Why You Should Stop Using Hawaiian Rolls For Communion

If you are looking to host a communion service at your church, you may be considering using Hawaiian rolls for the bread. You might not have realized that this is actually a departure from tradition and it is actually more important than you think. In order to understand why this is so important, you have to know the context of what unleavened bread means from the first act, the Exodus from Egypt in the Old Testament.

Getting out of Egypt, and fast!

As the Israelites made their Exodus from Egypt, they had to leave in haste. They did not have time for the bread to rise. As they fled the bread baked on their back beneath the hot Egyptian sun. The bread was flat and unleavened. This is why Jews use matzah during Passover, to remember this story of their Exodus from Egypt. It is during the Feast of Unleavened Bread that Jews commemorate the Exodus from Egypt.

What is the role of yeast in the Bible?

The Bible talks about leaven as symbolic of sin. In one passage in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus speaks of “leaving behind all that belongs to this world and following me." In 1 Corinthians 5:7 the Apostle Paul reminds us that we are to be a new batch, not like the old. Like sin, leaven spreads quickly throughout dough causing fermentation which makes them rise up instead of being flat like matzah, unleavened bread. It doesn't take much yeast to permeate an entire loaf, and it doesn't take much sin to ruin an entire life.

As we look at the unleavened bread, it is a picture of the perfect, sinless life lived by Jesus. He had no leaven in Him and therefore was the only possible one to be the sacrifice.

As great as a Hawaiian roll may be, it has leaven and the picture is changed.

Unleavened bread is pierced.

The unleavened bread is pierced, just as Jesus was pierced in His hands and feet. Isaiah 53:5 says, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities..." The unleavened bread is pierced, just as Jesus was pierced in His hands and feet. Watching the process of breaking it open can serve to remind us that even though we cannot join the Messiah on His journey, He nevertheless has joined our sin-filled world with Himself.

Unleavened bread is striped.

The unleavened bread is a picture of the stripes Jesus bore for our sins. "By His stripes we are healed..." (Isaiah 53:5) He was beaten with a whip, and the blood ran down His back. The unleavened bread is a picture of that stripe on Jesus' body - it's not just an image in our minds or words from Scripture; we can see this symbol with our own eyes!

When Jesus is sitting with His disciples and says, "This bread is a reminder of my body, whenever you take this bread, may it remind you of Me," this is significant. The fact the matzah is without leaven, pierced and striped, just looking at it should be a reminder of Jesus and His sacrifice.

THIS bread is important.

As 1 Corinthians 11:26 says, "For every time you eat THIS bread and drink THIS cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again." It is important to understand: Jesus is not against Hawaiian bread. Neither are we. He certainly ate bread with leaven throughout His life. But once a year, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the entire Jewish community would pause and do something different. They would eat unleavened bread. And it was when they would eat THIS bread...THIS bread being unleavened bread, then we are announcing the Lord's death until He comes again.

Unfortunately, Hawaiian bread, fresh-baked sourdough, and even my wife's amazing challah at Shabbat, does not remind us of the incredible gift of the sacrifice from the Lamb of God.

So next time you come to taking the Lord's Supper and the person at church got the loaf instead of the cracker, remind yourself of the picture of Jesus and eat mindfully and gratefully.

The bread that we use for communion is a reminder of the body and blood given to us by Jesus. It's not just an empty ritual, it has meaning behind every bite! The unleavened matzah reminds Jews during Passover about how they were once slaves in Egypt but now are free because God saved them with His mighty hand.