The Lord's Supper

TEACHING: The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper was not a Christian invention, it is simply part of the Jewish Passover as expressed in the Seder. Jesus took a portion of the Seder and explained the meaning of the symbolism to His disciples.

Matt 26:26-30 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."

27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."

30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Mark 14:22-26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body."

23 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.

24 "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them. 25 "I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."

26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Luke 22:19-23 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him." 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

1 Cor 10:14-17 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

1 Cor 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Psalms 69:6

May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me, O Lord, the LORD Almighty;

may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me, O God of Israel.

Through the centuries, the church has taken on additional meanings that may have nothing to do with what Jesus was doing. Big words have been developed to explain abstractions that on their own cannot possibly be understood. The Roman church teaches that when the host is raised, the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Jesus. Unused elements are entombed in the altar which is considered a sacred burial place. Lutherans modify that a bit and declare that Christ is above, below, around - maybe even through - the elements. Many in the liturgical mainline churches feel that partaking of the Eucharist – communion – is in some way salvation. A person’s first communion is important – pictures, parties, and all. Not as important as baptism that removes original sin, but important in becoming part of the body of Christ: the church. I was once told by a Lutheran lady that she accepted Jesus into her life when she had communion last Sunday.

The Catholic Mass is the liturgy of the Eucharist. Mass is the Catholic service where there are readings, a homily, and the consecration of the Eucharist.

The Mass has two separate parts and seven activities:

Part 1: Instruction: The Liturgy of the Word

1. Gathering
2. Proclaiming
3. Explaining
4. Praying

Part 2: The Liturgy of the Eucharist

1. Offering
2. Consecrating
3. Communion

The simplest way to understand Mass is that it is the structure established by church tradition that includes specific prayers and scriptures to "do in remembrance of me" which is sharing the bread and cup. What kind of bread? The church will argue about it. What cup? They will argue about that, too.

SO THEN, what is OUR "liturgy" for communion. Historically, we have classical Pentecostal origins and we too have taken what Jesus did and turned it into something different. What I grew up with was a once a month use of that table in front that had the words, "In Remembrance of Me." The table is NOT the altar as in the liturgy churches. A special cloth was on the table. Other Sundays had a big unused Bible. Metal trays that held little glass cups were stacked up in the center of the table. The cups contained grape juice. On either side were two trays that held broken crackers until the little communion wafers were discovered. The trays were covered with ceremonial white linens.

At that special time, usually the end of the first Sunday of the month morning service, the deacons were called forward and stood around the table while the account from 1^st Corinthians was read – all of it – especially the "unworthy" portion. Others were dismissed if they wanted to – but "leave quietly." This ritual, even though declared "open" to anyone, was kind of "exclusive" to believers that were "old enough" to understand. People struggling with sin were sort of "uninvited" or discouraged from participating. "Once a month" was determined to be correct because it was infrequent enough to make it "special," but frequent enough that we "remember." This thinking was taught in Bible school. All Evangelical preachers understood it.

The pastor, possibly with the help of a guest pastor, handed the trays to the deacons who would distribute the cups and pieces of bread to all who wanted. They went to the people; the people did not come forward (that was too liturgical). During distribution, solemn music was performed. If the pastor was not in town on the first of the month, communion was either canceled or postponed. The feeling was strong that only a pastor is allowed to administrate communion: "only the priest can raise the host."

I have also seen communion "gotten out of the way" so "we can get to worship sooner."

COMMUNION GUILT

Much guilt during this "remembrance of me" times. Some churches hold communion at times when there are less visitors. "We have to keep people from getting sick because they partake of communion unworthily." Let’s look at those scriptures written by Paul.

1 Cor 11:17-22 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21 for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22 Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!

"Communion" in the early church must have been ugly church dinners with pigs and drunks. Surely we have to avoid that with wafers that look like Styrofoam and barely a taste of grape juice. And nix the church dinners – eat at home. But that is not the worst part.

1 Cor 11:27-32 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

"Unworthy" is an interesting word that has caused a lot of preachers to pile the guilt on. Apparently, according to some, a person can be "worthy" of taken the sacrament, but another person through what they have done is "not worthy." This is a performance issue. This is works.

Eph 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.

And I have heard any number of times that if you have sin in your heart, you should not take communion because you are "not worthy." You must reconcile with the people you have something against before you are worthwhile enough to partake of communion. And all too frequently the example is when someone had something against the preacher. Interesting. "If you hate your brother..." – you know the rest. And of course, the scripture that has to do with presenting an offering is used in this context. Can a person actually be worthy of the forgiveness Jesus offers? What did Paul really say?

The "unworthy" is defined by Paul following the "examine yourself first" verse. What exactly is being "unworthy" or "worthy" for that matter?

For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.

That is how a person is worthy to partake of the Eucharist. It is knowing and accepting and recognizing what Jesus has done, not what we have done. An "unworthy" person does not recognize what Jesus has done with His body. And what did He do?

AFIKOMEN

For centuries during the Passover seder in Jewish homes, one of three pieces of unleavened bread, matzah, is broken in half, wrapped in a napkin, hidden, and later retrieved to be served as the last morsel of food eaten at the end of the lengthy observance of this ancient Jewish feast. This bit of unleavened bread is called the "afikomen". It symbolizes the Passover lamb. For Jewish children, the afikomen is used to hold their attention until the end of the seder. In some families the children "steal" the matzah and are paid a ransom in order to get it back to the table. In other families it is hidden and the children search for it and are rewarded. Some Jews from Middle Eastern countries saw the afikomen as having special powers and kept a piece of it as a good luck charm. (Some of this information concerning the afikomen was found in "The Complete Family Guide to Jewish Holidays, by Dalia Hardof Renberg, Adama Books, New York, (c)1985, pages 152-153.)

Why is this final piece of matzah called the "afikomen"? It is curios to find a Greek work in the middle of a Hebrew feast. Its Greek meaning can be understood as "that which is coming", i.e. dessert, yet some have seen the possibility of taking it as "he who is coming." SOURCE: http://www.chaim.org/afikomen.htm

During the Passover meal that was done the same night Jesus was betrayed, the disciples and Jesus were towards the end of the meal. Jesus picked up a specific piece of bread. He blessed it and broke it. In all of the accounts we read, right after this, He shared a cup of wine and they sang a hymn. This puts this action at the end of the meal. And the bread that was picked up by Jesus was the Afikomen. It is the middle matzah that was broken and hidden at the beginning of the meal. It is now the dessert at the end of the meal. And Jesus breaks it so that all at the feast can have a taste of the same loaf. That is the Jewish custom. That is what Jesus was doing. And notice that it is traditionally what the children find. That gives new meaning to "Except you come as a child..."

Notice what Paul said earlier in 1^st Corinthians.

1 Cor 10:15-17 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

The Afikomen is shared amongst all at the feast. It might be a very small piece. Jesus told the disciples that the Afikomen was His body. Why is this important?

At the Seder, there is a stack of three matzahs (loafs of bread) in a common matzah bag with three pockets. Why three? Jewish tradition sometimes teaches they represent Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There are other traditions. To me it seems obvious that they represent the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. – three in one. And the second one is taken and broken and the larger broken part is hidden to be found and redeemed by children. That is the Afikomen. That is Jesus. Part of the Trinity with a significant portion of Himself temporarily separated from the Godhead. He came to earth as a man. And His body, the bread of life, was to be broken for all of us.

According to the account of John, we must eat the bread of life. The early church was accused of being cannibals because of this symbolic teaching. And some of the church has insisted that the act of communion is how we are saved. Yes – but mostly no. Eating a wafer doesn’t save anyone. When we partake of the bread, we are remembering how Jesus, the Son of God, left heaven to become a man to be broken for us. It cannot be what we have done; it has to be remembering what He has done for us. Jesus explained the symbolism that had been used for centuries and has been used for thousands of years. It is not bread becoming God, it is God becoming man. If we do not recognize the body of Christ in that bread, we may remain sick and we can die. By His stripes, by His broken body, we are healed. Do we reject the healing that Jesus has available for us, therefore, we become sick and die? Do we reject healing of spirit, soul, and body through the broken bread of life? What healing do we have available? Whatever brings glory to Him. We are remembering HIM.

THE CUP

Then Jesus took the third cup of the Seder. He declared the wine in that cup to be His blood. A new covenant. A new promise. He explained that His blood would be poured out for the forgiveness of sin. It was HIS blood, not our attempt to be "worthy." It is not by our works or we would be tempted to boast about what we have done. Remember the body of the Lord.

The same disciples that partook of the bread and wine from Jesus, denied Him within hours. But a few remembered when, after the resurrection, Jesus broke bread again. The symbolism helped them remember.

However, the Passover meal was not over for Jesus. There was one more cup – the fourth cup. And that was His crucifixion. His blood was poured out so that we may be forgiven of all sins. The fourth cup of coming redemption is the blood of Jesus.

So ... what are we doing when we have communion?

IT DOES NOT SAVE US. Paul said that is done with a mouth confession that Jesus is Lord and in our heart we believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead. If communion saved us, we could distribute a little bread and wine around the world and be done. It is what is in the heart and comes out of the mouth that saves us

IT IS IN REMEMBRANCE OF JESUS. "This do in remembrance of me." [Luke 22:19] It is not an act of repentance. It is not our forgiveness or our receiving forgiveness. Nor is it a ceremony of purification. It is not magic. It is remembrance of bread of life, the broken bread from the Trinity.

IT DOES MYSTICALLY AND PHYSICALLY REALLY UNITE THE CHURCH AS ONE. When each of us partakes of a piece of the bread, and share the "wine," each of us is consuming part of the same loaf and the same cup. Our body is taking in the same things. We are eating the same bread and drinking the same cup. In a very real sense, our bodies now contain something in common. The mystery of the church body is formed as we do this. Yes, it is symbolic, yet it is more. But the symbolism should be enough for us to remember the body of Christ that we have all taken part of and have become. Then we should understand that we as the body of Christ should function as ONE BODY, united in spirit, soul, and body. We have some atoms in common with each other. We have eaten the same loaf atoms and consumed the same grape atoms.

THEN WE CAN CARRY EACH OTHER’S BURDENS.

THEN WE CAN PRAY FOR EACH OTHER AND INTERCEDE AS ONE BODY.

Then, while it is yet TODAY, we can encourage one another keeping each other from the deception of sin.

Matt 18:19-20 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

This is the power of the united church. We agree together because we are symbolically and physically and spiritually ONE church.

Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

The oneness of the church caused its formation and the Holy Spirit came. What could we accomplish as ONE with the Holy Spirit already with us? Is there a limit?