NEW LIFE LESSONS: A New Life For New Disciples

SHARING COMMUNITY THROUGH HOLY COMMUNION

PARTAKING OF THE LORD'S SUPPER
INTRODUCTION Jesus gathered His twelve disciples to eat the yearly Passover Feast in an upper room of a house in the city of Jerusalem. It was on the night of His betrayal over 2000 years ago. By command of God, the Passover observance was originally begun by Moses to help the Israelites remember their deliverance from slavery and of their first-born from death in the land of Egypt by the death and blood of a lamb. Appropriately, Jesus used this particular feast of deliverance (the Passover Feast) to inaugurate a distinctive Christian feast for His followers. The Passover is also called The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 23:15; Deuteronomy 16:16) because only unleavened bread was eaten at and during the seven days immediately following Passover (Exodus 12:14-20; 13:6-8; Deuteronomy 16:1-8). You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat matzos, the bread of affliction; for in haste did you come forth out of the land of Egypt; that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. (Deuteronomy 16:3) Assembled with Jesus for that Last Supper were the twelve men He had personally taught and lived with for over three years. Jesus had previously told them that, "He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." Matt. 16:21. But they neither understood the wisdom nor the necessity of His death. Those first disciples, as most of the Jews, had interpreted the Messiah (or Christ) as being a world king of a world empire, like the Roman Empire, rather than the king of a spiritual, not earthly kingdom. (Jesus would declare again this kingdom truth a few hours later that same night to Pilate. John 18:36-37) In the Lord Supper Christians today communion with God, participate in Christ's death and remember our Savior who voluntarily died that we might be freed or delivered from the slavery and condemnation of sin. (John 1:29, 36 Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!; I Cor. 5:7 - "Jesus is our Passover lamb"; see I Pet. 1:19)

WHAT THE LORD'S SUPPER SYMBOLIZES

The Places Where It Is Recorded. (Read them all.) Matthew 26:26-30 Mark 14:22-25 Luke 22:14-20 I Corinthians 11:23-26

Prepared By: David A. Stathopulo

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NEW LIFE LESSONS: A New Life For New Disciples

WHAT TOOK PLACE? Jesus began this remembrance meal during the Passover Feast. (Deut.16:1-8) Jesus took bread, which had no yeast added, and blessed it. (Unleavened bread) He gave it to them to symbolize His body which soon would be crucified. Jesus then took a cup, which contained the juice of the grape vine, and blessed it. This He gave to them to symbolize His blood which would soon be running from His wounded body. I Corinthians 11:26 Paul, by inspiration, records these words, For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes. HOW OFTEN DID FIRST CENTURY CHRISTIANS EAT THIS REMEMBERANCE MEAL? John 8:31-32 We must keep in mind that this is an observance commanded by Jesus and therefore cannot be neglected if we are truly His disciples. (Jn. 14:15) Acts 20:7 In this verse, Luke tells us that the brethren at Troas met "habitually" or every Sunday for the purpose of breaking bread, which here means to eat the Lord's Supper. (see, also Acts 2:42) I Corinthians 11:17- Paul here scolds the Corinthian Christians for the way that they were 20, 33-34 eating the Lord's Supper. This observance was central to the early church when they weekly assembled [come together as a church]. But they were not eating with reflection, thanksgiving or reverence but rather as if it were a common meal. Some were even getting drunk. In verses 20, 33 and 34, Paul points out that this was an assembly gathered for the purpose of eating the Lord's Supper. If they were hungry they could eat at home. Luke 24:1 Jesus arose on the "first day of the week" which is Sunday. If we are not required to eat the Lord's Supper every Sunday then how often? God did not tell the Israelites to keep every Sabbath but they did. Jesus did not say every Sunday but that is what Christians understood then and practiced. Historically, early Christians writers described a weekly assembly where they ate this thanksgiving meal. For churches to decide on only monthly, quarterly or yearly observances of the Lords Supper is not in the spirit of Jesus command, Pauls discussion or the early churchs practice. A SYMBOLIC FEAST Matt. 26:26-28 Jesus, we know, used the bread and the cup metaphorically. The bread represented His body, for at the time His body was still living. The cup or fruit of the vine represented His blood, for at the time His blood yet flowed in His veins. After His resurrection, Jesus' literal body went into heaven before the eyes of the apostles. (Acts 1:9) John 6:27, 47-59, Jesus was not teaching us to be Christian cannibals. We understand 60-69 that what we eat is symbolic and not literally the flesh and blood of our Lord Jesus. The eating of the bread and the drinking of the wine is to help us meditate and remember the cost of our salvation. (I Cor. 10:14; Jn. 4:13-14)
Prepared By: David A. Stathopulo 2 12.10.2

NEW LIFE LESSONS: A New Life For New Disciples

I Corinthians 10:16

Luke 22:20

Even though the bread and wine are symbolic for the body and blood of Jesus, the actual partaking is a genuine time of communion with God and a time when we spiritually participate (communion) and share in His death. This remembrance meal is tied to the New Covenant Jesus gave to us.

A ONE TIME FOR ALL TIME SACRIFICE Today Some Believers Purposefully Resacrifice Jesus Repeatedly For some believers, the Mass is seen as an unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of Jesus. Rather than the "one time for all time" sacrifice that the Scriptures teach. The Roman Church offers a daily and continuous sacrifice. Hebrews 10:4 Unlike animal sacrifices which could not take away sins, Jesus' sacrifice is to be seen as final. Jesus gave no command or authority for a continuation of His one eternal sacrifice. Jesus did authorize eating a remembrance meal, of bread and wine, but not an additional sacrifice, bloody or unbloody, in the Mass. (Luke 22:19; I Cor. 11:26) A Never To Be Repeated Sacrifice. Hebrews 7:27 The writer of Hebrews declares specifically that under the New Covenant there is no need "to offer sacrifices daily" for Jesus' sacrifice is a "once for all" offering. Hebrews 9:12 Jesus' sacrifice was taken "once for all into the Holy Place" and secured "an eternal redemption." Hebrews 9:25-28 By sacrificing Himself "at the end of the age." His one-time offering is enough. Jesus died once and we die once also. Hebrews 10:12-14 Jesus Christ "offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins" thereby "perfected for all time those who are sanctified." OTHER MEANINGS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER I Cor. 11:24-25 Commemoration: This meal is like an on-going memorial (although not of stone or metal) and was established to mark the event which is the most important in all of human history. (Luke 22:19) I Corinthians 10:14- Participation: This meal is a time when Christians come close to 22 the Lord and spiritually participate and share in His death. (This is Communion.) I Corinthians 11:26 Proclamation: Whenever we eat not only do we remember but we declare to others our faith in Jesus power to save us and others today. (He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.) I Corinthians 11:26 Anticipation: We understand that as many times as we eat we not only declare our faith in Jesus but also look forward to His return to take us to be with Him forever. John 14:3; Acts 1:9-11 HOW SHOULD WE EAT THIS FEAST? OPEN OR CLOSED COMMUNION? I Cor. 11:27-28 We must be careful that we do not eat it in an improper manner or attitude. To examine or close this observance off from some people
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NEW LIFE LESSONS: A New Life For New Disciples

I Cor. 11:27-29 Rom. 6:11-12

places church leadership and/or church ushers in a position of determining who is worthy to partake, which is problematic at best. A given church may assume that all of their official members are true believers, but even this is not necessarily always true. Paul says that this unworthy manner is excluding others when you come to communion and partaking of the elements to curb one's hunger (verse 34). We should eat with proper reflection and attitude so as not to "be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." To eat without trying to change our daily life is meaningless. By eating we declare salvation by merit is impossible since it is in Jesus.

The practice of restricting the Lords Supper to church members seems to be an attempt to make sure someone doesn't partake in an unworthy manner, which some assume to mean that the person is not a true Christian. However, the word is not unworthy but is unworthily. This is referring to the manner in which a person partakes of the bread and cup, not to his or her worthiness to participate as an individual. In the first place, no one is really worthy to come into the presence of God for any reason or worthy to partake, but by virtue of the shed blood of Christ on the cross, all who believe in Him have been made worthy. On our own, we are never worthy to partake. By grace we have been made worthy. So we do not stop anyone from partaking. We practice what is called OPEN COMMUNION. If a person is lost, it will not make someone more lost. If saved, it will not make them more saved but only faithful. CONCLUSION The Lord's Supper is an important symbolic meal that all Christians are commanded to eat. It is THE commanded and authorized observance for Christians and is to be eaten every first day of the week or Sunday. Through the symbols of unleavened bread and grape juice, we remember the sacrifice and cost of our own salvation. Jesus died for me! With humility and thankfulness let us partake of this distinctive Christian feast. Jesus declared, Do this in remembrance of me. (Luke 22:19; I Cor. 11:24) So in the Lords Supper we must remember what He did for us, by eating we proclaim our faith in His saving power and through it we declare to the world our anticipation of His return at any time.

Prepared By: David A. Stathopulo

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