22:7 ¶ Then came the day of
unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. 8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and
prepare us the passover, that we may eat. 9
And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? 10 And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are
entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water;
follow him into the house where he entereth in. 11 And ye shall say unto the goodman of the
house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat
the passover with my disciples? 12 And
he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. 13 And they went, and found as he had said unto
them: and they made ready the passover. 14
And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with
him. 15 And he said unto them, With
desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: 16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat
thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and
said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the
fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. 19 And he took bread, 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. 20
Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new
testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Exodus 12:6 And ye shall
keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly
of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
Christ teaches His
little congregation to honor the traditions established by God for the Jewish
people. He does not fail to follow the Passover but becomes our Passover lamb.
Exodus 12:21 Then Moses
called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you
a lamb according to your
families, and kill the passover.
John 1:29 The next day John
seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world.
Notice how in verse 10
that God uses anonymous people that aren’t figured into the picture by name but
have a significant part to play. We don’t have any information for where this servant
carrying a pitcher of water or his employer or master, the goodman of the house, met Christ or what his relationship was
with Christ as a disciple. But, we just have to accept that the information is
not there. It is similar to this in Acts where we don’t know how this group was
established in Corinth.
Acts 18:9 Then spake the
Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not
thy peace: 10 For I am with thee, and no
man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.
Regarding the Lord’s
Supper it was not uncommon in a meal for there to be one cup passed around. Ordinary
people even up through the European Middle Ages at a group meal often drank
from the same cup, put their fingers in the same plate of food, took soup from
the same pot or plate, etc. etc. Their culture was vastly different from ours
and we need to get that straight in our heads and not read our time back into
it.(7)
Paul called this meal in
1Corinthians 11:20 The Lord’s Supper.
In 1Corinthians 10:16 he referred to it as the communion of the blood and body of Christ. Christ
breaks a piece of bread, holding it in His hands but calling it, the bread, His
body. Christ is holding a cup of wine that is not blood but He calls it blood.
Jesus uses this type of metaphor in other places confusing His hearers who are
not of the right heart.
John 6:28 ¶ Then said they
unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is
the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 30 They said therefore unto him, What sign
shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
31 Our fathers did eat manna in the
desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth
you the true bread from heaven. 33 For
the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the
world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord,
evermore give us this bread. 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. [Jesus
refers here to Himself as being a superior Manna, true bread from heaven. It is
a metaphor, a type, He is using. Jesus is not saying He is literally bread,
referring to hunger and thirst as a spiritual condition, see Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and
thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.] 36 But I said unto you, That ye
also have seen me, and believe not. 37
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I
came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. 39 And this is the Father’s will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me,
that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he
said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of
Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came
down from heaven? 43 Jesus therefore
answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, except the Father
which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall
be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of
the Father, cometh unto me. 46 Not that
any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48
I am that bread of life. 49 Your
fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from
heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from
heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread
that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
52 The Jews therefore strove among
themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh
of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,
hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is
drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my
flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live
by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from
heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this
bread shall live for ever. 59 These
things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
60 ¶ Many therefore of his disciples, when they
had heard this, said, This is
an hard saying; who can hear it? 61 When
Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them,
Doth this offend you? 62 What and if ye shall see the Son of
man ascend up where he was before? 63 It
is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I
speak unto you, they are
spirit, and they are life. [Here
He revealed the spiritual nature as opposed to the carnal nature of His
comparison of Himself to the Manna in the wilderness.] 64 But there are some of you
that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed
not, and who should betray him. 65 And
he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it
were given unto him of my Father. 66
From that time many of
his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also
go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art
that Christ, the Son of the living God. 70
Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a
devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that
should betray him, being one of the twelve.
So, Christ has used
this comparison to underscore that meat and drink can preserve us for a time
physically but only the spiritual can preserve us for eternity. Paul wrote;
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy
in the Holy Ghost.
We have God’s words in
this Bible. It is written in Job;
Job 23:12 Neither have I
gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my
necessary food.
Job 34:3 For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.
So, no reasonable
person is going to stuff food in their ears or tear off a page of the Bible,
crinkle it up, and try to shove it in their ear to follow the Bible literally.
We know that the Holy Spirit uses a great many metaphors and makes use of
typology in writing the Bible.
Now that we understand
the spiritual nature of what Christ is saying, that the wine in the cup is not
His literal blood and the bread is not His literal body, we can understand what
is happening here more clearly.
Paul emphasized the
solemnity and gravity of this recurring ordinance and what it represents.
1Corinthians 11:26 For as
often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he
come.
It is not only a solemn
occasion that requires serious thought but it is a time of self-reflection and
self-examination.
1Corinthians 11:28 But let
a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that
cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s
body.
Here is the larger
passage from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Paul first complains about
the Corinthians raucous misuse of the times they shared the Lord’s Supper,
their disrespect of it, and then lays out its meaning for them.
1Corinthians 11:17 ¶ Now in
this that I declare unto you I
praise you not, that ye come
together not for the better, but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when ye come together in
the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
19 For there must be also heresies among
you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 20 When ye come together therefore into one
place, this is not to eat the
Lord’s supper. 21 For in eating every
one taketh before other his own
supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink
in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I
say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
[This would show the
stark contrast between a debauched and drunken pagan feed at one of the temples
of pagan gods, with food offered to idols, and the gravity of the Lord’s
Supper.]
23 ¶ For I have received of the Lord that which
also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my
body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped,
saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye
drink it, in remembrance of me.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread,
and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and
drink this cup of the Lord,
unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him
eat of that bread, and drink of
that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily,
eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and
many sleep. 31 For if we would judge
ourselves, we should not be judged. 32
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not
be condemned with the world. 33
Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for
another. 34 And if any man hunger, let
him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.
Christ says here to do
this in remembrance of Him and that the cup of wine represents the New
Testament in his blood. So, the New Testament is likened to a cup that holds
the blood of Christ. The Lord’s Supper, as we practice it, is a memorial.
A memorial keeps
something fresh in our minds. It keeps an important event from becoming a mere,
hazy memory, an intellectual assent to something that we don’t really
appreciate any more, if we ever did. By taking the Lord’s Supper we can keep
ever present in our mind that God shed His blood and allowed His body to be
broken for us. He paid our sin debt to Himself, paid the ransom for sin to
Himself, and we are indebted to Him for this sacrifice.
Exodus 30:12 When thou
takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they
give every man a ransom for his
soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among
them, when thou numberest them.
Psalm 49:7 None of them can by any means redeem his
brother, nor give to God a ransom
for him: [The ransom is not paid to the Devil but by God to Himself?]
Mark 10:45 For even the Son
of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
1Timothy 2:6 Who gave
himself a ransom for all, to be
testified in due time.
He purchased us with
His own blood, God’s own blood.
Acts 20:28 Take heed
therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased
with his own blood.
Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the
blood of goats and calves, but by his own
blood he entered in once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore
Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered
without the gate.
Revelation 1:5 And from
Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful witness, and the first
begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that
loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
(7) Norbert Elias, The Civilizing Process: The History of
Manners (New York: Urizen Books, 1978), 69.
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