UNLEARN THE LIES - WHAT IS BIBLICAL COMMUNION?

Published on Mar 29, 2017
What is Biblical Communion? I recently received a question from Mark who says,

"Do you know anything about communion? The Sunday School class that I listen to has gone over it the last 3 weeks and I keep thinking there is something more to it than what we were brought up with. Communion, as done in Christian churches (a wafer and a shot of grape juice while reading 1 Corinthians 11:24), is this a practice to continue in? Or if it needs changed somewhat, what should that be? Look forward to your comments."
- Mark

Great question Mark.

First, I want to point out what Paul says in chapter 10 that sets the stage for his statements about communion in Chapter 11.

"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Messiah? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Messiah?"
- 1 Corinthians 10:16

Where did Paul get this language of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Messiah? Well, he learned it from Yeshua. The gospel of John records a very important saying of Yeshua in which He says that we must eat His flesh and drink His blood if we want to have everlasting life.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me possesses everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of the heaven, so that anyone might eat of it, and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of the heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever. And indeed, the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” The Yehuḏim, therefore, were striving with one another, saying, “How is this One able to give us His flesh to eat?” Yeshua therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Aḏam and drink His blood, you possess no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood possesses everlasting life, and I shall raise him up in the last day. For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood stays in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me shall live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of the heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever."
- John 6:47-58

These are some very significant statements that Yeshua made that we need to pay close attention to, because He said we must eat His flesh and drink His blood if we want eternal life. What was He talking about? How do we eat His flesh and drink His blood? This is the context for what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11.

1 Corinthians 11:20-29

Notice the somber self-reflection that Paul is encouraging concerning this special meal. When we take of this bread and wine, we are partaking in the body and blood of Messiah. This was not a wafer and a thimble of juice. They were breaking bread and drinking wine. We know this because Paul scolds them for getting drunk and full instead of sharing together with the assembly.

Now, the next question we need to answer is how often should we eat the Lord's Supper? The Catholics teach that eucharist is to be eaten every week during their weekly Mass. Many protestant churches serve communion quarterly. But, what does the Bible say about when we should eat the Lord's Supper? We need to go to the source, and see when Yeshua said to celebrate His memorial supper.

Luke 22:7-16

The Lord's Supper that He ate with His disciples was Passover. The bread He broke was Unleavened bread, and the wine they drank was Passover wine. This was the covenant renewal meal that He ate with His disciples. The first Passover was the covenant Yahuwah made with Israel in Egypt, and Yeshua renewed that covenant on Passover with His disciples. Then He instructed us to eat Passover in remembrance of Him each year.

"Therefore cleanse out the old leaven, so that you are a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also Messiah our Pesach was slaughtered for us. So then let us celebrate the festival, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of evil and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
- 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

I want to encourage you, as Paul did, to keep Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a memorial to Yeshua.
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