REVISIONING THE  LORD'S SUPPER
AS
THE EUCHARIST

THE EUCHARIST AFTER THE CROSS!

INTRODUCTION

An invitation to another meal!    
Let me invite you to another meal!

The meal is to be eaten in the home of two Christians, Prisca and Aquila.
The year is AD 58.
We are in the city of Rome.
In fact, our invitation is to this meal in a Christian house church, one of the many house churches in the city.

You see, there is no “central” church in Rome as in Corinth and Ephesus.
The reason for this is that the Roman authorities under Nero had on several occasions banished all Jews from Rome and later permitted them to return under the condition that they not meet together in the synagogues.
Because many of the Christians were ethnically Jewish they had been included in the banishment decrees and limitation on meeting together in central meeting halls.

In place of a central church meeting the Christians met in what we call house churches.  These were “congregations” in the sense of churches, but they met in homes not meeting halls.
The constant coming and going of the Jewish Christians, and the difficulties of understanding the Christian relationship with Judaism the Law of Moses (the Torah), naturally led to tensions among the Christian communities and house churches.
Because of his intention to visit Rome in the near future as he journeyed on is way to do mission work in Spain, and because of potential problems between the Gentile and Jewish Christians and house churches, the Apostle Paul had just before of our invitation to this meal written his majestic letter to the saints and faithful brethren in Rome, making a great impression on our faith.  He had stressed that all Christians, Jew and Gentile, were justified or saved by the same principle and were now one body in Christ.

We had learned earlier from two Jewish Christians, Aquila and Priscilla, close friends of the Apostle Paul, that Paul had taught the Corinthian Christians that the meal we were invited to experience, which Christians had begun calling the Eucharist, was intended to celebrate the union of Jewish and Gentile Christians in one body, which we call the church.

The Christians meeting in the home of Prisca and Aquila had gathered on the Lord’s Day, the day of Jesus’ resurrection, which is called in some circles Sunday, to read Paul’s letter to the Romans and to celebrate the great news of the covenant of grace introduced by Jesus during his Passover meal with his disciples on the night of his betrayal.
Throughout the Christian world disciples of Jesus were of the habit of meeting regularly on the first day of the week, to break the bread of what they called the Lord’s supper, or the Eucharist (Acts 20:7).

In spite of difficulties with the Roman authorities and Jewish opposition, these Christians had much to celebrate!
Paul’s great letter had stressed that all, both Jew and Gentile, were declared righteous by a righteous God through their faith in God’s grace and the death of Jesus.
No longer were Christians held captive under the Torah (Law of Moses)!
They were now free to enjoy the grace of God to which they had access through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and to top it all, they were now one family of God, one body which they shared with Christ.

It was this group’s custom of some standing to eat a special meal on the day of Jesus’ resurrection, the Lord’s Day, or in Roman terms, Sunday.  We Christians called this meal the Agape meal (implying a love feast in which we shared our food in celebration of the fellowship and unity we now shared with one another).
During this special meal we would celebrate our love for God and Jesus and for one another.

Our fellow Christians in Corinth had abused this Love Feast and Paul had rebuked them for this [1 Cor 11:17-34].
However, in Rome the Love Feast (Agape) was a cherished occasion that led into a more deeply spiritual understanding of eating again the special meal instituted by Jesus during his last Passover with his disciples.
We Christians in Rome had only recently received from Corinth a copy of the Corinthian letter.

After the Agape meal Aquila led our small church group in a special prayer of thanksgiving for the bread (a symbol of Jesus’ life) and the cup of wine (a symbol of the new covenant secured by Jesus’ blood), and explained the meaning of this special Eucharistic (thanksgiving) meal to us since we were mostly new Christians who needed to understand the meaning of the bread and cup.

Aquila took time to explain that the bread represented Jesus’ body, or better still his life.
He explained the meaning of Jesus’ life, his purpose, his example, and his teachings about the new life we enjoy by the grace of God, and how this was all secured by Jesus’ death.

He then went on to explain the meaning of the cup.  Paul had written in his letter to the Corinthians that this cup represented the new covenant which had been secured by Jesus’ blood [1 Co 11:25], as all covenants were secured by a blood sacrifice. 
(We Romans understood the significance of this since we, as former pagans, had repeatedly offered blood sacrifices to appease our god’s.  The difference under the Christian faith was that no more blood sacrifices were necessary [Heb 9:11-22] for Jesus had taken care of all future sacrifices in his atoning death on the cross!  I did not understand the full meaning of this yet, but Aquila had informed me that in time the full meaning of this would be a great blessing.)
Aquila explained that this new covenant was a covenant of grace in which God would no longer bring our sins up before us because they had all been forgiven by God’s continuing grace and the blood of Jesus that was constantly available for cleansing our sins [1 John 1:7].

Because our past sinful life was still fresh in our memories, with much thanksgiving we celebrated our new freedom from the power of sin we enjoyed in Christ, dedicating ourselves to Christ and his sacrifice, grateful that we no longer had to make our feeble attempts to appease the gods!

Aquila also reminded us that on this special day Christians throughout the world were meeting, joining us in our celebration. 
This special meal bonded us together in a special meaningful manner in our small congregation, and also to our fellow Christians throughout the world.
It was a great feeling to know that although we were Romans, Greeks, Phoenicians, Africans, and Jews, we were all one in Christ, brothers and sisters in God’s family!

Aquila also reminded us that Paul had written to the Corinthians [1 Cor 10] explaining that by eating this meal, the Eucharist, we were also bonded to Christ in a unique manner.  We were one with Christ.
This meant that we could no longer bond with the world, with Pagan sacrificial feasts, and with the ways of the world.
We belong to Christ and this meal cements that relationship and reminds us every Lord’s Day that we belong to Jesus, not to ourselves, nor to the world!

We were so moved with joy and thanksgiving during this meal that we joined in singing Psalms of thanksgiving [the Jews call these Psalms the Hallel Psalms – Ps 113-118].

The Lesson!
As we begin this lesson let me draw your attention again to the concept of Revisioning the Lord’s Supper!

Revisioning Christ in the Catholic Context of Latin America
About 15 years ago the mission department at Abilene Christian University were planning a summer campaign to Latin America.

They wanted a poster that would catch the Central and South American eye!
The mission department commissioned young student artist from Mexico to design a poster that would catch the Latin American eye and at the same time make a theological statement about Jesus.

Their commission was to revision the Latin American image of Jesus

§         The predominant Catholic image of Jesus is:

o        An emaciated body of Jesus on the cross

o        A powerless Jesus in Mother Mary’s arms

§         The artists revisioned image:

o        He produced a striking image of what looked like and angel!

o        My first impression was that this was the Mormon Angel Moroni!

o        However, the revisioned image was that of the powerful reigning Jesus of Revelation 1:12-20!

o        The revisioned image of Jesus in Revelation is the magnificent, reigning, and all conquering King of God’s kingdom!

Likewise today, it is our opinion that we need to Revision the Lord’s Supper!
Repeatedly in services of Churches of Christ at the Lord's Supper the focus is on suffering of Jesus on the cross, his body broken for us, and the agony of the cross.

§  The hymns sung in our congregations (Churches of Christ) are often solemn and focused on the agony of Jesus! 
Songs which include these and similar words are common "As saints commune before the shrine...His death our Holy concern..."
The Lord's Table is not a shrine, it is a table that symbolizes a meal, not a sacrifice!
His death at the Table is not our Holy concern; it is certainly present as an ingredient of his life, but it is his life and purpose that is our concern.

§         The “haggadah” often stresses the awful death of Jesus on the cross!
Repeatedly we hear these words, "we remember his body broken on the cruel cross..."
We do not which to demean the suffering of Jesus on the cross, but it is not his suffering and broken body that is symbolized in the Eucharist, but his life and victory over sin.

§         The memory in the words spoken is that he suffered and died that cruel death for the remission of our sins.  The memory is not on the new covenant of grace introduced by Jesus and symbolized by the cup.

§         The encouragement intended in these words, well intended but theologically out of place in the Eucharist, is that because he suffered and died for us we should live better lives!

§         The focus most often is not on the victory or deliverance of Jesus' life (or death), but on the suffering of Jesus.

§         Special mention is repeatedly made of his body broken on the cross, which was not what Paul nor the Gospels had in mind (cf 1 Cor 11:24), nor mention in their accounts of the Institution of the Lord’s Supper.

§         The Gospels do not point directly to the blood of Jesus, but to the new covenant sealed by his blood!

§         We celebrate the life of Jesus and the new covenant of forgiveness and sonship which Jesus secured and sealed for us by his blood!

§         The “bread” reminds us of his life, the “cup” reminds us of the blood of the new covenant of grace and forgiveness!

It is our conviction that in Churches of Christ we need to seriously consider revisioning
the Lord’s Supper as the Eucharist!

What I have in mind in this lesson as we revision the Lord’s Supper as the Eucharist is an examination of Eucharist practice in the New Testament and the early centuries of Christianity.

We will begin with a brief review of the salient features of the last lesson, The Eucharist Before the Cross, examine briefly the Words of Institution, and then look at several New Testament examples of Eucharistic practice, and how this was followed up and developed in subsequent years in the early centuries of church history.

We noticed these emphases in our examination Eucharist Before the Cross!

§         First, our purpose was to understand the rich spiritual, fellowship, unity and community identification dynamic of Jewish and Eastern meals at the time of Christ.

§         Second, our purpose was to understand what was going through Jesus’ and the disciples mind on the occasion of the Passover or Last Supper.

§         Finally, we noticed that the Institution of the Lord’s Supper was set firmly within the Passover dynamic, a thanksgiving celebration of God’s deliverance from bondage.

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

§         It will be our purpose to call these thoughts to mind as we move on to examinee the breaking of bread, Eucharist, or Lord’s Supper after the death of Jesus, or more precisely, in the early church.

§         We want to constantly recall the thoughts of:

o        Celebration of deliverance.

o        Thanksgiving for God’s deliverance from bondage.

o        Community unity and identity.

o        Fellowship with one another in the community of God’s covenant.

o        Expectation of the fulfillment of the eschatological Messianic kingdom.

The Words of Institution Reviewed
We will work primarily off Matt 26:26ff and Lk 22:7ff; and take not of Mk 14:22ff, although possibly Mark was the first of the Gospels to be written!

§         Luke begins the Last Supper Passover narrative with Jesus telling the disciples that he had wanted to eat this Passover with them before he suffered (his betrayal and death).

o        We might begin by asking why Jesus wanted to do this before his passion (suffering and death)!

o        Since the Passover was so significant in the on going covenant relationship between God and Israel, Jesus apparently wanted to set the Eucharist in a similar new covenant relationship.

o        The Passover was a “sacrament” that re-emphasized the community’s commitment to God.

o        In the Passover the community of faith renewed its covenant vows of faithfulness to God.

o        The Eucharist is a “sacrament” in the sense that it represents a bond between the believer or participant and Jesus in a covenant community or communion (1 Cor 10:14ff).

ü      Alan Richardson, A Dictionary of Christian Theology,  defines sacrament as “a soldiers oath of allegiance…” or that which involves or implies “a promise or commitment…”

ü      Traditionally churches have seen baptism and the Eucharist as primary sacraments, as “promises or oaths of allegiance”.

Ø      Baptism as a sign of passage and introduction into the church.

Ø      Eucharist as a sign of continued allegiance to God and his covenant community, the church.

§         More so than the other Gospels, Luke sets the Institution discussion squarely in the context of the Passover meal and liturgy.

o        Luke’s un-synoptic additions focus significantly on the Passover dynamic

ü      The order of cup, bread, cup!

o        Jesus’ setting the Institution of the Lord’s Supper within the Passover was obviously an intentional transferring of Passover thinking to Eucharist thinking.

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

o        Matthew records Jesus giving the bread to the disciples within the Passover  “haggadah” explanation that the bread represents or reminds them of his body (or life).

o        Jesus’ words “this is my body” proclaims that the bread represents or signifies his body or life, and not his broken body of the cross as some traditions proclaim!

o        Jesus was saying “This bread represents or reminds you of me!”

§         Luke adds “which is given for you.” 

§         Paul likewise adds “Which is for you” (1 Cor 11:24 – the word broken as in the KJV is a remote and questionable textual variant).

§         It is possible that John’s remembering Jesus’ words “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35, 48) referring to his life and purpose brings these words of Institution into sharper focus.

o        Notice how this shifts the emphasis form the broken body on the cross to the celebration of his bread of life which is the foundation of our life!

§         Jesus then, according to Paul, added the instruction “Do this in remembrance of me” (also in Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24; but not in Matthew!)

o        This statement reinforces the point that we eat the bread in remembrance of Jesus’ life, and not simply his broken body on the cross!

o        This shift in focus is significant and vital to understanding the proper dynamic of the Lord’s Supper as Eucharist!

o        First, we need to examine the concept of “remembering” in Judaism and early Christianity.

ü      Remembering is not a memorial recalling or cognitive process.

ü      In the Judeo-Christian tradition remembering (Greek – anamnesis) is more than a cognitive remembering or recalling of the past, band involves a brining the past into the present or reliving the past in the present.

ü      Remembering is a brining the past into the present and participating in or reliving the past in the present!

ü      Remembering is a radical personalizing of the past by the participant.

ü      Heb 8:12 “and I will remember their sins no more” does not mean that God will not cognitively remember, but that he will not bring them into the present any more!

ü      In the Passover Seder the recitation of the Passover was not told in the third person, “They we led by the hand of the Lord…”, but in the first person plural “We were led by the hand of the Lord…”!

ü      In remembering Jesus’ life we participate in the present in all that his life brought about, we share in it actively, we live in the life of Jesus!

§         The eating of the bread reminds us of all that Jesus means to us!

o        We eat the bread remembering and calling into the present all that Jesus means to us, for “this bread is my body, this bread is me”!

o        We rejoice in that we now, here in the present share in all that Jesus means!

o        Eating the bread reminds us of the deliverance and new covenant we enjoy in Jesus!

§         Jesus then took the cup (the third cup of the meal) and offered it to the disciples with the “haggadah” explanation that the cup represents or means the new covenant in his blood (Luke adds new covenant symbolizing that Jesus’ blood would seal a new covenant with the disciples, and Paul likewise includes this in his “haggadah”, “this cup means the new covenant in my blood”).

o        Both Luke and Paul explain that the cup represents the new covenant sealed by his blood.

ü      This cup, which relates to Jesus’ blood, is actually about a new covenant!

ü      The cup in reality speaks of a new covenant of grace, mercy, and forgiveness!

ü      The cup focuses on the deliverance involved in this new covenant!

§         At this point (1 Cor 11:25) Paul adds a thought not developed in the Gospels, that as often as the church celebrates or eats and drinks this meal they do it in remembrance of Jesus, or as often as they do this they relive in the present all that Jesus meant and continues to mean in the present.

§         Matthew adds a thought to Jesus’ statement “the cup which is poured out for you…”

o        In keeping with his commission to make disciples of all nations, Jesus adds that the cup is “poured out for many”!

o        The eating and drinking also involves an evangelistic “haggadah”!

o        The deliverance and blessings of this new covenant are not only for the disciples of Jesus who were present at the Institution, but “for many” who were to come afterward!

§         In keeping with the forward or future Messianic expectation of the Passover Jesus said he would not drink of the cup again until he did so in his Father’s kingdom (we assume by this either a reference to the Eucharist or the future eschatological banquet.  Jeremias has an interesting thought that this means that Jesus would not participate in this meal again until the eschatological banquet at the end of time).

o        There is some difference of opinion as to what Jesus meant.

o        Luke records that Jesus said he would not drink of the cup again until the kingdom of God comes!

o        Matthew records that Jesus would not drink  the cup again until he drank it anew in his Father’s kingdom!

o        Did he mean by this that he would not drink the cup with them until they drank it in the eschatological age of the kingdom (the church), or,

o        Did he mean that he would not drink it again until he drank it in the final eschatological banquet after the final judgment!

o        We believe that he meant that he would not drink the cup with the again in the Eucharist which would be a proleptic eschatological experience of the final eschatological banquet at the end of the world!

o        If this be the case, then our participation in the Eucharist is a communion with both Jesus and one another, a vertical and horizontal experience!

§         Just as there was a future Messianic anticipation in the Passover meal, so there is in the Eucharist!

o        In 1 Cor 11:26 Paul adds that as often as we participate in this meal we proclaim the significance of the Lord’s death until he comes!

o        The meal is also a reminder that Christians look for his coming with great anticipation.

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

o        The hallel Psalms, Ps 113-118, are psalms of praise to God for his grace, steadfast love, and deliverance.

o        The hallel Psalms set the thanksgiving and celebration tone for the Passover as much as does the haggadah

§         The range of emotions experienced by the disciples of Jesus ranged through disappointment, fear, sadness, loss, nostalgia, excitement, anticipation, joy, thanksgiving, and confidence.

And then what about the weeks after his resurrection as they waited for Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3-11)?

§         First, there must have been days of confusion!

§         Jesus appeared to the disciples on many occasions speaking of the kingdom.

§         Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit which would be a sign of the breaking in of the kingdom in a new manner.

§         Then there were days of excitement.

§         Then days of expectation!

§         Then reality set in!

The first occasion after Jesus’ resurrection is when we read of the disciples meeting is in Acts 1:6.

§         Jesus had been speaking to them about kingdom matters and the great commission.

§         They asked Jesus if he was at that time going to restore the kingdom to Israel

§         They were instructed to wait in Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (for the Jew a loaded Messianic and eschatological concept).

§         Again expectancy reigned!

Then Peter moved things along at a meeting in which the disciples, with God and the Holy Spirit’s help, selected Matthias to take Judas’ place.

§         This moment must have been accompanied by great anticipation and excitement!

§         The Apostles’ Messianic ministry was getting ready to begin!

§         Things were happening!

Then comes the big day, Pentecost!

• The Holy Spirit comes on the Apostles.
   
• Peter preaches the great Pentecost sermon.
   
• 3000 are baptized!
   
• There must have been great excitement, great expectation, great joy, great celebration!

The next thing we read (Acts 2:42) is that the new Christians were devoting themselves to:

• The Apostles teaching.
   
• Fellowship.
   
• The breaking of bread.

o        This is the first record we have of the breaking of bread which we feel confident was an  Eucharistic occasion.

o        Whether this was the first occasion in which the disciples celebrated the breaking of bread is uncertain and debatable.

o        Prominent in the mind of the Apostles must have been Jesus’ words during the Passover meal!

ü      This bread represents me and my life for you.

ü      This cup represents the new covenant in my blood.

ü      Whenever you do this do it in remembrance of me and my life.

ü      As in the Passover meal, there must have been a celebration and thanksgiving for deliverance and redemption, and the future Messianic eschatological expectation.

o        Furthermore, Jesus’ special meals with his disciples must have been prominent in their minds.

ü      Jesus providing food for them.

ü      His emphasis on his body being spiritual food (Jon 6) for sustaining them must have been in their thoughts.

ü      His instruction to Peter to feed his sheep must have been in at least Peter’s mind, and Peter surely must have shared these words with the other disciples.

ü      The two disciples must have remembered Jesus’ breaking bread with them on the road to Emmaus and his teaching about the coming kingdom.

o        But what seems certain is that the dynamic of the occasion was celebration and thanksgiving!

ü      Acts 2:41-47 pictures the disciples fellowshipping and enjoying their redemption while praising God.

ü      Fellowship in the new community of Jesus in a new covenant of forgiveness.

ü      Excitement!

ü      Celebration!

ü      Thanksgiving (eucharistia)!

ü      Anticipation!

o        This was not an occasion for sorrow, mourning, and suffering!

o        This was eucharistia, hence, The Eucharist!

•   And Prayer.

ü      The prayers at this time were surely thanksgiving and joyful!

The next occasion in which we encounter the “breaking of bread” is Acts 20:7.

• What we learn from this is that it was the custom, or practice of the early church to meet on the first day of the week (John refers to this in Revelation as the Lord’s Day on which the church celebrated the resurrection of Jesus (Rev 1:10).
• Taking advantage of the “gathered” saints Paul preached.

o        Whether this was the Pauline version of the ”Passover” or Lord’s Supper haggadah we do not know.

o        The tense of the verbal participle (perfect tense, passive voice) indicates a regular practice of gathering to celebrate the breaking of bread, the Eucharist..

• What we learn form his text is that it was the regular practice of the early church to gather on the first day of the week to “break bread” or celebrate the Eucharist.

Paul had already been in contact with the church in Corinth with at least one letter before he wrote 1 Cor 10:14ff.  In this paragraph he rebuked the church in Corinth for their participation in idol worship or idol temple activity.

• The basis of his argument was their relationship with Christ and the implications of the Lord’s Supper as an expression of that relationship.
   
• He referred to the Eucharistic cup as a cup of blessing.
   
• He argued that the drinking of the cup was a communion or participation with Christ and his blood of the new covenant.
   
• Eating the bread was a participation in the body/life of Christ.
   
• The participation in the cup and bread was a participation and union with Christ.
   
• Paul’s point was that one cannot be joined to an idol and to Christ at the same time, and participating at an idol festival signified unity with the pagan idolatry.
   
• Participating with Christ by eating the bread and drinking the cup of the Eucharist indicated unity and union with Christ.
   
• Each of the following emphases of the Eucharist is present in this text:

o        Communion and unity with Christ. 

o        Thanksgiving – the blessings of the bread

o        Celebrating the new covenant in his blood

o        Fellowship with Christ or demons.

Paul returns to the Lord’s Supper argument in 1 Cor 11:17ff.  In this instance he rebuked the church in Corinth for their shameful abuse of their fellow Christians at the Agape feast and Eucharist.

• There are three primary ingredients to this section:

o        Paul’s concern for their abuse of one another in the eating of the meal.  Some were not waiting for others and were turning the Eucharist or agape meal into an ordinary meal in which concern for others was not apparent.

o        Paul then reminded the Corinthians of the instructions he had received from the Lord regarding the regular remembrance of Jesus at the Eucharist or breaking of bread.  Paul re-emphasizes the purpose of the occasion, remembering Jesus and the proclamation of his return.

o        Finally, Paul charges the Corinthians to examine their behavior at the Eucharist or agape feast, calling on them to understand the purpose of the meal and to separate the common meal form the Eucharistic agape.

• His letter does however, support and emphasize  two important features of the Eucharist or Lord’ Supper:

o        The Agape and Eucharist was already a regular practice in the Corinthian and Pauline circle.

o        The Eucharist apparently was celebrated concurrent with or shortly after the Agape feast.

• Paul’s rebuke of the church for its abuse of both the Agape feast and the Eucharist apparently led to a separation of the Agape and Eucharist in the Pauline circle of churches, but from what we learn form the 2^nd century Christian writers, not on a universal basis.
• All of the features of celebration and thanksgiving are present in this text:

o        Thanksgiving.

o        Remembrance/present participation in Jesus’ eucharistic Passover.

o        Celebration over the new covenant.

o        Communion/fellowship/unity of believers - Agape.

o        Communion with Christ.

o        Anticipation of the parousia.

o        Proclamation (haggadah).

The Agape and Eucharist in the Early church.
It is not surprising within the context of Jewish meals, the Passover, and the developing Eucharist that the phenomenon we have come to know of as the Agape or Love Feast developed and was celebrated along with the Eucharist on the Lord’s Day.

For scholarly reference to the Agape and Eucharist see Everett Ferguson, Early Christians Speak, 3^rd Edition, 1999.

•      Little is said in the New Testament of the Agape Feast (Love Feast)

o        Jude 12 is the only direct reference to this Love Feast
In the context of dangerous false teachers Jude writes:

Woe to them! For they walk in the way of Cain, and abandon themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error, and perish in Korah’s rebellion. ¹² These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they boldly carouse together, looking after themselves; waterless clouds, carried along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars for whom the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved for ever.

o        The closest other reference to such a combination Eucharist/Agape Feast is 1 Cor 11:17ff (discussed above) where Paul criticized the Corinthian practice of turning the Lord’s Supper into a common meal in which the poor were neglected or abused.

ü      Paul’s concern is not so much over the combination of Eucharist and Agape, but is against the abuse of the poor on such occasions

ü      The silence of the record of Agape Feasts in the Pauline churches is surely due to Paul’s criticism of Corinth and the potential for similar practices in other places.

ü      Some see a reference to the Agape in Acts 2:46 in the eating of meals together with glad and generous hearts, but this is only a supposition.

That the Eucharist/Agape Feast was celebrated in other churches in the first and second centuries is testified to by early church writings:

§         Ignatius (ca 110 AD) speaks of the Agape feast.

§         The Didache (ca 115 AD) speaks of a meal followed by the eucharist.

§         Clement of Alexandria (ca190 AD) speaks of the Agape feast.

§         Tertullian (ca 200 AD) speaks of a feast called Agape.

§         Hippolytus (ca 200) connects the Lord’s Supper to the Agape.

The use of the term Eucharist for the Lord’s Supper in the first centuries of Christianity.

§         There can be no question that in the first three centuries at least, the Lord’s Supper was commonly described as The Eucharist, and that it was combined with a celebration called the Agape.

§         Note the following:

o        Ignatius (Ferguson, p. 91).
”Be careful, therefore, to employ one eucharist, for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup for unity with his blood…”

o        The Didache (Ferguson p. 91).
”Concerning the eucharist, give thanks in this way:  First concerning the cup, “We give thanks to you, our Father, for the holy vine of David, your Servant, which you made known to us through Jesus your Servant.”  To you be glory forever.  “Concerning the broken bread, “We give thanks to you, our Father, for the life and knowledge which you made known to us through Jesus your Servant.  To you be glory forever…”

• Note Professor Ferguson’s observation (Early Christians Speak, p.94):

“The Lord’s supper was the church’s great moment of thanksgiving.  The church’s basic act of prayer and worship was to give thanks… Hence in the Prayers at the Lord’s table there was a remembrance of God’s gifts.  But preeminently the eucharist was centered on the spiritual blessings which came through Jesus Christ.”( Emphasis underlining is mine, IAF.)

CONCLUSION
From every account of the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament and Early Church (Patristic writings) we learn that the Lord’s Supper was an occasion of joyful celebration and thanksgiving, hence it was commonly called Eucharist in the early church.

• The Celebration was over the deliverance from sin promised and secured in the new covenant.
   
• The Thanksgiving (eucharistia) was for the spiritual gifts assured the believer by God.
   
• The Lord’s Supper was an assured expectation and proclamation of Jesus’ resurrection and return.
   
• The Lords’ Supper was Eucharist, not reflection on Jesus’ agony on the cross!