| The Bread and the Cup The Memorial Emblems And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it.—Matthew 26:26, 27 Richard Suraci In reviewing the emblems representing our Lord’s great sacrifice, it is a most precious privilege to remember, and renew our intimate knowledge of, God’s only begotten son. We do this not only with our minds but also with our deep feelings as we try to enter into the experiences Jesus endured for us. We read that "he was touched with the feelings of our infirmities" (Heb. 4:15). We likewise want to be touched by his suffering so we may better appreciate all he endured for us. Being perfect, everything he suffered was unmerited and may be attributed directly to the world he came to save: "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed" (Isa. 53:5). In Romans 5:7, 8 [NIV] we read: "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." As Bible students we have a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our Lord’s death once each year on its anniversary, the 14th day of Nisan. We have an appropriate title for this event: "Our Lord’s Memorial." Although we partake of the emblems once a year, we should remember the significance of the emblems every day of our lives. This will make each day a mini-memorial that will draw us closer to our loving savior. We should also remember the secondary application: the many grains of wheat ground to make the bread and grapes crushed to make the wine picture our share in suffering and dying with our beloved Lord as we, like Paul, "fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ . . . for his body’s sake, which is the church" (Col. 1:24). On that special night, our beloved Lord Jesus was fully aware of the significance of this meal. What a vision it created for him, being perfect and completely tuned to his Father’s will and plan. It gave Jesus a panoramic view of God’s plan for man, with himself as the center of it all. Jesus said to his apostles: "With desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer" (Luke 22:15). Afterward he instituted a memorial service which they would henceforth observe in commemoration of his death. He said: "this do in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19). So his apostles knew this was not a continuation of that type because Jesus was the fulfillment of the Passover picture, he was the Lamb of God. He desired that they remember and commemorate his sacrifice and death as their Redeemer. The Unleavened Bread The emblems he chose for this memorial service were simple but profoundly significant. In choosing unleavened bread, he was following his Father’s instructions to the Jewish nation to rid their homes of all leaven and forbid the eating of leavened bread for seven days (Exod. 12:15). In doing so, Jesus acquiesced to his Father’s will and plan for the salvation of the world. Leaven is a symbol of sin. For this reason, leaven was not used in offerings made by fire, and was forbidden during Passover week (Exod. 12:18-20). Because Jesus was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners," it was fitting that only unleavened bread be used as a picture of his body (Heb. 7:26). Leaven produces fermentation, and when mixed with flour, makes it light. Fermentation is caused by a microscopic fungus. As we review the meaning of leaven, we see that as far as our blessed Lord was concerned, the fungus of sin was clearly missing from his perfect life. Bread was very important in biblical times. In early Babylonian history, grain was the basic unit for the system of weights. Wheat was highly prized. After threshing and winnowing, it was crushed or ground. Flour mixed with water and seasoned with salt was kneaded in a trough. To this leaven was added. From earliest times, the word "bread" was used for food in general, as in Genesis 3:19. Bread was the staple of the diet and was called the "staff of bread" in Leviticus 26:26. This scripture was probably the origin of the phrase that bread is the "staff of life." Bread was used in sacred meals as in Genesis 14:18, and included in certain offerings (Lev. 21:6). It also had a special place in the Tabernacle as the "shewbread" or "bread of the presence." The word bread appears over 360 times in the Bible, so we see how important bread was in biblical times. Our Lord said, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:33, 35, 41). His death on Calvary’s cross is symbolized by the unleavened bread he broke as a part of the memorial: his body, broken for us. It represents the perfect life he faithfully laid down. The only way to receive life in any age is by feeding on that word and appropriating that life, as the bread of life, which makes us acceptable in God’s sight. The memorial Jesus inaugurated commemorates the ransom for Adam and his family from the death condition by the man Christ Jesus, offering an opportunity for eternal life. We read in Luke 22:19, "He took bread, and gave thanks and brake it, and gave it unto them saying, this is my body, which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me." Jesus is the "bread of heaven," so his taking the bread into his hands, blessing it and breaking it would seem to represent himself in his Father’s hands. Jesus was always in the hands of God. As the Logos he was God’s agent in all creation (John 1:1-3). In Proverbs 8:22-31 we read:
In comparison to his Father, the Logos was but a young son in God’s hands—a beautiful obedient son, always doing his Father’s will. God spoke the word, and his son was there to fulfill it to perfection. The Logos divested himself of his heavenly glory and was born on earth as a perfect human being. He was still in the hands of God; God blessed him because he always sought to do his Father’s will. We read of our beloved Lord that he "by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Heb. 2:9). This means he experienced death. Having kept the law perfectly guaranteed unending life. It was this perfect life he gave into the hands of justice. He took Adam’s place in death, and experienced the same feelings the human race experiences when they die. The actual cause of Jesus’ death may not have been the crucifixion nails but a broken heart: "Reproach hath broken my heart." (Psa. 69:20). He understood and experienced the same feelings that sinners feel who are alienated from God. For the first time in his existence, spiritual or human, God’s face and smile of approval was turned away from our beloved Lord, as he pathetically exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34).* We can appreciate to some extent the depth of love God displayed in the life and death of his beloved son. Divine love came from God and a reflection of that same love came from his son. There was love for each other! Love Between God and Jesus God desired to exalt his son to his own nature. While in his hands, after blessing him for eons in spiritual time and for 33 years on earth, he allowed him to be broken and die a shameful death on the cross. By his faithfulness unto death, Jesus proved to his Father that his character had crystallized, that "he learned obedience by the things which he suffered" (Heb. 5:8). He proved that he could be trusted with immortality! Jesus knew that through his sacrifice and death, he would be the means by which his Father’s holy name will be cleared of the many blasphemies heaped upon it, that the worship of Jehovah may be restored in all the willing and obedient he died to redeem that God may be all and in all. The prophet Isaiah (53:10-12) unfolds this beautiful love. "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." The Cup In discussing the significance of the cup, we are recalling the sacrificial life of our dear Redeemer. There is no human life without the body! There is no human life without the blood! These two component parts are indispensable to human life, essential elements in man’s physical being—a third is the breath of life! In Leviticus 17:11 we read, "the life of the flesh is in the blood." (Also Genesis 4:10.) The life of the world was forfeited by father Adam who fell into sin and death. God’s justice required a "life for a life" (Exod. 21:23). Perfect Adam lost his life. Perfect Jesus took Adam’s place in death, thus providing a corresponding price (1 Cor. 15:21, 22). The blood of Christ represents his perfect life which was sacrificed by his death and leads to forgiveness of sins. The only way to benefit from his sacrifice is to figuratively "drink" of Jesus’ blood, appropriating the merit of his perfect life to our own. The entire Bible, especially the Old Testament, emphasizes the importance of blood. The word blood appears 430 times. Paul in Hebrews 9 and 10 tells us about the tabernacle arrangement, furnishings, sacrifices, High Priest, and what was accomplished therein. The priests entered the Holy daily to perform God’s service. But only the High Priest entered the Most Holy once a year and never without blood which he offered for himself and the people’s sins. This took place on the Day of Atonement, but Paul emphatically states that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. If it made them perfect, Paul reasons, then no other sacrifice would be necessary, for they would be cleansed once for all. The Passover was the first feature of the law and a shadow of "good things to come." Those "good things" appeared when Jesus came into the world, saying; "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; . . . burnt offering and sin offerings hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will O my God" (Psa. 40:6-8; Heb. 10:4-9). The law required animal sacrifice to remind the people of their sins, which could only find satisfaction by divine justice: a "perfect life for a perfect life." That’s why it was possible for Jesus to offer one sacrifice for sin for all. The secondary application of the memorial should fill our hearts and minds with appreciation as we realize that we are counted in as part of our Lord’s sacrifice. Not until we become part of the body of Christ does any sacrifice on our part benefit any one else, and that is in the next age. Until that time witnessing is all we can do—following our Lord’s example of loving and caring and doing good unto all as we have opportunity, especially to the household of faith. We read in 1 Corinthians 10:16, 17 (Diaglott): "The cup of blessing, for which we bless God, is it not a participation of the blood of the anointed one? The loaf which we break, is it not a participation of the body of the anointed one? Because there is one loaf, we, the many, are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf." Guided by God’s spirit, Paul is teaching us this precious secondary truth that we are participators with our Lord in his death as members of his body. As many grains of wheat make a loaf and many grapes make wine, so we become joint sacrificers with our Lord, participators in his death. The emblems symbolize the assimilation of Christ which secures eternal life. By faith we accept his finished sacrifice, accept the life rights which Jesus made available for us. This enables us to feed on Jesus, the bread of life, the bread which God sent from heaven. The Memorial season is a special time to renew our vows of consecration to "be dead with him, that we may also live with him; to suffer with him, that we may also reign with him." (See Volume 6, Page 466.) In the secondary application, our Lord takes us into his hands and blesses us and then breaks us. How good to know we are in the hands of our beloved Lord Jesus. He was here! He was tried in all points like we are tried as New Creatures. He understands our problems, our trials and promises his grace will be sufficient for us. He also promised that all of our experiences will work together for good because of our love for God. Our hearts in gratitude cry out:
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