REVISIONING THE  LORD'S SUPPER
AS
THE EUCHARIST

 

              

THE EUCHARIST BEFORE THE CROSS!

An Invitation to a Meal!
Come with me as we visit in the home of a Jewish family!
We are in a small village in Western Turkey in a Jewish community; the year is around 200 BC.
My neighbor's name is Johannen Ben Yoda.
He and his family have gathered for the celebration of the annual Passover feast.  They call it in Aramaic, Pesach.  We call it the Passover.
Although they live in a Greek speaking region of the world, their home language is Aramaic, a dialect descending from ancient Hebrew.
Their neighbor's have been busy all week shopping for the appropriate kosher foods and a special lamb that has been prepared for the evening meal, to be eaten with herbs and unleavened bread.

This is an intensely holy time of the year for every Jew; a serious meaningful spiritual time for this family.
Originally in ancient times this feast was celebrated in the Temple in Jerusalem and pilgrims made the journey to the Holy City in high spirits.
Now, however, because our neighbors have moved away to a far distant foreign land  in which there is only a synagogue and no Temple, the Pesach or Passover is celebrated in their home.
All over the world where Jews are now living (in what has been called by some, The Diaspora, or Dispersion) Jewish families are gathering, on the same day of the year, to celebrate the Pesach.
There is something intensely special and spiritual about this time and meal!
The Pesach reminds the Jews of a time centuries ago when God under Moses led them out of Egyptian captivity.  You can read this in their Sacred Scriptures in Exodus 12.
Anticipation and excitement are high!
This meal, however, is not simply a trip down memory lane, but is an actual reliving the past in the present, a bringing of Israel's glorious past into their home in Turkey.
This same experience of brining their past redemption into their present experience is happening all over the world wherever Jews are celebrating the Pesach.

With the family gathered around the table and the food spread out before them, the Father of the family stands up and leads the family in a time of prayer, singing Psalms (called the Hallel Psalms - Ps 113-118), instruction which the Jews call Haggadah ( a short sermonic explanation of the meaning of the Passover), and sharing in the meal.

The Father takes a cup of wine and gives thanks and blesses God for his deliverance.  Speaking in a moving voice the Father begins to instruct his children on the meaning of the meal.

Listen as the Father of the household begins speaking in a chanting like voice!
He is reciting something special to the family:

A wandering Aramean was my father; and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.  And the Egyptians treated us harshly, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage.  Then we cried to the Lord the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression;  and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, with signs and wonders;  and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.  And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which thou, O Lord, hast given me.’

Immediately I recognize that the Father of the family is reciting Deut 26:5-10.
Not only is he reminding his family of their origins in God's will, but also of God's powerful redemption from Egyptian bondage.
But he is doing more than merely reminding them of the past, he is leading his family into and through the Exodus experience of redemption.
He is personalizing the Exodus experience with his family.  He wants his family to feel the joy and meaning of the experience
The Pesach feast without the explanation of its real meaning would be little more than an ordinary family meal, but with the explanation it is becoming for the family a reliving in the present of God's powerful redemption in the past.

Listening to the Father lead his family into this memorial meal is a moving experience.
I somehow feel the excitement, the sense of thanksgiving, the celebration of God's loving redemption.

The the Father then takes a loaf of bread and breaks it into small pieces which he gives each of his family to eat.
This begins the meal proper; the eating of the herbs and the sacrificed lamb.

Finally, after drinking another cup of wine with thanksgiving, the I see Father leading his family in the singing of several Psalms which I soon recognize as part of the Sacred Psalms of Israel, which they call the Hallel Psalms, in which they thank God for his mercy and salvation.

I am grateful that I had been invited into this home to witness this family celebrating a deliverance that had taken place centuries earlier, but which is commemorated every year at this time by Jews throughout the world.
Strangely, I have been drawn into the Exodus and find myself giving thanks to this great God who has so faithfully delivered his people and bound them into a great nation of one people.

Somehow, this annual celebration, deeply spiritual, has kept this nation together through centuries of hardship and suffering, but somehow without ever losing its faith.
This simple feast reminds these Jewish families that they are God's people, that he will deliver them, and secure their future.

A strange phenomenon seemed to creep into the celebration!
T he God who had delivered the Jews in the past was about to deliver them again through a Messiah-like king who would again in the near future lead God's people once more into safety.
A strong sense of anticipation permeates the festivities.
 
Now here is a short test for you, my guests at this meal!
What did you learn from the visit to the Pesach (Passover) ceremony of our Jewish family in 200 BC?
What role did the Passover serve in Israel?

Perhaps this will jog your mind!
  • It was an annual, deeply spiritual fest
  • It was a joyful family occasion of thanksgiving
  • It celebrated God's deliverance of his people from captivity and oppression
  • Jews all over the world joined in the feast from wherever they were
  • The feast reminded the Jew that they were God's chosen people, that God had led them, and was still leading them
  • It brought solidarity to God's people
  • The meal was given meaning by the explanation of what God had done at the Exodus
  • By reciting the Exodus Haggadah (Deut 26:5ff) the Father of the family brought the past experience of deliverance into the present for his family; they were celebrating and reliving God's deliverance
  • There was a sense of future Messianic expectation in the meal, God's redemption would continue through his Messiah
I am indebted to Dr. Tom Wright, The Meal Jesus Gave Us,  for the idea behind the above story.


The Focus of This Lesson:
What we have in mind here relates to the Jewish background of culture and religious thinking that must have been prominent in Jesus’ mind when he chose the Passover as the setting for instituting the Lord’s Supper, and which eventually shaped the celebration and nature of the Eucharist among the early disciples of Jesus and 1st century church.

First, the Culture of Meals in Israel (and Eastern societies):
     The tradition of Jewish meals at the time of Christ was to eat two meals a day [consequently there was very little obesity
     in Israel!] (ABD – Anchor Bible Dictionary).

     Furthermore, meals or eating with persons had a far deeper meaning that simply eating with someone.

     Two Greek words of expressions depict this well (however, the meaning of these expressions is lost in the English
     language and meal tradition).

     On could sunesthio (eat with) a meal with someone in which a close accepting fellowship was intended, or one could
     esthio meta (eat with) a meal with persons in which no fellowship was intended!

  • In Gen 43:32 Joseph’s brothers had arrived in Egypt and a banquet was given for them, but the Egyptians did not eat with (Greek sunesthio) the Hebrews because this would have been an abomination to them!  They were obviously eating with (esthio meta) but not eating with (sunesthio) the Hebrews!
  • In 1 Cor 5:11 Paul instructed the church not to eat with (sunesthio) a brother absorbed in immorality and adultery since this would imply acceptance, unity, and fellowship.
  • In Lk 5:29ff the Pharisees were upset with Jesus because he ate with despised tax collectors and sinners indicating acceptance, unity, and fellowship with them!
  • In Lk 7:34 the Jews judged Jesus because he ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners, they accused him of being friends to sinners indicating fellowship and unity.
  • In Lk 7:36ff Jesus was invited to eat with Simon the Pharisee, but when he allowed a woman of sin to anoint him the Pharisee was upset because on this occasion of fellowship he “accepted fellowship” with this woman!
  • In Lk 19:1ff the Jews were alarmed because Jesus had “gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner”, namely, Zachaeus.

     Meals in Eastern traditions of the 1st century were not merely food occasions, but were deeply formal, social, and
     spiritual; they were occasions of religious significance and thanksgiving for God’s rich provision.

     Coming to the table was an occasion of acceptance, unity, fellowship, and a deeply religious spiritual occasion.
     Among the Jews thanksgiving prayers and the memory of God’s deliverance and sustenance were uppermost during
     the meal.

     Meals had a accepting unifying fellowship dynamic in which good will prevailed.

     “Eucharistia” prevailed at the meal!

     Children were present but the focus was on the thanksgiving meal, and the instruction of the children!

     Our modern concept of “grace” is an outgrowth of this “eucharistia” at the table!
     All of these elements would have been present during Jewish meals at the time of Jesus and his celebrating the
     Passover with his disciples.

Second, Jesus Practice of Eating with his disciples:
     Our Gospels record several occasions when Jesus broke bread with his disciples.

     We must remember the spiritual fellowship dynamic of Jewish and Eastern meals.

  • Perhaps one of the most memorable was the breakfast meal beside the sea of Galilee when Jesus spoke tenderly to Peter (John 21:12-19).
  • In Lk 24:13ff Jesus broke bread with two men on the road to Emmaus and then later in their home when “he was at table with them, he took bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them.  Their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight…”.  These men were not of the twelve who celebrated the Passover with Jesus which makes the language of Luke remarkable.  Obviously the practice of taking  bread and blessing it held significance for the men!
  • Lk 24:36 records another significant occasion of Jesus’ eating with his disciples.  Here the two men have reported their extraordinary table meal with Jesus and were reporting it to the eleven.  Jesus appeared to them and asked for food, another occasion of Jesus eating with his disciples on a memorable occasion.  The he gave them the Lukan form of the Great Commission.
  • Then there were the two occasions in which Jesus fed 5000 (Matt 14:13ff) and 4000 (Matt 15:32ff) people by the sea of Galilee, teaching them valuable lessons of his ability to provide for them.
    Indicating the spiritual significance of this occasion John follows this up (John 6) with Jesus discussion of eating his flesh and drinking his blood as indications of Jesus provision of spiritual life.
  • On another occasion, eating the Feast of Tabernacles with his disciples, Jesus interpreted the occasion for them in terms of his provision of spiritual food for eternal life (John 7:37ff).
  • And finally, we come to Jesus eating the Passover with his disciples (Matt 26:20ff; Mk 14:12ff; Lk 22:7ff; and John 13-17).  John’s discussion of Jesus washing the disciples feat adds impact to the nature and impact on the disciples of this meal.
    With the realization of Jesus’ previous meals with his disciples, and the rich Jewish  heritage of the Passover behind them, this meal of celebration and thanksgiving would have made a lasting impression o the disciples.
    The institution of the Eucharist on this occasion would not have been lost on the disciples!
  • Deliverance, celebration, thanksgiving, family unity, fellowship, acceptance, and community would have been deeply imbedded in the psyche of the disciples!

Third, We Consider the Dead Sea (Qumran) Covenanter’s Meals:
     The Dead Sea Covenanter’s meals were communal meals with deep spiritual fellowship and unity connotations.

     Although Jeremias finds no direct connection from the Covenanter’s meals and the Eucharist, they do demonstrate a
     parallel Jewish table culture of community, thanksgiving, dedication, and spiritual significance common to most Jewish
     meals and table cultures.

Fourth, Finally We Come to Jesus’ last Passover Celebration:
     Although some scholars question the significance of the Passover in the origins of the Eucharist (due to perceived
     differences in the Synoptic and Johannine accounts of the meals), most scholars find a powerful shaping force for the
     Eucharist in the Passover feast and dynamic (see Jeremias, The Eucharistic Meals of Jesus; Marshall, Last Supper,
     Lord’s Supper, Hicks, Come To The Table).

  •   We begin by examining what has been suggested (Jeremias and others) as a possible
      Passover Meal Liturgy at the time of Christ.

      The Passover Seder
o        The was a Preliminary Course.
       Dedication spoken by the paterfamilias over the first cup (the kiddus cup, kiddus  [Qiddush] is
       a prayer of benediction acknowledging the sanctity of the occasion).
       Preliminary dish – green herbs, bitter herbs, and fruit sauce is eaten.
       The meal proper is served but not yet eaten, the second cup is poured but not yet drunk.

o        This was followed by the Passover Liturgy.
The Passover haggadah (Passover narrative Ex 12:26ff, 13:8) is led by the paterfamilias .
The first part of the Passover hallel (Ps 113, 114) is sung.
The second cup (the haggadah cup) is drunk.

o        After the Haggadah narrative the Main Meal was eaten.
Grace (thanksgiving prayer) is spoken by the paterfamilias over the unleavened bread.
The meal (Passover lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs and fruit sauce, wine) is eaten.
Grace over the third cup is spoken.

o        Finally, the Conclusion to the meal was celebrated in repetitive Psalm singing or recitation.
The second part of the Passover hallel (Ps 115-118) is sung.
Praise is said over the fourth cup (the hallel cup).

  •   Marshall and Jeremias on the Passover Meaning.

o        The Passover was a celebration of the way God had brought the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt and set them on the road to the Promised Land.

o        It was a time of thanksgiving and praise.

o        The Passover also became a time of looking forward to the coming of the Messiah and the redemption of Israel.

o        The Passover was accompanied by the singing of the Hallel Psalms (Ps. 113-118).

  • Hicks on the Passover.

o        The Passover was not simply a memorial of the Passover Event, but a present reenactment of that event in the life of the participants.

o        The Passover was a renewal of the covenant made by God with his people at Sinai.

The Institution of the Lord’s Supper.
     When thinking of the institution of the Lord’s Supper one should not understand it from the perspective of 2000 years of
     Eucharistic development and practice, but should view it from what was going on in the minds of the disciples and
     Jesus at the Passover feast.

     Although this is difficult, it is by no means impossible!

  • First, we must try to understand the dynamic of the Passover Ritual

o        As noted above, the mindset of the Passover was:

ü      Celebration

ü      Thanksgiving

ü      God’s deliverance of Israel from bondage

ü      Community with Israel and its redemptive history

ü      Expectation of God’s Messianic redemption and kingdom

  • Second, we must remember that the Passover and Institution of the Eucharist were coming at the close of Jesus’ ministry and at the fulfillment of his purpose, namely, the redemption of mankind.

o        Although the crucifixion of Jesus was an awful price to pay, it was the purpose of his life and the ultimate expression of God’s love for his creation and mankind.

ü      Jesus would not have wanted his disciples to dwell on the past, but to focus their attention on the future!

Jesus’ Words of Institution:
     For the sake of brevity we will work of Matthew’s and Luke’s narrative, and add Markan and materials where necessary.
  • Matt 26:26ff; Luke 22:7ff:

o        Luke begins the narrative with Jesus telling the disciples that he had wanted to eat this Passover with them before he suffered (his betrayal and death).
Why would Jesus want to eat this Passover with his disciples?
Certainly not from nostalgia!
Jesus wanted to refocus their attention away form the dim days that would follow and have them look forward to their apostolic ministry.

o        Luke sets the discussion squarely in the context of the Passover meal and liturgy.

o        Matthew picks up the Passover narrative at the third stage, the Main Meal, and the giving thanks for the bread.

o        Jesus gives the bread to the disciples with the “haggadah” explanation that the bread represents or reminds them of his body.

ü      “This is my body…”

·         The Greek word translated is, (estin, from eimi) has a wide range of meanings.  Among them it is used as a common copula or connecting word such as, is.

·         In this copula sense it is explanatory, meaning, this is a representation of, or, this represents, or, this means (Arndt and Gingrich, A Greek English Lexicon).

·         As a copula it does not mean this becomes as in Catholic transubstantiation.

·         In Jesus’ statement he simply said that the bread represented or meant his body.

ü      The next thing to determine is what Jesus meant by his body!

·         Did he mean his body on the cross?

·         Or did he mean his broken body on the cross (Scripture does not support this as in 1 Cor 11:24).

·         Or did he mean that the bread represented his life, or represented himself and was intended to remind the disciples of his life and purpose?

·         We believe that the Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed theological views have slanted the meaning to the cross rather than to Jesus himself!

·         When Jesus said “this bread is my body” we believe he meant that the bread represented everything about himself; his life, his purpose, his death, and his victory over sin and death!

o        Jesus then took the cup (the third cup of the meal) and offered it to the disciples with the explanation that the cup represented (is) the new covenant in his blood.

ü      Paul, in 1 Corinthians, the earliest written testimony to the Lord’s Supper says of the cup “This
cup is the new covenant in my blood.”
Notice that Paul’s focus is on the new covenant not the blood!
The cup represents the new covenant!
This is not the Old Mosaic Covenant, but the New Covenant of Christ (Heb 8:8-13).
This is a new covenant in which God would not remember (bring into the present their past
forgiven sins).
As in all ancient and Jewish covenants, this one is sealed with blood, the blood of Christ.
But the focus is on the cup representing the new covenant of forgiveness.

ü       Luke picks up on Paul’s emphasis and likewise records the cup as representing the new covenant, symbolizing that Jesus blood would seal a new covenant with the disciples.

ü      Matthew adds that Jesus’ blood would be poured out for forgiveness for many (a new covenant of deliverance not only for the Jew but also for the Gentile).

ü      In the institution of the Lord’s Supper we believe, as Paul and Luke imply, that the focus of the cup is not on the blood of Jesus, but on the new covenant that was sealed with Jesus’ blood.

o        In keeping with the forward Messianic expectation element of the Passover Jesus says he will not drink of the cup again until he does so in his Father’s kingdom (we assume by this either a reference to the Eucharist or the future eschatological banquet with God and the saints in heaven, of which the Eucharist is a small taste, a proleptic eschatological expectation!).

ü      In this regard, Paul adds that the eating of the bread and drinking of the cup proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.  In the celebration of the Eucharist we proclaim and celebrate in words the significance of Jesus’ redemptive death, and we confidently do so in anticipation of his return.

o        After singing the hallel Psalm Jesus and the disciples go out to the Mount of Olives.

§         We must remember to keep the whole experience and Passover/Eucharist and its  haggadah (explanation narrative) strictly within the Passover liturgy:

o        It was for this reason that Jesus instituted the Eucharist from within the Passover celebration.

o        The Passover was a celebration of deliverance from bondage.

o        The Passover was thanksgiving for God’s deliverance.

o        The Passover included an expectation of a future Messianic kingdom experience.

o        The Eucharist, likewise, celebrates God’s deliverance from sin, a new covenant sealed by Jesus death, a confident expectation of Messianic return, and an expectation of an eschatological banquet with God and Jesus and the redeemed of all time!

CONCLUSION
     In this lesson we have examined the Eucharist before the cross!

§         The first element of the lesson was to reflect on the Eucharist as it is celebrated in various Christian denominations, and to express the view that Churches of Christ by adopting a Zwinglian-Lockean rationalist cognitive approach to the Eucharist have not experienced the rich theological background intended by Jesus and reflected in the early church.

§         The lesson then considered the rich spiritual, fellowship, unity and community dynamic of Jewish and Eastern meals at the time of Christ.

§         An attempt was made to understand what was going through Jesus’ and the disciples mind on the occasion of the Passover or Last Supper.

§         Finally, the Institution of the Lord’s Supper was set firmly and with deliberate intention by Jesus within the Passover dynamic.

§         These factors played a significant role in the development of the thanksgiving dynamic of the early church’s Eucharistic mindset and liturgy.

§         The following Eucharistic “experiences” drawn from the Passover, meals in the Jewish and Eastern cultures, and Jesus’ words of institution will play a significant role in the following examination of the Eucharist after the death of Jesus, or more precisely, in the early church:

o        Considerable attention will be given to the thanksgiving celebration of deliverance expressed in and remembered in the Passover meal.

o        The expression of thanksgiving for God’s deliverance from the bondage of sin secured by Jesus’ atoning death will shape the liturgy of the Agape meal and Eucharistic experience of the 1st century church.

o        The continuing identity with Jesus and unity within the fellowship of believers will be noticed in such texts as 1 Cor 10:14-22.

o        The significance of the bread representing Jesus full life will play a significant role in the Eucharistic practices of the early church.

o        The stress by Paul and Luke on the new covenant of forgiveness, secured by Jesus blood, will be emphasized.

o        The proleptic eschatological expectation of the Eucharist as participating in the final eschatological banquet, and the forward looking anticipation of the coming of the Lord feature prominently in the liturgy of the 1st and 2nd century church life, especially in the context of Roman, Jewish, and secular persecution.

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