"This Bread is My Body and This Cup is My Blood"
By Jon W. Quinn
For 1400 years the Israelite nation had kept the Passover
with varying degrees of faithfulness. During the lifetime of
Jesus, the yearly Passover was a very important holiday to the
Jews. Most of them went to great lengths to make sure they
observed it properly in accordance with the Law of God as given
through Moses to Israel. They remembered how that God had
mightily delivered them from cruel slavery in Egypt. They
recalled how the avenging angel had "passed over" their homes
striking only those belonging to their Egyptian captors. It was
on this very solemn occasion that Jesus appointed that a memorial
supper be observed by His disciples in His honor after His
departure. Faithful disciples still keep the supper in
remembrance of what He has done for us and proclaiming faith in
what He has promised for our future.
JESUS' LAST PASSOVER
"Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came
to Jesus saying, 'Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat
the Passover?" (MATTHEW 26:17). Actually, the feast of Unleavened
Bread and the Passover are not identical. The Passover lasted one
evening and coincided with the first day of the week of the feast
of Unleavened Bread. During this time, all leavening agents were
removed and the bread eaten was unleavened. This signified the
rapidity of Israel's flight from Egypt 14 centuries before. They
had had no time to allow the bread to rise then, and this was
remembered yearly by eating only unleavened bread during this
week.
Jesus knew that His death was imminent. Jesus had said, "You
know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of
Man is to be delivered up for crucifixion" (MATTHEW 26:2). Jesus
uses the Passover ritual symbolizing an ancient deliverance to
symbolize a brand new thing; God's act to deliver us from sin.
On that ancient Egyptian night centuries before, God's
enslaved people had been instructed to sacrifice a lamb and
sprinkle its blood on the door posts of their houses. Upon seeing
the blood of the lamb the angel would pass over that house and
not strike anyone inside. Do you see how this ancient symbol
predicted what Jesus would do for us? Jesus has become our
Passover Lamb and by His blood we are saved from eternal death!
Jesus and His apostles observed the Passover in an upper
room of a private dwelling in Jerusalem. They ate the Passover
meal which consisted of lamb, herbs, unleavened bread and fruit
of the vine as the beverage, which would be drunk from one of
four cups placed upon the table. It was during this feast that
Judas left and went to Jesus' enemies in order to betray him.
THE LORD APPOINTS A NEW MEMORIAL
"And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and
after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, and
said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.' And when He had taken a cup
and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all
of you; for this is My blood of the covenant which is poured out
for many for the forgiveness of sins." (MATTHEW 26:26-28). Jesus
took two of entrees on the Passover menu and used them to
institute a new observance. His disciples were told to "do this
in remembrance of Me" (LUKE 22:19). Certainly it bothered His
apostles to hear Him talk this way. They refused to accept that
He was shortly to die. And yet, He knew what was about to
transpire and do not ever doubt it; it was weighing very heavily
upon His heart. He was hurting inside. He was "sorrowful unto
death" and "sorely grieved". But He knew what had to be done and
He would be the one to do it. In fact, He was the only one that
could have.
THE LORD'S MEMORIAL SUPPER AND THE DISCIPLE
"For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you
proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Therefore, whoever eats
the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner,
shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a
man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of
the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to
himself, if he does not judge the body rightly" (I CORINTHIANS
11:26-29). As disciples partake of the Lord's supper, they are
proclaiming to others that the Lord died for them. This
proclamation is to continue "until He comes". He is coming again!
Christians partake of this memorial with a multitude of
emotions; some of them opposites of one another. There is joy
that God would love us so much. There is sorrow at Jesus'
suffering due to our sins. There is love for God. There is hatred
of sin. There is confidence in the power of God. There is
humility in the recognition that we did not deserve such a rich
gift. There is concern for the lost. There is awe that the
Creator of the worlds would ever shout the forlorn cry: "It is
finished"!Reprinted From the Bradley Banner Bradley Church of Christ Bradley, Illinois March 31, 1991
To disciples, the unleavened bread reminds us of the
battered body of our Savior hanging on that savage cross. Never
break the bread of the supper without giving careful thought to
that fact and its many ramifications to your own life, soul and
eternity. The cup reminds us of the blood that poured from the
many wounds, trickling down to the ground beneath the cross. That
blood was shed for the forgiveness of sins. Only in the blood is
there power to cleanse from sins. It is our hope and plea.
In the first century, the gospel was preached and souls were
won to Christ. In accordance with the doctrine of Christ,
disciples of the first century would gather together to worship
on the first day of every week. Upon this day they would partake
of the bread and cup just as Jesus had said. They would "come
together upon the first day of the week to break bread" (ACTS
20:7). Disciples seek for and find renewal in this weekly
observance today even as they did in the first century. There is
no good reason to change the time or frequency of the Lord's
Supper. It is much too important. It is a relevant and needed
part of the disciple's first day of the week until "He comes".
