THE LORD'S SUPPER

Preface --

Church of the Highlands is a congregation of Christians who have come from many different and diverse backgrounds. The practice of participation in the Lord's Supper is a new experience for some. For others our methods may differ from "the way they did it" wherever they were before joining this fellowship.

Questions arise. Is weekly observance too often? Is monthly observance too infrequent? Does the Bible give an answer? Is the juice to be wine or grape juice? What kind of bread is "right?"

To help answer these questions, this material was assembled.

Marvin Rickard
Associate to Pastor Don Sheley

In a nondenominational congregation such as Church of the Highlands, members come from a wide diversity of backgrounds. Some are new believers just starting to follow and obey the Lord Jesus Christ. Others come from churches that worship in a more liturgical manner than we do. Many of our members were raised in the Roman Catholic church with its traditions. Others grew up in the traditions of the various denominations.

For these reasons it seems worthwhile to see if we can retrace in Scripture just what is said on the subject of the Lord's Supper. Then we have to decide how best to incorporate our study into our times of praise and worship.

In the Gospel of Mark, a brief statement is made of a time long past when Jesus met alone with His disciples.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take eat; this is My body." Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink of it new in the kingdom of God." (Mark 14:22-25)

What Is The Lord's Supper?

The term, "Lord's Supper," is not a Bible phrase but a term that Christians have used to designate something that they do in time of worship. When we use that term we often think of the time that Mark describes during which Jesus took certain elements from the Passover Supper, a Jewish observance, from which the "Lord's Supper," as we practice it, emerged.

What Was The Passover Supper?

When ancient Israel was in bondage in Egypt, God miraculously led them out. Prior to their exodus, God, through Moses, instructed them to prepare a special supper to be eaten just before they fled. (Read Exodus 12) Israel was instructed to observe that simple ceremony as an "everlasting ordinance." (Exodus 12:17)

What Did Jesus Do At The Passover Supper?

The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Christians in Corinth reviewed for them what Jesus did. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks. He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." (1 Corinthians 11:23-25) Though the elements on the Passover table were natural foods, Jesus chose two of them and asked us to continue to observe a simple supper and to think of them as representing His body and His blood.

The implication, the symbol and the reality are as follows:
1. We are covered from the wrath of God by the blood of Jesus Christ just as the families in Egypt were protected by the blood of a lamb.
2. As the unleavened bread in Egypt represented food, so the bread of the Passover (now the "loaf" of the Communion Table) symbolizes spiritual food on our journey through the wilderness of life.

For a better understanding of this concept we include this portion of John 6. "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?"

How Should You And I Come To The Table?

Just as the Passover Supper was observed by Israel for centuries to remind them that God miraculously delivered them, so we remember that Jesus delivered us from the penalty of our sins. (1 Corinthians 11:24-25) We are to prayerfully remember the Cross of Christ. And we are told to come to the Table in a worthy manner, a manner deemed worthy by our self-examination. But let a man examine himself, and let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment on himself, not discerning the Lord's body. (1 Corinthians 11:28-29)

We are also warned that we must "discern the Lord's body." (1 Corinthians 11:29) This can mean that we think seriously about the physical body of Jesus and the agony He suffered, the death He died, and the resurrection of His body. And it can mean that we realize afresh that the church He bought with His sinless blood is a worldwide body formed from every nation, tribe, and tongue. This may lead us to consider our part in the "body of Christ" and to recommit ourselves to Jesus.

How Often Should We Observe The Lord's Supper?

The case for weekly observance is strong, although the Bible gives no commandment. Acts 20:7 seems to imply that the disciples in Troas observed the Lord's Supper weekly. Paul knew that the believers would be gathering on the first day of the week to "break bread." While it isn't totally clear, there is good reason to believe that this is a reference to the Lord's Supper.

Another deduction can be reached by comparing 1 Corinthians 11:20-21 with 1 Corinthians 16:2. The first is a rebuke for abusing the Lord's Supper. The second implies that offerings were taken in on Sundays. The conclusion we can draw is that on the first day of the week the Corinthians gathered to observe the Lord's Supper and to bring their tithes and offerings.

Further, the earliest records of church history, from 112 A.D., show that weekly observance was universal. In this custom our Catholic friends and others have followed the lead of the early church. Still further, there was a practice in the Old Testament that seems to be a type of the Lord's Supper. The priest came each week to eat the Bread of the Presence from the Golden Table in the Tabernacle (Leviticus 24:8-9). In New Testament times all of us are priests unto God (1 Peter 2:9), and we all gather weekly to partake.

Why Do We Use Unleavened Bread And Sweet Grape Juice?

Jesus kept the Passover customs. Then He used two of the six food items of the Passover with which to institute His Supper. For anything containing leavening or yeast to be used on the Passover Table would have violated the "rules" for that Jewish celebration. (Exodus 12:18-20)

While it is stated in Exodus 12:39 that leaven signified preparedness for a hasty departure from Egypt, the New Testament uses that figure of speech more significantly. Jesus said to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees...hypocrisy (Matthew 16:6); or the leaven of the Sadducees...unbelief (Matthew 16:12); or the leaven of the Herodians...greed for money (Mark. 8:15). Or the leaven in the church of immorality (1 Corinthians 5:7). Or the leaven in the church of legalism (Galatians 5:9). In all five cases, leaven symbolizes sin.

The Bible teaches that Christ is our High Priest, ministering before God for us. A High Priest was forbidden by Leviticus 10:9 to partake of any wine or alcohol while performing His priestly functions. It hardly follows that Jesus would pass an alcoholic cup to His disciples and tell them to "remember" inasmuch as alcohol is used to "forget!"

But how could grape juice have been kept pure for eight months of the year? The Passover Supper was held in April, about eight months after the last Holy Land grapes were harvested!

If unfermented grape juice was on the Passover Table when Jesus blessed it and said that it would represent His Blood, how did it get there? Pliny, who lived from A.D. 23 to A.D. 100, wrote the answer! He said that the Jews made a grape beverage from raisins immediately before their celebrations, a drink that was truly a "fruit (drink) of the vine." The Encyclopedia Britannica, in explaining this drink, simply says the Jews used "raisin wine."

The Jews were careful to keep the Law. To use raised bread containing "leavening" or fermented grape juice was unthinkable. We could add that the Jews even had ways of preserving sweet grape juice by putting the juice into a container, sealing it with pitch, and keeping it below water in a cistern or well for 40 days. After 40 days, it could be taken out of the water and it would remain sweet for one year, unopened.

Some Final Remarks About The Lord's Supper.

In the Lord's Supper we give constant testimony to faith, hope and love. We proclaim the Lord's death (past) until He comes again (future). We do this as a member of His Body, the church (present).

This is a public declaration of the Lordship of Jesus over our lives. So important is our oneness and our unity that divisions among us negate true communion (1 Corinthians 11:18-21). The Lord's Supper says to the world and to ourselves, "We are one!" (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

Actually, we must conclude that no set rules are laid down in the New Testament as to how often we are to partake, the methods of partaking, or how to include the Lord's Supper in church services. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15) The only real measure for determining how much the Lord's Supper means, is one's personal love of Jesus Christ. Partaking of the Lord's Supper is the communion of a Christian with the whole church, but it is even more the communion of a Christian with his Lord.

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