In olden times when men wished to show that they meant no harm to one another, they would have a meal together Only a traitor or double dealer would go back on that bond Certain foods or acts, such as eating salt or smoking the pipe of peace, added solemnity to the ceremony We no longer carry out this ancient practice Nevertheless, however good the food may be when we eat alone, it has added joy when we share it with companions Some of the happiest family occasions are when the whole family, young and old, sits down to eat at the same table Birthdays and weddings would lose some of their charm without the joyfulness of the sitting at table.
The Jews had one great family meal It was called Passover This recalled the great night when they were delivered from their bondage in Egypt On that night they had gathered together as families, or as a group of two families if they were small, to eat roasted lamb with bitter herbs and unleavened bread All the family were there and they were dressed ready to commence a long Journey Despite God’s pleading, the Egyptians had refused to release the Israelites and had increased their duties as slaves That night God sent His angels through Egypt and all the firstborn were slain, while the children of Israel came forth unharmed to freedom Thus the yearly festival of Passover had deep significance for the Jews It bound the family together and spoke to them of the great salvation by which they had been delivered from death in Egypt The lamb spoke of their dependence upon God as their shepherd, the slaying of the lamb reminded them that they had been delivered in a night of death, and eating the lamb showed their fellowship together as God’s redeemed family.
When Jesus came, the sacrifices and ceremonies of the old Jewish law were brought to an end This was not because they were wrong but because their purpose had been fulfilled In themselves they had bound the Jews together while they waited for the promised One of God When He came there was no need for all the rites and forms which pointed to His coming All the great Jewish festivals, including Passover, and all the sacrifices and acts of worship commanded the Jews by God, had in them a promise, a picture, a representation of Christ This was especially true of the Passover All mankind were slaves to sin and no one but God could deliver them Jesus was the appointed Lamb of God, God’s own firstborn Son, and He was One who by His own death could bring freedom to those who were His family Is not that a wonderful picture ? Is it not marvelous that the freedom of the children of Israel was in itself a foretaste of the great er deliverance to come?
What is even more interesting is the fact that Jesus died at Passover time! The Apostle Paul took hold of this and said Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us We are like the slaves in Egypt and He is our Lamb Deliverer It is for that reason that when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to the river Jordan at the beginning of His public work, he said Be hold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world! Jesus knew all this He knew His death was drawing nigh when the fateful Passover drew near With wonderful devotion He did not shrink back, but moved forward On the last night, when He was to be arrested and taken to a mock judgment He arranged to have supper with His disciples A meal with a meaning! He spoke to them surpassingly wonderful things words of comfort, of love and of faith.
Some of the words He used spoke of treachery and His coming death It was shortly after this that Judas Iscariot, the traitor to Christ, slipped out into the darkness He was to break the bond of the meal, and Jesus knew the Old Testament saying Yea, mine own familiar friend, in which I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me (Psalms 41 9) When Judas had gone, and only the friends of Jesus were left, He called them His brethren They were a little family of God with the Lamb in their midst Jesus said With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer Their minds were knit together as in the days when Moses instituted that first Passover in Egypt, but Jesus had greater thing before Him At that supper He took the bread and blessed it and said Take eat, this is my body (Matthew 26:26).
And, similarly He took the cup of wine and gave thanks, and passed it to them, saying. Drink ye all of it For this is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins (verses 27, 28).
What did Jesus mean ? Quite clearly the bread and wine were not His actual body and His actual blood, for He was yet alive before them What then ? Surely He was taking hold of the feast of memory which the Passover had been and was saying This is my memorial feast, keep it Remember me in bread and wine, meet me at my table and call to mind this New Covenant, this new family bond, the family of people forgiven by faith in the shedding of my blood How ever, we have no need to guess at the meaning or to invent one of our own The Apostle Paul was given the meaning and has written it down for us The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? (1st Corinthians 10:16) Here, then, is a God given meaning We have a share in the bread and the wine because if we are Christ s disciples we are members of His family, His body Paul makes this clear when he says For we being many are one bread, and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread (verse 17).
Because of the importance of this subject we find that Paul writes about it again He tells us that Jesus had spoken to him about it by special revelation and had given him the significance of the Table of the Lord. For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks, he brake it and said, Take, eat this is my body which is broken for you this do ye in remembrance of me After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood this do ye, as oft as ye drink It in remembrance of me (1st Corinthians 11:23, 25)
The meaning is still the same and is most impressive There is one special feature to notice The last supper of the Lord Jesus Christ had become, by Hi command a ceremony which the disciple were to keep repeating in memory of Jesus and of the work of redemption He had done on their behalf The first disciples carried out this invitation according to Christ’s own words We read concerning them that ‘they continued in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42) They called it the “breaking of bread ” Paul had called It “the communion ” Either description will do, but “the breaking of bread” is the more common
The breaking of bread, therefore, quite rightly looks back in the same way as the Passover feast had been doing for over a thousand years There was, however another meaning which Jesus made plan on that last night before He died “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer, for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God Take this (cup) and divide it among yourselves For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come” (Luke 22:15-18) This celebration was to be both a remembrance and an act of waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God It looked backwards and forwards Therefore, every disciple who truly keeps this feast says in his heart, “I believe that this bread and wine show forth the death of Jesus Christ my Lord, and speak of my union with Him, and that this is an act of faithful waiting for His return to establish on earth the Kingdom of God Paul knew this and says “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till be come” (1st Corinthians 11 26).
“Till he come ” Three simple and significant words’ They are family words The family of believers sit down together and say “The greatest One is away and we long for the day when He will eat with us ” It follows that the meal is only for the family It has no meaning for anyone else It is the regular act of remembrance and hope of every true believer As each believer is baptized into the family of God, if he is faithful he continues in it by a dedicated life and constant remembrance in the breaking of bread Each week as the believer comes to meet with his brethren (and he can meet only with his brethren because they are members of the same family) he confesses his need and his faith, and rejoices in the hope of the coming of Christ.
We might ask the question But why should this meal be exclusive? Why should it be confined to the family of God? The answer is clear, Jesus does not exclude us Anyone can partake provided he is a believer, baptized, and continuing in faith Those who are excluded exclude themselves, either by not joining the family by faith and baptism, or by turning back from the family into the love of their old ways and leaving the company of Jesus Those who are faithful in their remembrance of Jesus will inherit everlasting life when He returns He will call them to Himself, whether they ale living or dead, and they will eat with Him at His table in His kingdom This is a prospect of perfect joy No words can adequately begin to describe it The obvious and clear call for us is to join the family of God That is what is meant by being able to call Him truly “Our Father”
Meditate now on the following Scriptures
1st Corinthians 6 14-18
Ephesians 3 and Ephesians 5
John 6
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