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Prelude to Light |
Setting the Communion Table Straight:
Prepare the Way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Jesus commanded that His Jewish disciples would prepare for the feast with the eating of the Passover. The table would have been set according to Jewish tradition. If we follow Luke's account of the Lord's Passover supper, then the one common cup, as observed in some of the Catholic liturgy, is a cultivated misnomer. In accordance with right Jewish tradition, all of Christ's disciples would have had their own individual cups from which they drank from. Jewish tradition held that there was one container of wine, cut with water from which the host, at the appropriate time of the feast, would give the container of wine to the guest. Then in accordance with the observance, each guest would take the container and pour the wine into their own individual cup. We should see this in Luke's Gospel that states that the Lord Jesus took the cup (wine and water), and gave thanks and said: Take this, and share it among yourselves. (Luke 22 verse 17.) This was done at the beginning to set the stage for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In the Jewish tradition of the Passover with Unleavened Bread, there was to be four poured cups of wine. At the appropriate time during the feast, each one of the cups celebrated God’s deliverance of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. (See The Blood of the Lamb.)
The Four Traditional Redemptive Cups of Passover.
The first and third cups of wine with water, required a thanksgiving blessing by the host.
Each of the 4 cups of wine represented the 4 "I wills" that God promises Israel in Exodus.
(See Exodus 6 verse 6 thru 8.)
1st Cup of Sanctification. In Hebrew, Kos Kiddush.
“I Am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens"
And the Lord gave thanks: (See Luke 22: verse 14 thru 16.)
"Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine."
The first of the matzah bread, dipped in the morar, was now eaten at this time.
Jesus gives the dipped matzah to Judas, the betrayer, who then removes himself from the supper,
leaving the eleven disciples with their Lord Jesus.
Judas, whose heart is not in right covenant with the Lord, does not participate in the Lord's Communion Table.
2nd Cup of Judgment (or liberation). In Hebrew, Kos G’ulah.
“I will deliver you from bondage”.
During the main portion of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and while the disciples were still eating of the old covenant Pascal lamb,
The Lord Yeshuah by the WORD of His Father creates the New Covenant
Jesus takes the hidden affico'men, the unleavened matzo bread, in His hands, and gives Thanks:
"Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe,
Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commands us concerning the eating of the unleavened bread."
And then Jesus, the Son of Man, the Bread of Life says: "This is My Body that is given for you, take and eat".
3rd Cup of Redemption or Blessing. In Hebrew, Kos B’raha.
I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great judgments”.
See the Edersheim Commentary in this link.
Then Jesus gives thanks and institutes God's New Covenant in His Blood:
"Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the Fruit of the Vine.
"Then Jesus, the True Vine, gives of the wine and says: Drink of it all of you;
"This is My Blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
Paul’s words: "The Cup of Blessing, which we bless, is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ?" (Corinthians 10 verse 16.)
4th Cup of Acceptance, ( or The Cup of the Kingdom.) In Hebrew,
Before their consumption, there were two cups of the four cups that received special blessings, the first cup and the third cup. The special blessing in Hebrew is called the Kiddush. At the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the host would raise the container with its contents of wine mixed with water, and then the host with his commemorative words, gave thanks for God's blessings and provisions. Blessed are You, the Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine. (Amen.) This is definitely indicated in Luke 22 verse 17, when the Lord, before the supper had begun, took what is written in scripture, as the cup, and gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide among yourselves." Perhaps, the word cup, as seen in Luke, could be likened to a metonymy, speaking more specifically of the contents within the specified container, with the contents being the fruit of the vine combined with water.
The Lord Yeshuah/Jesus, as the Host of this Passover Dinner, is passing around more than a small cup of wine for his 12 disciples and for Himself to drink from. It would appear from Luke's Gospel that it is a container (a new lamb skin made for the new wine) with its contents being sufficient for all the guest and their drinking of the 4 cups of wine that celebrated the Passover during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Each disciple would pour out from the passed around wineskin, their own first cup of wine, and so on as the Host would distribute the container at the appropriate time for each of the 4 cups of the celebration. Judas would have left the table between the 1st and 2nd cup of wine of the old covenant, and would not have participated in the Lord's New Covenant in His Blood.
I Will make a New Covenant:
Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which My Covenant they broke.
(Jeremiah 31 verse 31 thru 32.)
When the container of wine (wine skin) was passed around each disciple poured the wine into their own individual cups. When it was time for the third cup, the Cup of Blessing, again the Lord Jesus gave His thanks to His Father God, by praying the traditional: Blessed are You, the Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine. (Amen.) Then Jesus/Yeshua gave the container of wine to His disciples to pass among themselves. Having finished with the old Covenant, this was at this time that the Lord Jesus instituted the New Covenant in His Blood by consecrating or sanctifying the contents of the 3rd cup, with infinite meaning as He said, "Drink you all of it: For this is My Blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sin". The former Covenant in the blood of sacrificed lambs had now passed away with the completion of the drinking of the 2nd cup. Now with the eating of the Consecrated Unleavened Bread, and the drinking of the Lord's Consecrate Wine, the New Covenant of the Lord God Almighty had begun in the Blood of the Son of Man the last Adam. My Doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me. "And He took the unleavened bread, and gave Thanks to His Father Yahweh God, saying: This is My Body given to you: take and eat, and do this in remembrance of Me. The False doctrine of the protestant churches have its followers entrenched in their sin of unbelief. We forget that we are yet sinners in need of repentance from our death in our ongoing sins of the flesh. Remember: If we say that we are not sinners we make Holy, Holy, Holy Yahweh God a liar and His TRUTH and His WORD is not in us. Therefore Yahweh's Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ took the Unleavened Bread, and after giving Thanks to His Father Yahweh God, He broke the Bread and gave it to His disciples saying: Take and eat for this is My BODY given for you: Do this in Remembrance of Me. We forget that it is our sins of death, past an present, that elicits the death penalty on our Savior and Master.
In eating of His BODY in Communion, we should be acknowledging within our selves that our sinfulness is what brought about the death of our LORD and Savior. Shall our sin continue to hold us in death. God forbid that we continue to be in slaved to our selfish sin and death rather than in the liberty of the Eternal Living Holy, Holy, Holy Yahweh God Almighty. Remember, from eternities stand point, that in our sins of death; we are in the BODY of Jesus the Messiah, slain from before the foundation of the earth. The promise of GOD of the living is that we should LIVE because of FAITH in the Living WORD of GOD.
Likewise Jesus said of the cup after they had eaten of His BODY designating His death for our sin. This cup contains My Blood of the New Covenant shed for many for the remission of sin." If sin is remitted from the soul of the sinner then death no longer has its hold on the believer. The BLOOD of Jesus the Messiah of God is LIFE, given by the Spirit of Holy Yahweh God.
Now then, let us ponder for a moment, which is holy, the container, or the contents of the container? (See Matthew 23 verse 16 thru 27.) Holy Communion, is the renewal of the New LIFE Covenant with Almighty God ordained by our Lord Jesus Christ, and His Word is in One accord with the Grace of the One Holy Spirit of Yahweh God that is in union with the consecrated Fruit of the Vine with the Water of cleansing: For as scripture says: There are three that bare witness, the Spirit and the Water and the Blood, and these Three are One. This Truth of the Holy Spirit of God was presented in the chapter under "The Fountain of Living Water".
The following passage was taken from a King James Version of the bible and was written 45+ years ago.
The Lord's Supper (As Baptist and similar denominations understand ... is falsely deemed a memorial. The bread is also falsely deemed to be symbolic of His broken body and likewise the wine, is falsely noted to be symbolic of His shed blood for the remission of our sins. Baptism identifies the true believer with Christ in His death and burial, and then in His resurrection their resurrection with Him INTO His LIFE.
The understanding is a gross misunderstanding of the Power of the Word of God. If the Word of Lord God is symbolic to the church, then the world is left to understand that all things of this God is symbolic and He is of no consequence.
However, notwithstanding the evangelical pastoral unbelief and paralyzing teachings on Holy Communion, I believe generally, that the communicate individuals in the Protestant Church's when accompanied by truly repentant hearts, becomes an acceptable Presentation Offering to Father God, for the Almighty God knows from Eternity, those who belong to Him in His creation of time, What is appropriate, is the simple Communion presentation of the Eucharistic offerings. If the leader expresses thanksgiving to God and the further sanctifying Words of the Lord Jesus Christ, then the people all together, as one, partook of what would be become the True Unleavened Bread of the Lord's sinless Body. Then after the Words of Consecration of the fruit of the vine they all together drank from their own individual small plastic cup the, True Life giving Blood of their Savior. Symbolism with its unbelief is dismissed! The Eternal Father God Almighty seeks for His people to Worship Him in the Spirit of TRUTH. If the hearts of the baptized people IN Christ Jesus are IN One accord with God's Holy Spirit of Grace. then the True Holiness of the moment will be manifested IN His Spirit of TRUTH .
So then, in Communion with Almighty God, the prerequisite in new born faith, is that the Presentation Gifts through God's Spirit of Grace, are received in the unity with the Word of God with true sincerity and humility within the repentant believers. God looks for true repentance within the new heart of all of the believers. In the Spirit of the Truth, we are to present ourselves to God, as living sacrifices in Christ Jesus, which is our worshipful act of service to God. For the hour has come when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth: For the Father seeks such to worship Him. The Spirit of God is not separate from the TRUTH of His WORD Jesus Christ. In the Protestant churches, there maybe the simplicity of the memorial that may be more in keeping with the early apostolic church, and the expressed unity of the believers when the unleavened Body of the Lord Jesus Christ is taken together. Also, the Holy Spirit's Sanctifying Communion Life Blood of God's New Blood Covenant is received together in the unity of Holy God's Spirit of Grace. Hence, in the present day Protestant church, the unleavened bread (matzo) and the fruit of the vine would be passed out to believers, who were already baptized into the death of Jesus Christ, and were known to be members of faith in the Body of Christ. This would be on a par level of understanding with the Torah, where God stated that only those circumcised into God's original Covenant were permitted to participate in the original Passover. (See Exodus 12 verse 43 thru 44 and 48.)
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing of the Word of God: There are several pertinent suggestions that might be considered, before the bread and the fruit of the vine are presented to the congregation. We are to understand that the WORD of GOD is alive for evermore, and Jesus the Lord of Life brings Life to the hearer of His Word. The celebrant, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, might speak of his or her faith in the Word of Truth, and through their exaltation of faith, bring an expectation of Life flowing as Living Water into the hearing of the communicants. C. H. Spurgeon, in one of his sermon, gave this appropriate thought: "The preacher who neglects to preach to himself has forgotten a very important part of his audience. We must first address our own soul. If we can move that by the words we may utter, we may hope to have some power with the souls of others." If unbelief is in the leader's speech, then unbelief resides in the souls of those who hear the empty words in the speech.
However, the Word we preach is the same Word of God, which has found its place in the soul and spirit of our being. Therefore, it is more than appropriate, when taking Communion that a thanksgiving blessing be given to God, Who is the Ultimate Provider of the True Offerings of the Unleavened Bread of Heaven and the True Fruit of the True Vine. By faith, we receive from the Spirit of Life in God, the Grace to believe in True Flesh of the Son of Man that says we are One in Him; and of necessity, the True Life Blood of the Incarnate Son of Man that remits the occasion of sin within our own idolatrous flesh. (See John 6 verse 53 thru 57.)
The traditional blessing or thanksgiving that Christ Jesus gave at His Passover Table is not expounded upon in the Gospel Scriptures. However, the host of the Passover Table would have said for the unleavened bread: "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, Who brings forth the bread from the earth. Amen." And for the wine: "Blessed art thou O God for giving to us the fruit of the vine. Amen".
The Christian's acknowledgment of Thanksgiving to God, might follow somewhat after the similitude of the Passover Seder and the Lord's Thanksgiving to His Father, with some modification, such as: "Blessed are You, Holy, Holy, Holy Yahweh, Lord God, King of the universe, for giving to us the True Bread of Heaven, Who came down to become the Flesh of the Son of Man. For on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus, the Son of Man, the True Bread of Heaven, having given Thanks to His Father God, broke the Unleavened Bread and gave to His disciples saying: Take and eat, for This is My Body, given for you.
And then for the prayer of Thanksgiving for the wine within the Cup of Blessing, we might pray: "Blessed are you, Holy, Holy, Holy Yahweh, Lord God King of the universe, Who has given to us the True Vine, even the Very Life of your Son Jesus Christ that was poured out for the remission of our sins that we may drink of the fruit of His Spirit and live in the abundance of the Life of Christ Jesus". For Jesus, the True Vine, having giving Thanks to His Father God, gave to His disciples saying: Take and drink all of you, for This is My (Life) Blood of the New Covenant that is shed for many for the remission of sin.
If the Holy Spirit of God's Grace, indwells His people by our faith in Christ Jesus, then the Words of Consecration that come from the celebrants mouth are of the Spirit of God, and they are the Words of TRUTH, and should be received by all, as the True Body and True Blood of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, by the Grace of God, it is my sincerest opinion that Holy Communion is the time for true spiritual worship of God with songs, praises and prayerful petitions, as we come and wait expectantly as One in our High Priest, and into the Father's Holy Presence. (See Acts 2 verse 41 thru 43.) The nourishing and Holy cleansing Life Giving Blood of Jesus Christ, puts away the acknowledged sinful encumbrances of our flesh. The full Communion of true believers are now set apart from sin, and we are unified through Holy God's Spirit of continuing Sanctification. By God's Grace, we are as One in the Holy Bread of Life through the Holy Spirit of TRUTH, thereby giving us an access through the Door of Jesus' flesh, cleansed in the Life Blood of our High Priest, and led by God's Holy Spirit into the Holiest Place of Holy, Holy, Holy Father God Almighty.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus, by a new and Living Way, which He has consecrated for us, through the veil that is to say, His Flesh: And having a High Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10 verse 19 thru 22.)
"And they shall overcome the evil (accuser) by the BLOOD of the LAMB, and the Word of their testimony, and they loved not their life unto the death." (Revelation 12 verse 10.)
To proceed to the next chapter, please click on Arise, Shine for thy Light has come.
Robert Glenn Pratten