This Is My Body Given For You

"A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing."  -Martin Luther

We are now up to Thursday of the Holy Week. From Bethany Jesus sent Peter and John ahead to the Upper Room in Jerusalem to make the preparations for the Passover Feast. That evening after sunset, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples as they prepared to share in the Passover. By performing this humble act of service, Jesus demonstrated by example how they were to love one another.

Luke 22:14-20 is one of the most beautiful accounts of the Last Supper found in the Bible. Sometimes we tend to forget that the Lord’s Supper is a continuation of the Old Testament celebration of Passover.

Passover was a memorial built around a meal that a family shared with their guests. The Passover meal served as a memorial to help Israelites remember, and teach their children, that the Lord delivered them from slavery in Egypt. Passover was a meal that a family shared. But it was a highly symbolic and ritualized meal.

Now what makes the Lord’s Supper different then a Passover Meal is that at the Last Supper Jesus took some of the elements at the table, and interpreted them around Himself. The Lord’s Supper is something of a reinterpretation of the Passover Meal. Christ interpreted His death to the Disciples in a Passover context. 

First, we'll look at the symbolism behind the first cup. In the celebration of Passover people share four cups of wine. Notice that here in Luke Jesus uses two of the cups as teaching points. We read, ‘After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you.”’ With the first cup Jesus said, "Take this and divide it among you” (Luke 22:17).

Jesus ‘gave thanks’. The word in Greek is ‘eucharisteo.’ That's where we get our word, ‘Eucharist’, which simply means, ‘Thanksgiving’. I think that Thanksgiving is a very nice name for this ritual. But, with the first cup Jesus said, ‘Take this and divide it among you.’ This demonstrates Christian Unity.

Next, let's look at the symbolism behind the breaking of the unleavened bread. Luke tells us, ‘And Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you.”’ Jesus took the unleavened bread, held it up, and said, ‘This is my body given for you.’ (i.e., this bread represents my body which is being given so you can enter into this New Covenant - Luke 22:19). Christ was the sacrificial lamb so to speak. Christ gave His life for us. Christ broke the bread. And the breaking of the bread symbolized Jesus was laying down His life for His people.

Down through the ages the Lord’s Supper has been a source of endless controversy in the Christian church. And that's a very sad statement about a practice that was meant to bring us together, and to symbolize our unity. Christ and His Disciples shared a meal as all this went on. And, just in general, sharing a meal builds community. But, the Last Supper was a celebration of Passover. And Passover was, and is, a meal shared by a family with their closest friends.

That's why we call the Lord’s Supper ‘Communion’. We call it Communion because communion conveys the sense of what is going on here. When we partake of the cup we are declaring our communion that is our fellowship, and oneness with one another, and God.

Now, let's examine the symbolism behind the second cup. With the last of the four cups served at Passover, we read, ‘In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’ Jesus said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood’ (Luke 22:20). In other words, His death establishes the New Covenant. Therefore, this serves to remind us that in His death the Lord was establishing a new covenant with us. That is, the Spirit calling from within us.

This is fulfilled in the giving of the Holy Spirit to indwell us. And while under the Old Covenant, faithfulness was encouraged upon God’s people from the outside, under the New Covenant the urge to be faithful comes from within us. And, this covenant was sealed with Christ’s blood.

Finally, Communion serves as a memorial to what Christ has done. Jesus said, ‘do this in remembrance of me.’ We all have trouble remembering things. Communion, like Passover, has elements of past, present and future. Communion in particular is very forward looking.

There will be a new Exodus so to speak, when the Lord comes to bring us home. Jesus told us, ‘I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God’, and ‘I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’

He is referring to the Great Messianic Banquet which unveils our eternity. As we go through life in the here and now, the New Covenant has been established. The Spirit has arrived. But the world, and we ourselves, have not yet been made perfect. That awaits the day our Lord’s returns.

Jesus and the disciples left the Upper Room and went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed in agony to God the Father. Luke's Gospel says "his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:44)

It was here, that night, in Gethsemane, that Jesus was betrayed with a kiss by Judas Iscariot and arrested by the Sanhedrin. He was taken to the home of Caiaphas, the High Priest, where the whole council had gathered to begin making their case against Jesus.

Meanwhile, in the early morning hours as Jesus' trial was getting underway, Peter denied knowing his Master three times before the rooster crowed (Luke 22:34).

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:26; John 6:53-58; Acts 2:42; John 8:12; John 3:16; John 15:7; 2 Corinthians 13:14

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the love you have shown me. Help me carry that love to others so they may benefit from your love. Amen  

God bless you!

Alice