Leaven in Bread Making

Now, unleavened bread is simply bread with no yeast, so consequently the bread does not rise. Presumably the Israelites obtained all of their ingredients for bread in Egypt itself—grain/flour, water, salt—and yeast would have been no different. However, yeast is special in two important regards: 1) A small amount of yeast will affect a large amount of dough; 2) Yeast will cause bread to rise.

The Savior addresses the issue of yeast (“yeast” and “leaven” are identical in meaning, only that “yeast” is Germanic and “leaven” is French) as a symbol, and as a symbol it could mean “false doctrine”. (Matthew 16:6,12)

(6) Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

(12) Then understood they how that he bad them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

The Savior’s teaching is interesting in more than one regard. First and foremost, that “leaven” should symbolize false doctrine or, I suppose, sin, is curious. A little sin or a little falsehood can affect the entire loaf of sourced of nutrition (a whole loaf of bread), and as we live off of bread, we would ingest much falsehood over a small allowance of sin. The other point that may get overlooked is that the Savior, interestingly enough, did not bid the apostles to beware of actual yeast. Actual yeast itself was fine, but as a symbol there was certainly such as thing as bad yeast.

Good Yeast in Opposition to Bad Yeast

We have seen how the Savior used leaven as a symbol of false doctrine, and that analogy elucidates an otherwise obscure teaching, the Parable of the Woman and the Leaven. (Matthew 13:33)

(33) Another parable spake he unto them: The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Some familiarity with the Savior's consistent use of symbols is helpful in understanding this brief yet potent parable. The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a doctrine (leaven) that taken by the Church (the woman) in hidden or kneaded into three measures of grain (three witnesses) will exalt the entire membership. 

Perhaps what often gets overlooked is that it can be said that the bread of the Kingdom of Heaven had leaven, albeit the spiritual leaven that raises not the bread but the soul.

What Kind of Bread Did the Savior Use When He Instituted the Sacrament?

This topic actually goes toward answering the question, which Christians today use unleavened bread in their Sacrament. The Savior used unleavened bread as this was the bread used in the Passover. (Matthew 26:2,17,26-28,31-32)

(2) Ye know that after two days is the passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified.

(17) Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?

(26) And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.

(27) And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

(28) For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

(31) Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

(32) But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. 

These passages on the Passover and the institution of the Sacrament are very familiar to Christians. There are at least two details I would draw the reader's attention to. First, that the Savior performed the Passover as He Himself had commanded in the Law given to Moses. Second, it was in the midst of the Jewish observation that Jesus instituted the most sacred ordinance known in Christianity, and He did so by taking the old emblems and exalting their significance: The deliverance would now not be from Egypt but from sin, and the blood would soon be spilled to save all mankind. 

There is one additional detail I would draw attention to: That it was also in the institution of the Sacrament that Jesus makes mention yet again of His impending Resurrection, His "rising again". 

This "Rising Again" may bear significance in the matter of "leavened" bread since Jesus declared Himself to be the Bread of Life. (John 6:35)

(35) And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

The symbol of bread satisfying hunger eternally and the quenching of thirst eternally, itself no doubt referring to Jesus being the "Living Waters" but also to "drinking His blood" via faith and renewal of covenants is noteworthy.

As a matter of fact, Canon Law of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church mandates the use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist (Sacrament in the LDS sense). Interestingly enough, the Greek Orthodox Church forbids unleavened bread for the Sacrament viewing the unleavened bread as tied to the Old Testament, the leavened bread as part of the New Testament.

Old Outward Practice Preserved Through Inner Commitment

It is no secret that circumcision (in the Biblical sense circumcision was the trimming of the rim of the foreskin, unlike the modern practice of the complete removal of the tissue) was part of the Law given to Moses. (Leviticus 12:3)

(3) And in the eight day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

Yet the Savior reinterpreted circumcision, the commitment to submit to God's will, even when His will would affect us intimately, solely to a commitment in one's heart, which commitment was part of the Law of Moses as well. (Deuteronomy 10:16, 30:6, Romans 2:29)

(16) Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

(6) And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

(29) But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

These verses demonstrate that even when The Lord had commanded the outward ordinance of circumcision, He really required the heart to be bridled and turned to Him. Later, Paul in addressing the Saints in Rome, stated that circumcision was of the heart, in the spirit, to praise God. 

You may be wondering what this practice has to do with leaven. Well, as it happens, leaven too received a reinterpretation in the Gospel of the New Covenant.  (1 Corinthians 5:6-8)

(6) Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

(7) Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

(8) Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

What is noteworthy here is that the passover along with its unleavened bread is reinterpreted in the Gospel, and our unleavened bread is to be sincerity and truth.

Why Do The LDS Not Use Unleavened Bread For Their Sacrament?

Well, the survey of scriptural passages may have actually demonstrated that "the avoidance of leaven" was not longer a requirement for the recalling the sacrifice of the Son of God. In truth, the Eastern Orthodox Christians and many Protestants routinely use leavened bread for their Sacrament. But as to the specific question why the LDS do not, we actually have a modern revelation on the matter. (Doctrine and Covenants 27:2)

(2) For, behold, I say unto you, that it mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory--remembering unto the Father my body which was laid down for you, and my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins.

I will concede the point that this revelation, in August of 1830, may seem like a novel or arbitrary declaration to those unacquainted with it. When the scriptures are studied carefully, though, we may see in this statement absolute consistency with what the Savior said centuries earlier. We saw that He instituted the Passover for Israel to remember their deliverance from Egypt and the upcoming Sacrifice of the Son of God. We saw that unleavened bread was part of the Passover worship. We also saw that the Savior used leaven as a symbol for doctrine and warned against using false leaven or doctrine, but compared the Kingdom of Heaven as good leaven kneaded into dough so that the bread would rise. Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life, and Jesus prophesied He would rise after the Passover, and He did so as the apostles ate the unleavened bread. We also saw Paul teaching that our unleavened bread is not sincerity and truth. By analogy the Savior transformed physical circumcision of the flesh along with the spiritual circumcision of the heart into only the spiritual circumcision of the heart. The LDS have it on good authority, namely Jesus Himself, that the type of bread or type of fluid used for the sacrament are not so important, but the remembrance of His Sacrifice is what matters. So per LDS doctrine our Catholic and Orthodox as well as Protestant brethren are fine in their choices of avoiding or utilizing leaven. Not all may see eye to eye in this matter, but I would ask only that, as we consider the factors of this particular issue, we bear in mind that which is actually textual.