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Deliverance The Bread and
the Cup For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.—1 Corinthians 11:26, NAS Brent Hislop These words of Paul are full of meaning. They inform every Christian that when they participate in the Lord’s memorial, they are “proclaiming” the sacrificial death of Christ, and the redemption from sin for themselves and ultimately for all mankind —“until he comes.” Here is the context for these words: “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me. In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”—1 Corinthians 11:23-26, NAS Paul quotes the words of the Master inviting his followers to take the bread and the wine, and to do this in remembrance of him. Because those gathered in the upper room on the last night of our Lord’s earthly ministry were Jews, they knew the Passover celebration was a memorial of the nation’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage. And they certainly associated the shedding of blood with the inauguration of the law covenant.
However, in that time and place, confused and unsure
of what was transpiring, they could not clearly comprehend the meaning of Jesus’
words. Not until they received the illumination of the holy spirit at Pentecost
would they understand. They would remember the Lord’s words on that last night
and they would be reminded of the original Passover and the inauguration of the
law covenant. And they would understand that these “examples” of old were
written for their instruction (1 Corinthians 10:11; cf., Romans 15:4). Why Celebrate the Passover Every Year? At the time of the sanctification of all the firstborns at that first Passover, Moses instructed the people to remember or memorialize that event each year as their deliverance from bondage. Moses said on that day the fathers were to tell their sons why this celebration was taking place (Exodus 13:14). The Passover was to be observed with no leavened bread eaten on that day or during the entire week of what was called the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 13:3,6,7). The yearly remembrance of the Passover was to be as a sign on the hand and a memorial between the eyes, so the children of Israel would have the law of the Lord upon their lips, remembering their deliverance (Exodus 13:9). At the inauguration of the law covenant Moses took the blood of the sacrificed animals and sprinkled the altar, the people, and the scroll of the law (Exodus 24:6,8; Hebrews 9:19). Thus the law covenant between God and the nation of Israel was ratified with the shedding of blood: “Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood” (Hebrews 9:18, NAS).
With these examples or types from Israel’s history in
his mind, Jesus instituted a new memorial, taking the bread and the cup and
asking his disciples to eat and drink in remembrance of him. Like the
ancient Passover this memorial was to celebrate deliverance, but on a much
grander scale. As prefigured by the ancient Passover, this memorial was to be
observed each year and was to be proclaimed from generation to generation. And
as prefigured by the inauguration of the law covenant, this new law covenant
would only be made possible by the shedding of the blood of Christ on behalf
of many (all the world of mankind) for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28). Unleavened Bread Represents Jesus The use of unleavened bread in the Passover is a beautiful picture of the intent to put away sin. When Jesus broke unleavened bread and said it represented his body, his perfect sinless sacrifice was illustrated. He was, Paul said, “Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26). Jesus is styled the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Like the Passover lamb slain and eaten, Jesus told his disciples to eat of [this representation of] his body. As the blood of the Passover lamb sprinkled upon the sides and top of the doorframe granted deliverance from death for the firstborn, so Peter wrote, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18, 19, NIV). The bread and cup represent the body and the blood of Jesus given in sacrifice for the redemption of mankind. Jesus said to the people, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes me will live because of me” (John 6:53-57, Net Bible). These were hard words. “Eat his flesh?” The disciples knew the law prohibited eating blood, for “the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). They could not understand that Jesus spoke of appropriating his flesh and blood by faith. They did not understand that the blood of atonement foreshadowed his sacrifice for their atonement. In Hebrews 9:22 we are told that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. The context shows that there is no salvation except through the sacrificial death of Christ. To prefigure this, the law only granted remission of sin through the shedding of blood. The apostle continues this theme in Hebrews 12:22-24. Using the inauguration of the law covenant as a backdrop he told the brethren that prospectively they have come to: 1. Mount Zion, heavenly Jerusalem, 2. An innumerable company of angels, 3. The general assembly and church of the firstborn, 4. God the Judge of all, 5. The spirits of just men made perfect, 6. Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, 7. The sprinkled blood that speaks better things than the blood of Abel.
On Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, are God,
Jesus, angelic hosts, the church, the great company, the ancient faithful ones
(Hebrews 11:38), and the sprinkled blood which graciously is for forgiveness and
does not cry out for vengeance as did the blood of Abel. The Body and Blood of Christ The body and blood of Christ are spoken of in the epistles, often through “examples” from the Jews’ ancient history. In Hebrews 10 Paul spoke of the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement, sacrifices offered year by year; he stated in verse 4 that it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. In verse 9 he wrote that Jesus removed the first, the sacrifices under the law covenant, and established the second, the sacrificial offering of his life, the sacrificial blood that established the second covenant, called the New Covenant. Hebrews 9:28 says Christ was offered once for all, to bear the sins of “the many.” The Greek text is emphatic—THE many—the world of mankind, and that he will appear a second time not with a sin offering, but to bring salvation to mankind. But first, the blood is applied on behalf of the church: “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). The church is sanctified or “set apart” for God’s service by the offering of the body of Jesus. In 1 Peter 1:18,19 the church is redeemed —the Greek word is lutroo, meaning to release by the paying of a ransom—not by corruptible things, but by the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot. The church is justified by Jesus’ blood (Romans 5:9).
These verses show the effect of eating the bread and
drinking the cup: sanctification, redemption, and justification. We are told
that Jesus is made unto the church wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and
redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). Jesus is wisdom, in contrast to the foolish
wisdom of the world (see verses 18-25). In Christ we find sanctification, being
set apart to God and separated from the ways of the world. And we find
righteousness, justification, through Christ because we are made right before
God. And through Christ we have redemption; the Greek work is apolutroosis,
a word like lutroo only more emphatic. It means to release by the paying
of a ransom. Deliverance There are a variety of ways to look at these concepts in the New Testament. We are told that the church is justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24). Redemption speaks of deliverance. Just as the ancient Passover was a celebration of deliverance from bondage, so the church in partaking of the bread and the cup celebrate the greater deliverance from the bondage of sin and death through their faith in the redemptive sacrifice of Christ. This redemption is for the church now, and ultimately for “the many,” the entire world of mankind, later. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.”—Romans 5:8-15, NAS We exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ for this wondrous redemption. We are reminded that as Jesus took the bread he, “Gave thanks,” and as he took the cup he, “Gave thanks” (Luke 22:17,19). Jesus thanked God for the privilege of offering his life symbolized by these emblems. In the words of the prophet, “He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11). His sacrifice will bring everything back to God, all things in heaven and all things on earth (Ephesians 1:10). In partaking of the bread and the cup we celebrate Jesus; we do this in remembrance of him, proclaiming his death until he comes. |