Communion Read Luke 22:7-23. This takes place near Passover. Compare the Passover of Exodus with the crucifixtion.

Transcription

1 Communion Read Luke 22:7-23 This takes place near Passover. Compare the Passover of Exodus with the crucifixtion. v.10 May have been Mark s house and Mark was one carrying water Furnished = carpeting and couches People did not sit at a table but reclined around it Unhurried eating and easy conversation What were your mealtimes like when you were growing up? Preparation means slaughtering and roasting the paschal lamb, providing unleavened bread, herbs, and wine Luke expands Mark s account with excerpts from another source 3 accounts of Last Supper (Matthew/Mark, 1 Corinthians, Luke) Christian sacrament of Lord s supper influenced by observation and interpretation by contemporary beliefs and customs Many cults had sacramental meals Main tradition is that the Lord s Supper commemorates Jesus last supper with His disciples Luke differs from other versions Look at verses 19 and 20 (read from different Bibles) RSV follows Western text and omits 19b and 20 KJV pulls them in from 1 Cor. 11:24b-25 Cup comes before bread V Cup comes before the bread Custom of a Jewish home for the head of the house to bless the chalice of wine, drink from it, and pass it around Cup not associated with covenant Main emphasis is on the supper as a feast of anticipation Reunion banquet table in the Kingdom of God

2 Was this Jesus Passover meal? Recognized as such by Mark and Luke But maybe it actually took place 24 hours before the feast was to be celebrated All agree Jesus died on Friday Mark and Luke say this was the Passover John says it was the day before (John 18:28) John probably correct Paul describes Jesus as the paschal lamb which are slaughtered a few hours before the evening that marked the first part of the Passover Day If Passover was a sacred day, then Jesus could not have been arrested, taken to the Sanhedrin, tried before Pilate, crucified, and buried on it Jesus died before Passover but early church thought of it as a substitute for the Jewish feast so the writers made the two to coincide V.16 is the word again in your Bible. Makes a difference. V. 19 Body Jesus spoke of breaking bread representing His fate Mark and Luke understand His words in terms of Paul s writings Read 1 Cor. 11:23-24 An early interpretation by Hellenic Christians Would have been alien to the Jewish thought shared by Jesus Do this... What does this mean? v. 20 This cup, new covenant is in His blood Covenant always sealed with blood Jewish law forbids drinking blood Disciples absorbed in dreams of greatness Self-centeredness does greatest harm not in intentional acts of evil, but in neglect and insensitivity If you want to be great then you must serve Jesus announced betrayal by one at the table Which one? Do you think disciples questioned themselves? How would you have responded to this? Would communion event be forgotten in all this? When men in those days broke bread together it meant there was a pledge of solemn affection and mutual concern This is lost in light of today s hurried dinner Symbol of deep intimacy (broken by betrayal and denial) Judas takes communion then betrays. Peter takes communion then denies. What does taking communion mean to you? What do you think about when you are at the table? What happens to us when we leave the communion table? Communion Part 2 Lord s Supper -->Communion Early Church -->Communion today -->Messianic Banquet Lord s Supper night he was betrayed, last supper with disciples, probably not Passover meal Sacrament an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace, ordained by Christ, symbols and pledges of the Christian profession, and of God s love toward us Baptism and the Lord s Supper (Communion)

3 Ordinances (Baptists) carried out because Jesus ordered us to do so Communion a sharing, possessing something in common, a blood bond of a new and higher kind, the sinful are brought again, as forgiven, into the fellowship of God and a new relationship with one another Eucharist thanksgiving Consecrate to set apart as holy. Metaphor a figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another Read John 6: John s discussion of the body and the blood takes place at Capernaum not Jerusalem Just finished feeding the 5000 Many followed wanting a sign. If a prophet who has not been recognized as such should give a sign of wonder he should be recognized as such Obviously missed the sign in the feeding A rabbinical tradition that Messiah when He came would bring down manna from Heaven. Manna small round wafers, mixture of flour and honey, only good for one day, except day before Sabbath, then given a double dose. Second day they bred worms and became offensive Given during wandering in wilderness. A direct gift from God. V32-33 transition from manna in wilderness to Jesus

4 Read John 6: This is a metaphor (Catholics take this literally leading to transubstantion) Spiritual food Only requirement is that we come with an appetite Our hunger for righteousness must always be there Jews have a problem because they knew his father was Joseph (Virgin birth not a part of John s writings) Life in the higher sphere of eternal life is only maintained by spiritual food, not The manna which lasts only a day Jesus gave his life to be that bread so that eternal life may be given to the world Read John 6: Though of drinking blood would be repulsive to any Jew The metaphor stands for the dwelling in constant union with Christ He is the vine, and we are the branches He abides in us and we abide in Him. A mystical union sharing in common (communion) To feed on Him means to absorb His teaching, His character, His mind, His ways We are to become at one with Him V. 55 contrast between spiritual and physical (John 4:34) Read John 6: Jesus lost many disciples with this Crazy, repulsive talk Jesus preached what needed to be said regardless of whether or not it alienated the people Now we move to the Lord s Supper where this issue is raised again. Matthew 26:26-29 and Mark 14:22-25 Supper is not only a farewell but a pledge of a future banquet in the Kingdom We have discussed the bread, now look at the blood Jesus viewed His death as sacrificial Jesus blood was to be shed for the forgiveness of sins (Rom. 3:23-25) Blood needed for the covenant (Exodus and Jeremiah 31:31-34) Old covenant required blood of animals slain on altar by priests for the forgiveness of sins No words of do this in remembrance of me But even from the earliest days this supper had a sacramental significance to it

5 To understand communion in the early church we look to Paul around 50AD Read 1 Corinthians 11: Associated with a common meal attended by all members of the Christian community Probably first day of the week, probably in someone s home Nothing said about who was to preside at meal No ordained ministers must be there Fixed practice with presiding minister in next 50 years Anyone could start the meal by blessing the bread and wine and passing it around Food probably purchased from a common fund Two types of celebration in early church Jerusalem type no relation to Lord s Supper, continuation of all table fellowship disciples enjoyed with Jesus and looked forward to messianic banquet Pauline type a commemoration of the Lord s Supper. For early church the sacrifice was the offer of food to God, a sacrificial meal The offering of bread and wine in thanksgiving to God Not the sacrifice of Christ Early church in Corinth composed of factions based on social status Poor, servants and slaves Some rich, well-to-do A social occasion closely associated with a sacramental meal was tearing the church apart They would segregate into groups based on social structure Everyone meant to share equally in the food and drink Some had bad manners and ate all the food before others could arrive. Like servants and slaves could not get there early and were left hungry Others got drunk Paul was opposed to the individualism in this Read 1 Corinthians 11: Reject that Paul was originator and mark copied from him Not derived from Hellenistic cult meals Paul received tradition from Jerusalem community Cannot conclude he received information from Christ first hand V. 24 notice Paul gives thanks for food not blesses food Luke 22 probably had theses verses added in, so we cannot assume that Jesus actually said these words in 24b, however, many believe these words express the intention of Jesus Should be read in conjunction with Paul s writing on food offered to idols in pagan temples Paul identifies cup with covenant, which probably helped Jews in terms of drinking blood What did Jesus say at Gethsemane? (remove this cup)

6 Now we move to communion today while we wait on the Messianic banquet Read 1 Corinthians 11: Lord s Supper is removed from meal Cyprian first connects sacrificial death of Christ to meal ( AD) When we come to the table, we are reminded that it is His table not ours The sacrement is His not ours The sacrifice was His not ours We come to receive the spirit through the sacrament our Lord offers us It is to remain a Eucharist (thanksgiving) We come preserve a spirit of indebtedness, love, hope, and joy We worship a living Lord not a dead Christ Why do we use grape juice instead of wine? In 1869, Dr. Thomas Bramwell Welch, a physician and dentist by profession, successfully pasteurizes Concord grape juice to produce an "unfermented sacramental wine" for fellow parishioners at his church in Vineland, N.J., where he is communion steward. His achievement marks the beginning of the processed fruit juice industry. How are the elements consecrated today? The elements of communion are consecrated by a minister with the words "Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be the body of Christ redeemed by his blood." Why do we not use unleavened bread? The leaven was considered a symbol of corruption and sin and if we are to think of it as Christ's body then shouldn't we be using unleavened bread? Read Matthew 15: 11, The death and resurrection of Christ have freed us from the old dietary restrictions. The burden on us now is not to be pure in following restrictive dietary customs but in to be pure in our relationship with God and one another. The Old Testament ban on the use of leaven comes from how it was originally used. The leavening agent was an old piece of dough which was set aside to ferment. Therefore, using old dough for a festival (Passover) that was a time of spiritual renewal was deemed inappropriate. Plus, the ban on leaven in sacrifices is probably related to the association of leavening with decomposition and putrefaction. Sourdough (the old dough that is used as a leavening agent) is clearly unsavory, despite its useful role in bread preparation. Leaven may thus have come to symbolize corruption, and thus an element to be consciously omitted from a feast involving spiritual rejuvenation and also from sacrifices involving communion with God. Also, they did not have time to wait for the bread to