Remembering Jesus - The Lord's Supper
INSTITUTION & CENTRALITY
Remembering Jesus - The Lord's Supper
INSTITUTION & CENTRALITY
When one turns to the New Testament, one finds further evidence of how the Jews were conscious of the sacredness of the Passover. The Hebrew for Passover, pesah, is found some two dozen times in the Greek New Testament as pascha.
Something that may have escaped our attention before must now be recognized. In the New Testament, the Passover Feast and the Feast of Unleavened Bread which immediately followed is now often spoken of interchangeably. This means that for all practical purposes they are considered as one; i.e., the Passover is spoken of as the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is spoken of as the Passover. Josephus, the notable Jewish historian of the first century A.D., explains the phenomenon. He wrote, “the feast of unleavened bread was celebrated, which we call the passover ...;” and again, “Now upon the approach of the feast of unleavened bread ... which feast is called the Passover, and is a memorial of their deliverance out of Egypt ...” (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews). A good New Testament example showing how first century A.D. Jews often saw these two feasts as a unity is seen in Luke 22:1, “Now the feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover”. A more careful rendering is found in Mark, the early gospel, “It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread” (14:1).
In the New Testament, the life and work of Jesus becomes increasingly focused around the Passover. This is an extensive and intricate theme. For sake of brevity, we will illustrate it from the gospel of John. In this gospel we find that the ministry of Jesus is measured in terms of Passovers. Thus, early on we see, “The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem” (Jn. 2:13). While in Jerusalem, He cleansed the temple. Could this have been done in preparation for the Passover? Later, while Jesus is involved in strenuous ministry around the Sea of Galilee, John seems to interrupt his account of Jesus’ work in Galilee to state, “Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand” (Jn. 6:4). Why? Perhaps the answer is to be found in what immediately follows. Jesus feeds the 5,000, which is followed the next day by His deeply moving teaching about Himself. “I am the bread of life: he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst” (Jn. 6:35). Is John showing his readers a preview of the role Jesus will fill in connection with the Passover in the near future? Is he trying to convey to his readers the spiritual significance of a very early proclamation about Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1:29)? John's next mention of a Passover is in chapters 12 and 13. This, of course, was the last Passover that Jesus kept during His ministry. Occasionally one finds a Bible scholar who maintains that the account of John 13, which describes the meal that Jesus and His disciples ate, is not a Passover feast. This is usually on the ground that John later records that Jesus’ crucifixion was on “the day of Preparation of the Passover” (Jn. 19:14, 31); thus, the argument: it could not have been on Passover day if it was the day of Preparation for the Passover.
It could be that the expression “the day of Preparation of the Passover” (v. 14) referred to the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We have already seen that by the first century A.D. these terms were often used interchangeably. Thus, if “the day of Preparation of the Passover” refers to the entire paschal season, the day intended by John would be Friday. This is, in fact, the position of the New International Version, which reads at John 19:14, “It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week ...” This is also inferred by the NEB translation of John 13:29 where Jesus tells Judas “to buy what was needed for the festival”.
We have mentioned three Passovers in our survey. Perhaps the feast mentioned in John 5:1 is also a reference to Passover. This would make four. If so, the ministry of Jesus lasted over three years; if not, His ministry was something over two years. It seems that John is not only measuring Jesus’ ministry by Passovers, but he is also emphasizing highlights of His work and teaching connected with the Passover. We have seen this in his use of Jesus’ cleansing of the temple and the “bread of life” teaching.
We now turn to the most astounding Passover of all. It is specifically called Passover in Matthew 26:2,17-19; Mark 14:1,12,14,16, and Luke 22:1,7-8,13,15. Each of these accounts vary slightly in some of the details, but they all present the reason why this was the most momentous Passover ever participated in by any of the Jewish people. Matthew describes the entire event in 26:17-30. An amazing seder. Something new and marvelous was announced. One may sense the astonishment of the disciples. The unleavened bread was supposed to represent the hardships and deprivation of Egyptian slavery. Now, the Master is saying, as He takes, blesses, and breaks the bread, “Take, eat, this is my body.” And what is He doing now? He has taken the cup, offered thanks, and said to us, “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” The wine has always been a reminder of the blood of the sacrificed lamb placed on the doorposts to ward off certain death in Egypt. What is He saying now? What does He mean – the bread is My body; the cup is My blood? It is very difficult, if not impossible, for the modern-day reader to feel the impact of that announcement by Jesus. In fact, it is very doubtful if Jesus’ own apostles grasped the profound truth of His startling words at that time. Subsequent events would help them to discern more clearly. They would soon stand at the foot of a cross (Lk. 23:49; Jn. 19:28) and see the pierced body of Jesus (Jn. 19:34) hanging suspended on nails through His hands and feet (Jn. 20:24-28). Perhaps He was partly supported by a sedile, “a small seat attached to the front of the cross, about halfway down” (Vassilios Tzaferis, Archaeological Evidence). If so, this would simply prolong the agony before death. Did His apostles recall Jesus' Passover announcement? Did they wonder? Is this the body Jesus spoke of when He broke the bread? Is the blood trickling down the face and flowing from the side of Jesus what He had in mind when He passed the cup among us?
If there was bewilderment mixed with their grief at that dark hour, it is understandable. Later, the empty tomb added to their perplexity (Lk. 24:1-12). Even a post resurrection appearance of Jesus to His apostles was an occasion of incredibility mixed with joy (Lk. 24:36-43). Indeed, in the very act of worshipping Him, some doubted (Mt. 28:16-17).
However, as time passed, the unbelievable became believable. Jesus “opened their minds” (Lk. 24:45) and encouraged them. He commissioned them (Matt. 28:17-20), and promised them, saying, “I send the promise of my Father upon you, but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high” (Lk. 24:49). They received that power when they received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost following Jesus' resurrection (Acts 1:7-8; 2:1-4), which came fifty days after Passover.
So, the church was launched by Spirit guided apostles. Their shock was gone. Their minds were clear. They preached the gospel with great force, “and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). The new age had dawned. A new message was proclaimed which centered on Jesus. And something else was new – a new dimension of relationship and worship. Those converted “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). J.W. McGarvey has the following to say about this verse: “The breaking of bread and the prayers, in which they also steadfastly continued, are the breaking of the emblematic loaf, or the observance of the Lord’s supper, and the public prayers in the new congregation” (New Commentary on Acts of Apostles). Others see the “Lord’s Supper interpretation” as a possibility, but not a necessity. Still others see verse 42 as depicting merely the characteristics of the early church, including “common meals” (Johannes Munck, The Acts of the Apostles).
Now, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the apostles partook of the unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine. They also taught their Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ the new significance of those elements in the Passover. For well over a thousand years the Israelites had regularly recalled a great deliverance by the hand of Yahweh. At the Passover, with its seder meal, the unleavened bread and the cup of wine had special significance, reminding them of their escape from death and Egypt. Now, they saw in those items the sacrificed body and blood of their Messiah, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). They, too, had taken refuge under that shed blood; they, too, had made the great escape from the bondage of sin made possible by that sacrifice. One can appreciate the fact that they continued “steadfastly” in “the breaking of bread.” It would always be a reminder of God’s great mercy and grace. They would, with thankful hearts, regularly be impressed that their God “so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:14). Thus, as soon as the infant church had begun, one of its major characteristics was keeping the memorial feast in commemoration of the saving sacrifice of Christ.
As one contemplates this record of events, it is easy to forget that we have not, in all probability, been dealing with the oldest New Testament documents on the subject. One must keep in mind that the order of the New Testament books, as we have them in our Bibles today, is not altogether the chronological order in which they were written. This is not to say that anyone knows the order of the New Testament in the absolute sense. However, there is one major point that can be made here. There is a fairly well established concession across a great spectrum of scholars of the Bible that Paul’s Corinthian correspondence was written before any of the gospels or Acts. If this is true, and this present writer believes it is, this means that we find in 1 Corinthians the first explicit New Testament written statements about the Lord’s Supper. It is safe to say that 1 Corinthians was written somewhere in the mid- fifties of the first century A.D. This reasonably assured date can be fixed because of Paul’s appearance before Gallio while Gallio was proconsul in Achaia (Acts 18:12). This overlapping of Paul’s ministry in Corinth and Gallio’s proconsulate there “is the lynch-pin of Pauline chronology. It is the one link between the Apostle’s career and general history that is accepted by all scholars” (Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, and Archaeology).
The writing of 1 Corinthians in approximately 55 A.D. was about twenty- five years after the church was established in Jerusalem. It may strike us as strange that a subject so central to Christianity and Christian worship as the Lord's Supper was not addressed in writing for a quarter of a century. Furthermore, it may be even more startling to note that when the discussions did arise they were a series of polemics rather than a majestic treatise on the subject. This was, no doubt, due to the dire spiritual state of the Corinthians to whom Paul writes.
Before getting to the longest discussion about the Lord’s Supper in the correspondence, we need to take careful note of two introductory points that Paul makes which illustrate the central place of Jesus as the paschal lamb of God in the life of the church. The first point is found in 1 Corinthians 5:1-8. Paul is concerned about a case of immorality in the church so infamous that even the pagans did not practice it. A man was living with his father's wife. We do not know the exact nature of the relationship. Suffice it to say that the affair was absolutely intolerable. The issue was compounded by the arrogant pride of the Christian community. They should have mourned. Paul flatly states, “Let him who has done this be removed from among you.” Having outlined the situation and prescribed the remedy (vv. 3-5), Paul draws a generalization for their benefit. This teaching will be especially meaningful for us in light of earlier consideration about the Passover. Using the Passover observance allegorically, he urged them to remove all the old leaven that they may be a new lump. Barclay paraphrases this section and writes as follows, “Do you not know that a little evil influence can corrupt a whole society? Cleanse out the old evil influence that you may make a clean fresh start ...” (the Corinthians).
Paul goes on to say “... you really are unleavened. lamb, has been sacrificed” (v.7b). In other words, they had experienced redemption by the blood of Christ as baptized believers. Now they are called to act accordingly. Thus, Paul shows the ultimate solution for immorality in the church. Those not participants in the immorality must not have a misguided tolerance towards it. The immoral Christian(s) must be disciplined in order that they might escape Satan’s clutches. This leaves the church clean, refreshed (unleavened = no impurities, no admixtures within), and ready to resume productive lives and service in “sincerity and truth.”
Paul predicates his rebukes and instructions on one central theological foundation: the church of Jesus Christ will not condone or practice immorality because “Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed.” By using Passover imagery in this allegory, Paul is showing that the sacrificed Christ, who is central to our Sunday memorial feast, is also central to our moral lives. One cannot partake of Christ's supper discerning His body, while at the same time remembering that He has given His body, not in surrender to Christ, but in unholy surrender to another.
The second point is about idolatry. This was an issue of grave concern to the Corinthian Christians. They had written to Paul asking for information concerning food offered to idols (1 Cor. 7:1; 8:1). Paul’s extensive response (1 Cor. 8) points out that since an idol is in actuality a nonentity, there is nothing wrong, in principle, for a Christian who is aware of that, in eating meat that had been offered as sacrifice to an idol.
However, Paul cautions that not all Christians are aware of the actual nonexistent nature of idols. Therefore, their weak conscience would be defiled if they ate meat which had been sacrificed to what they consider to be some kind of god. Furthermore, the knowledgeable Christian must be alert and sensitive to the weak Christian’s dilemma. He must refrain from participating in the practice, if by so doing he would cause his brother to “stumble.”
Later, in chapter 10, Paul turns to the subject of idol worship and addresses it “Head-on.” One finds in 1 Corinthians 10:6-12 a parenetic passage including a solemn warning against over confidence, since that often comes before a fall. He begins his list of exhortations in the passage by saying, “Do not be idolators ... We must not indulge in immorality ...” We have already seen in our first point that the church’s solution to the sin of immorality centered around the sacrificed Lamb of God. Now we are going to see the same principle applied to idolatry.
1 Corinthians 10:14-21 is the passage where Paul instructs against the pagan practice of offering sacrifices to idols, because they are actually offering sacrifice to demons. Although Paul has said an idol is not anything, demons are very real. The pagans participated in this worship sacrifice to demons by eating portions of the slaughtered animal. The eating of sacrificed meat, per se, was not strange to Paul. He reminded his readers that worship in ancient Israel allowed the priest to eat of animals sacrificed to God (Ex. 29:26-28; Lev. 10:14-15, etc.). But eating animals sacrificed by pagans to demons is what Paul is forbidding. Why? We may think of several reasons, but the reason Paul gives is at the core of our investigation.
To enter into pagan worship by eating sacrificed animals is to strike up a partnership with demons. The analogy strikes deeply; it is again the Lord’s Supper to which Paul turns. In partaking of the bread and the cup, we are participating in (communing with) the body and blood of Jesus. We reach fellowship (partnership) with Christ in the partaking. When this is done in concert, “We who are many are one body.” Therefore, Paul affirms, “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (1 Cor. 10:21).
Conclusion: Thus, we have learned that immorality and idolatry are not acceptable as a Christian life style. But we already knew that, did we not? We have already learned Paul’s teaching in Galatians 5:19-20b, “Now the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry ... and those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (v. 21b).
But had we noticed that Paul’s major corrective for eliminating immorality and idolatry from the body of Christ, the church, is teaching concerning the supreme place and profound meaning of the Lord’s Supper and the Christian's worshipful participation in it?
