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The Lord's Supper
The Lord's Supper - The SymbolsIf it is important to do what Jesus commanded - and it is - then we should look at all that He commanded regarding this matter and try to do it all. Let's return to something we pointed out earlier.Remember the commands from all four passages? "(You) take this bread and (you) eat it;" "(You) take this bread. This bread is my body;" "(You) eat this (bread) to remember me;" "(You) Eat this (bread) to remember me;" "All of you, drink from (this cup);" "All of you, drink from (this cup);" "You take this cup and give it to everyone here;" "(You) drink this (cup) to remember me." This BreadWhat is "this"?"This bread" in the commands - what is it? I think we would give unanimous answer - this bread is unleavened bread. Unleavened bread was "this bread" which the Lord was holding and/or looking at as He gave the command. How do we know that? There are many ways to establish that fact, but one simple way should suffice for our purpose. From the beginning of chapter 22 of Luke, and reading all the other accounts of the invention of the supper, we know that it was invented at the Passover meal. And we know that the Passover meal came during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We may not know much more than that about the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover, but we can at least figure out pretty safely that the bread on the table and in our Lord's hand was without doubt - unleavened. Leavening is what we call yeast today. So the bread was without yeast - without leaven or leavening. Is it important for us to use "unleavened bread" - bread prepared without any yeast? Do we have any choice about it? Could we use "light bread," light, fluffy and full of yeast? The kind of bread we buy at the grocery, fortified and enriched, sliced and bagged for making sandwiches and toast? Using it, would we be carrying out the command of Christ to take this bread and eat it? This bread which he said is a symbol of his body was unleavened. Do we have the right to change it? This CupHow about the cup? This cup which the Lord said was his blood - a symbol to remind us of the wiping out of our sins? Do we have a right to change it?What did Jesus have in his cup anyway? He referred to it as "the fruit of the vine". Some people I know have said: "The term 'the fruit of the vine' is a generic description. Therefore we may use any fruit of any vine." Interesting, isn't it? "Any fruit of any vine." In the past, I have met only two people who really believed that, even though I have heard many say it. If it's true that we can have any fruit of any vine, then we could slice watermelons and have them with un-yeasted bread for the memorial feast. After all, watermelon is a fruit that grows on a vine. Watermelon is a fruit of the vine. Right? Oh, some say, "It must be juice"? OK. Watermelon juice! But, if you don't like watermelon juice for the Supper, how about tomato juice? Cucumber juice? Pumpkin juice? All of those come from fruits of a vine. Others have told me: "You're being ridiculous. 'Fruit of the vine' means fruit of the grape vine only. We cannot have anything for the Supper other than the fruit of the grape vine." Then how about unleavened bread and grapes? After all, grapes are the real fruit of the grape vine! Now that makes more sense doesn't it? No, it doesn't take a genius to see that it really doesn't make any more sense to have grapes than it does to have watermelon juice. The term - the fruit of the vine - was (and still is) one of those idiomatic expressions used by the Jews. It was a poetic figure of speech. To the Jew, both at the time of Jesus and today, the meaning has been very specific. If the expression had been literal, it would indeed have meant any fruit that grows on a vine. Any fruit - not fruit juice. If it had been a literal statement and the speaker had meant juice, the expression would have been "the juice of any fruit of any vine". Or more simply, fruit juice. A man said to me that the original word for fruit means "the succulent, juicy part of the produce of a plant". He concluded, Therefore, "fruit of the vine" means juice! "Fruit" means "juice"?!? Then, pray tell, what word means "fruit"? "Juice"? Now I ask, does that make any sense? I don't think so. What does make sense though, is to go back in time and see what the phrase "the fruit of the vine" meant to Jesus. That will be the real meaning. That should solve the puzzle for us the only right way. Did it mean grapes? Grape Juice? Cucumber? Pumpkin? Did it mean wine? The PassoverTo get the proper setting, we need to look into some detail about the Passover and the Passover meal itself. Sadly, many of us have neglected this study over the years. I believe that is a major reason why we have been so easily lead into several errors about the Lord's supper.The very first Passover feast was in Egypt. It began an unbroken sequence of about 3,400 annual observances that continue today. You will remember, that as a part of the last plague, God told the Hebrews to kill a lamb, and sprinkle some of its blood on their doorposts (the door frame). That night, any house with the blood sprinkled on it would be "passed over" when God came to destroy the firstborn of the Egyptians. God told them to be ready to leave Egypt in a hurry. The lamb was to be killed, roasted with fire and eaten with the "bread of haste" - un-yeasted bread. A year later, in the wilderness, they began the annual observance of this memorial Passover meal. It was a symbol to remind them frequently of their miraculous delivery from slavery in Egypt to freedom by the mighty hand of God. By Jesus' day, approximately 1,200 to 1,400 years later (depending on the chronology you prefer), the Passover Feast and the week of Unleavened Bread which God gave to go with it, had developed into a finely-tuned ritual of minute detail. Each detail was important to the Jews as a symbol. Now, instead of being "in haste" as at the Exodus, the head of the household, by tradition still observed today, leaned one elbow on a cushion. This in itself was a symbol of how good God had been to them, delivering them from Egypt and giving them freedom and leisure in their own land. It was a place where they could relax and be "at home". But what was the Passover feast like when Jesus and his disciples
observed the feast in the "upper room"? The SettingVisualize this meal with me. The ritual of the devout Jew today is almost identical to the ritual that Jesus led his disciples in observing in the upper room.In Jesus' day, the Jews reclined at table, after the custom of the Greeks. The food was set on a cloth spread on the floor or on a very low table. By the time Jesus reclined at table with his disciples, this ritual meal was being called a Sedar. The Hebrew word sedar means order. The meal follows a particular order every time and in every place. This sedar is the order of the Haggadah (hah-GOD-uh), which means a telling - a narrative - of some story. It has come to be applied exclusively to this ritual meal at the observance of Passover, because at each meal observance, generation after generation, as God intended, the Passover story is told and retold to keep God alive in the Jew's mind and culture. Today, many Jews refer to this meal simply as a sedar without referring to it as the Passover at all. The table is set with a plate and a wine goblet in front of each place. A Sedar Plate is placed on the table in front of the leader. It may be a special Sedar Plate or simply a regular large platter. A special Sedar Plate is a large decorated plate with raised divisions in it to keep the separate items of the meal apart from each other. It is similar to a variety of much less formal paper plates we sometimes use at picnics to keep the beans separate from the corn. The items on the plate itself are: 1. Roasted Lamb. Today, the whole lamb is not used. Instead, each celebrant gets a piece of the leg bone only (sometimes, it's some other animal's bone, such as a chicken). In the time of Jesus, however, the whole lamb was still being roasted and served. 2. A Hard-boiled Egg. (Added after the destruction of Jerusalem - after 70 AD) 3. Some Bitter Herbs are cut into small pieces. Parsley or grated fresh horse radish root is sometimes used. (Horseradish may have been added about the time of Jesus, or shortly after his death. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact time of that addition. Thus, Jesus' plate had some bitter herbs, but they may or may not have included horseradish as they came to do later.) 4. Some Charoses or Haroseth. This is a combination of finely chopped apples, nuts and cinnamon, mixed with a little wine. This item is symbolic of the mortar used by the Israelites while enslaved in Egypt doing construction work. 5. Karpas. This is either parsley, celery, lettuce, onion or potatoes.Other items are placed on the table at the beginning of the Passover meal and include: Three Matzohs. Today, this is crisp, unleavened bread, such as can be baked easily at home, or purchased in many supermarkets. However, for the symbolic meal of today's conservative or orthodox Jews, if purchased, it must be labeled as approved for Passover use. Each of the three matzohs would be a large, unbroken sheet, approximately one foot square or diameter. They are placed either in individual Matzoh covers (dishes, designed especially for this purpose) or they may be folded separately into one or two large napkins. (The bread is not folded, of course, the napkins are folded with the individual sheets of bread interfolded within the napkins.) At the time Jesus invented the Supper, it may have been soft, round cakes of unleavened bread instead of crispy, cracker-like ones. Wine. A wine goblet or a glass is placed in front of each place setting. A decanter filled with wine (for today's observing Jews - approved for Passover use) is placed near the center of the table. In Jesus' day, it was just a red table wine, which was typically kept in an animal skin on one of the sideboards near the table. Salt Water. A dish of salt water is placed within easy reach of each one at the table. It is permissible to use more than one dish since all celebrants use the salt water. Pillow. This is placed on the left arm of the leader's chair, or on another chair close to it. A cushion may be used instead of a pillow. Cup of Elijah. A large goblet, filled with wine is placed near the center of the table. The CeremonyThis ceremony is conducted by each family at home. Today, as in the first century, usually only one family is at a single table. However, if the family is small, two or more combine for the occasion.The Passover meal begins with the leader (ordinarily the head of the household where the meal is being observed) offering praise to God - the Eternal. At the end of this praise, they all drink the first glass of wine in a reclining position. This first cup of wine is called the cup of sanctification. Then, they wash their hands but do not say the blessing. It is Jewish custom, even today, to say a particular blessing after a ceremonial hand-washing. This is followed by the leader taking some parsley or chervil, dipping it into the salt water and distributing it to all present. As he does this he says: Blessed art thou, Oh Eternal, our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruits of the earth.Next, he takes the middle Matzoh of the three and breaks it in half. He leaves one half between the other two whole ones and "hides" the half just broken off under the cloth for the Afikomen - meaning the afterbread. The head of the house now lifts and elevates the dish containing the Matzohs, and while holding it aloft recites the significance of the unleavened bread. Following the recitation about the bread, he fills all the cups a second time with wine. The youngest person present ceremonially asks The Four Questions concerning the significance of this event. The questions are about 1) the differences between this Passover night and all other nights; 2) the unleavened bread; 3) the bitter herbs; the dipping in salt water and 4) eating while reclined. When the Matzoh dish is replaced on the table, the entire company begins to respond to the youngster's questions by reciting details of - their enslavement by the Egyptians; - their delivery by the Mighty Hand of God; - that this delivery was a fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham; - a brief recitation of events leading them into Egypt; - of the death of the firstborn of all Egyptians and - the passing over of the houses of the Israelites; - explanations of all the plagues brought upon the Egyptians; - praise to God for their delivery; and - the reason for eating the Passover lamb. The leader then shows the assembly the unleavened bread, uncovering it and lifting it for all to see.He explains the significance of it, followed by showing and explaining the bitter herbs. Then he lifts the wine cup high and recites praise to God. He puts the cup back on the table and offers more praise. Again he lifts the cup high and praises God, ending with, Blessed art thou, Oh Lord our God, who createst the fruit of the vine.All drink the second cup of wine - the cup of deliverance. All wash their hands, followed by the head of the household taking the two whole matzohs with the broken one between them and reciting a blessing. They take some bitter herbs, dip them into the charoseth and recite praise to God. The leader takes the bottom unbroken loaf of unleavened bread and distributes it with some bitter herbs and charoseth, reciting the practice of Hillel during the existence of the Temple at Jerusalem which this ritual follows. Rabbi Hillel was one of the two major influences on Jewish thought and ritual from just before the time of Jesus through today. Some conservative historians believe that Jesus and Paul were each greatly influenced by the teachings and attitude of Hillel. He was approximately 60 years old when Jesus was born and had been a predominating influence and had led many followers for several years by that time. Rabbi Gamaliel, Paul's teacher of Hebrew Law and Traditions was one of Hillel's students. Following all of these events, the whole assembled group eats the Passover meal. This is quite a sumptuous supper, but consisting only of the elements already displayed. It can take an hour or two to be eaten. During the supper, the leader generally shares bits of his wisdom and insight with all the others. Some call this "table talk." (See John 13, 14, 15, 16) After supper the half of the middle matzoh which had been put aside and "hidden" at the commencement of the service is broken and distributed to all present. This is called the Afikomen - or afterbread - following which no food can be eaten during the evening. Each cup is filled with wine the third time. A lengthy grace is said, ending with Blessed art thou, Oh Eternal, our God, King of the Universe, who createst the fruit of the vine.Then they drink the third cup - the cup of redemption. Following the third cup of wine, they eat the Afikomen, then implore God to pour out His wrath on the unbelievers. They fill their cups a fourth time. There follows a lengthy prayer of thanksgiving, ending with, Blessed art thou, Oh Eternal, our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.and they drink the fourth cup - the cup of covenant. This cup is the last of the Passover meal, after which is recited the Kiddush or Wine Blessing: Blessed art thou, Oh Eternal, our God, King of the Universe, for the wine, and for the fruit of the vine, and for the produce of the field, and for that desirable, good, and spacious land which thou grantedst our ancestors to inherit, to eat of its fruit, and be satisfied with its goodness. Have compassion, Oh Eternal, Our God, upon us, on Israel thy people, upon Jerusalem thy city, on Zion the residence of thy glory, and upon thy altar and thy temple; rebuild Jerusalem, thy holy city, speedily, in our days, and cheer us on this day of the feast of unleavened bread, for thou, Oh eternal, our God, art good and beneficent unto all, and therefore do we give thanks unto thee for the land, and for the fruit of the vine. Blessed art thou, Oh Eternal, for the land and for the fruit of the vine.Except for the reference to rebuilding Jerusalem, the ceremony - even down to the specific words recited - has remained virtually unchanged since Jesus and his disciples celebrated it, reciting these words, on the night of the betrayal. The ceremony of the Passover is ended with a prayer asking God to
accept the Passover observance and to bless them. What Was In Jesus' Cup?After all this, I ask: Honestly, what was in Jesus' cup? What was it called, over and over and over?Without serious question, wine was in the cup, and repeatedly it was called the fruit of the vine. To the Hebrew the fruit of the vine was only and always wine. The fruit of the vine was never grapes. The fruit of the vine was never grape juice. We can even be sure that Jews of Jesus' time did not know how to preserve grape juice from the harvest time in August and September until the Passover in the Spring, even if they had wanted to. If you were to tell a contemporary of Jesus that the fruit of the vine is grape juice, he would think you were looney! Fruit of the Vine was as specific to the Jew as "baptizo" was to the Greek. Baptizo was always immersion. Fruit of the Vine was always wine. There were no exceptions. There were two phrases Fruit of the Vine and Cup of Blessing - whether used at Passover or any other time - which only and always were and are wine to the Jew. The Fruit of the Vine was an everyday term - a poetic figure of speech - referring to wine. The Cup of Blessing was used by Paul to refer to the Cup blessed in the Jewish Wine Blessing or Kiddush. The wine blessing was, and continues to be, a part of many Jewish rituals. However, to Christ's disciples, whether Jew or non-Jew, the term came to refer specifically to the beverage blessed in the Lord's Supper.(4) Both expressions only and always represented wine to the Christian also until the late 1800's, when people mistakenly and suddenly began to call grape juice Unfermented Wine, and The Fruit of the Vine. In my diligent research, I have found no source where grape juice was ever called the Fruit of the Vine until about 100 years ago. As you study this subject using other sources, if you run across one, please let me know. My point is simply this: Jesus invented the Supper using un-yeasted bread and wine - the pure, alcoholic, fermented juice of the grape. Wine! Do I have the right to change that? If I do change it, have I made an error similar to the error of the Corinthians? Does the Supper become one that I "invented," instead of the Supper that the Lord invented? If I can change the wine to grape juice, may I change the bread to "light" bread? Or to cornbread? Or to pie crust? Can I just change the whole supper to grape cobbler and be done with it? Do you get the point? If I may not change it all, then I cannot change any part of it. If I have license to change any of it - then I can change all of it. I can change the purpose or the frequency or the symbols. I can abolish it altogether. That's why Paul "roughed up" the Corinthians. They had not changed the symbols of it - they still used un-yeasted bread and wine -- but they had completely changed the purpose of it. In principle, what's the difference? IncidentalsI have talked with some whom I love and respect, who believe that the "elements" of the supper are incidental - that it doesn't matter whether wine or grape juice, or if un-yeasted or yeasted bread is used. Generally speaking, their belief seems to be that, to our Lord, unleavened bread and wine were incidentals, occasioned only because it was during the Passover. Also incidental was the "upper room" where they ate and the fact that the supper was eaten at night - they say.(5)The upper room and night time may have been incidental, but when Jesus gave his disciples the command . . . You eat this bread. You drink this cup. Do it (for the purpose of) remembering me.. . . then I firmly believe that those two things - the nature of "this" bread and the contents of "this" cup - are no longer incidental, but are an integral part of the command of Christ itself - just as much as its purpose is an integral part of the supper and of Christ's commands. (Where and when to do "this" were not included in the commands Jesus gave.) What the whole memorial supper is about is totally lost if one changes the symbols or the purpose. Ask yourself: How much of what the Lord invented may I change, before it becomes a supper of my own invention - as the Corinthians did? May I change the Bread? The Wine? The Purpose? If I may change any of the Supper's characteristics, then to what degree may I change any one of them and still have the Supper that the Lord invented? How many may I change? When does it become a supper I have invented? Let me share with you some informal research we did in Southeast Florida, where we lived at the time. We telephoned churches in the area and asked how they observed the Lord's Supper. These are responses from whoever answered each telephone. Look over the following charts and consider some of these:
In the Episcopal Church, they called the Supper the Eucharist(7), and observe it twice weekly, on Sunday and on Wednesday morning. They use unleavened wafers and wine. The Catholic Church also calls it the Eucharist. Is it offered daily by sheer coincidence? Three times on Sunday it is offered to celebrants, with the priests also having it each time. They, too, use unleavened bread wafers and wine. Sometimes a communicant gets both bread and wine, they tell us. Sometimes each gets only the bread, depending on the size of the crowd. In the southeast Florida area, the Jehovah's Witnesses call it The Lord's Evening Meal. They say they eat the Meal to Commemorate the Death of Christ annually on the 14th of Nisan (the date of the Jewish Passover). As an interesting note, according to their doctrine, only the 144,000 chosen eat the Supper - there are approximately 29,000 of the 144,000 left. In many of their cities the symbols of the Supper are passed among the assembly and no one participates, because none of the 144,000 is present. They use unleavened bread and wine. The Church of the Nazarene uses unleavened (matzoh) wafers and drinks Welch's Grape Juice, quarterly. In the Assembly of God, they observe the Supper once monthly. Unleavened bread and "unfermented grape wine" are used. When we asked what "unfermented grape wine" is, we were told, "Welch's Grape Juice". Restoration Churches (Churches of Christ, Christian Churches, and Disciples of Christ Churches) generally have the Supper weekly on Sunday only. They use unleavened bread and (usually Welch's) Grape Juice. Their purpose is to commemorate Christ's Death and Suffering. Also in that area of Florida, the Baptist Churches observe the Supper on the first Sunday, monthly. They also use unleavened bread and grape juice. Presbyterian Churches have the memorial four to five times per year. Matzoh and Grape Juice are used. We were told by a member that this group used regular bread cut into cubes for a while. But, someone suggested that they have a Passover Supper to get close to their roots and for a better understanding. After that they changed to Matzoh to be more like the original Passover but kept using Grape Juice. South Florida Methodists have the supper on the first Sunday of each month in the morning. On the third Sunday of the month in the evening. Normally they have leavened (yeasted) bread and Welch's Grape Juice. Mormons there eat the supper weekly on Sunday. They told us "We follow scripture, strictly." When asked which particular scriptures, they responded, "Exodus and The Words of Wisdom" (a book written by Joseph Smith in the Book of Mormon). They use home-made, whole wheat bread (leavened, yeasted), and water. The Christian Scientist we talked with said that they also follow
scripture. They use nothing. They reason that this is a
"spiritual" feast, so it cannot be observed with
"physical" symbols, they told us. Again, I pose the question: If I can change the contents of the cup,
how much more can I change before it is no longer the Lord's supper,
but rather Art Thompson's supper? Some Other QuestionsHow may we reconcile the difference between Luke's account - which appears to have two cups of wine - with the narratives of Matthew, Mark, and Paul? It appears that Luke's version of the first Supper has a cup drunk before and a cup drunk after the unleavened bread, while the other three have only one cup drunk by each participant, following the eating of the bread.This is one reason it is so important for Christians to understand some of the details of the Passover. I hope you are not like I was, because I had little idea about the specifics of what happened at the Passover meal. Before studying this subject very much, I knew they ate the Passover Lamb and Unleavened Bread, but that was about it. Now that we know about the order of the meal - The Sedar - and the four cups of wine, it should be easy for us to lay down the narratives of Matthew, Mark, and Paul with the Passover meal and see that the three of them picked up the telling of Jesus' remarks as he lifted the afterbread - the Afikomen - then continued with the fourth cup of wine which followed - the cup of covenant. What Luke did differently was to start his narrative with the third cup - the cup of redemption - then the afterbread, then the fourth cup - the cup of covenant. And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." And when He had taken a cup [3rd - the cup of Redemption] and given thanks [the Wine Blessing], He said, "Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes."And when He had taken some bread [the afikomen] and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten [4th - the cup of Covenant], saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood." (Luke 22:15-20)Does that seem as clear to you as it does to me? I thought so. I don't mean to sound at all disrespectful, but now I have begun to suspect the real depth of knowledge of many of our well-respected scholars who seem to be at a loss to explain this "apparent discrepancy". Once you are familiar with the Passover - it just falls into place. And it doesn't take an Einstein to figure it out. In recent discussions, I have discovered that many think that the Passover had already been completely finished when Jesus took additional bread and additional wine and invented the memorial Supper after the entire feast had ended. I suppose that, at one time, I may have thought that, too. However, that view just does not fit the historical and bibl |
When
I first approached this examination, I fell back on my few years of
experience as a radio/television investigative news reporter. More recently
I had worked as a communications analyst and designer for Southern Bell.
That analytical experience also helped with research. I started from scratch
without a bias in any direction. My method was to search, to investigate,
and to analyze as thoroughly as I know how. Some of the sources for this
material are listed in an attached Bibliography. I began with scripture, and
added other sources as the Lord placed them at my disposal. I started with a
blank mind (some say it's still blank) and went from there.
