There are many people who do not realize what Jesus really did at the Lord’s Supper. Many Christians call this Communion, the table of the Lord, or the Eucharist. But Jesus did not start the first ceremony. The first ceremony was in Genesis 14.
Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the Most High God.
There is a lot said in this one verse. Let’s break it down.
Melchizedek means King of Righteousness. He was also king of Salem, which is associated with shalom meaning peace and wholeness. Therefore Melchizedek is the King of Righteousness and the King of Peace. Notice he is also a priest of the Most High God.
Melchizedek presented the same elements that are present in the Last Supper by Jesus at the Passover – the bread and the wine.
Jesus presented the bread and wine at Passover to His disciples. So let’s talk about Passover. The first Passover was instituted in Exodus 12. Essentially, each family took a lamb and examined it for four days. The father as priest of his home would sacrifice the lamb and catch the blood in a basin. Then the father would take a hyssop and apply the lamb’s blood upon the lintel and the door posts of the home. The lamb would be roasted and eaten during the night while the family was inside the home protected by the blood. If anything was left of the lamb, it was burnt up on the fire.
Why was the blood applied to the door frame? The high priest – the father was essentially sealing his family behind the blood of the lamb to be protected and not die when the destroyer came threw the first Passover night. They would be “passover” from losing their life.
Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the Altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that taketh an atonement for the soul.
According to Leviticus, the blood is for atonement for the soul. Father God gave us the blood of the Lamb to save us from His wrath because of our sins against Him and His Word. So who is the Lamb that God gave? According to the gospel of John, it is Jesus.
John 1:36 And looking upon Jesus as He walked, he (John) saith, Behold the Lamb of God.
1 Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may one a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.
Christ Jesus was the Lamb of God, who was then sacrificed on the cross for us. This event was allowed to happen to save our souls. We would be “passover” from the wrath of God and placed into eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Jesus gave all for us at the Cross.
Hebrews 7:21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by Him that said unto Him. The Lord swore and will not repent. Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. 22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. .. 24 But this Man, because of continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. …27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s sin: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself.
Jesus the priest of the new covenant which was better than the old covenant. He was also the sacrifice when He offered Himself on the Cross.
In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we have the same words spoken by Jesus at the Passover with the disciples. This meal became known as the Last Supper.
Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said: Take, eat, this is My body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye, all of it: 28 For this is My Blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s Kingdom.
Mark 14:22 And so they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said: Take, eat, this is My body. 23 And He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. 24 And He said unto them: This is My blood of new testament, which is shed for many, 25 Verily, I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.
Luke 22:14 And when the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 And He said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat the Passover with you before I suffer: 16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. 17 And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God shall come. 19 And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: This do in remembrance of Me. 20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood: which is shed for you.
In John, we have the words spoken by Jesus, saying He is the Bread of Life and we should be feasting on Him.
John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48 I am the Bread of Life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the Bread which cometh down from heaven; that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living Bread which came down from heaven: If any man eat of this Bread, he shall live forever: and the Bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. … 53 Then Jesus said, unto them, Verily, verily, I say into you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink the blood ye have no life in you….. He that eathe My flesh, and drinkers My blood, dwells in Me and I in him.
Jesus gave us the ceremony to do in remembrance of Him and through it we can have eternal life. Though His flesh and Blood we are protected and provide for by God the Father. We can have a daily “passover” into eternal life. But the Communion does not have to be done daily. Jesus gave no commandment of how often it is done. He only said Do this in remembrance of Me.
In Corinthians, we are given testimony from the Apostle Paul who received this words from the Lord God.These words are the ones used in the Eucharist ceremony.
1 Corinthians 11:23 For I have 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: 24 And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me.25 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 in, in remembrance of Me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come.
The Blood of the Lamb saves our souls and brings us into eternal life in the Kingdom of God. But what about the bread?
Isaiah 53:4 SurelyHe hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.
We are healed – spirit, soul, and body- by the flesh and body of Jesus Christ. He was bruised, beaten, and wounded for our health. Remember when we discussed Matthew 26, we stated we have the remission of sins because of His shed blood.
So why is Communion or the Eucharist important? What did Jesus really do?
- The act of taking Communion is identify ourselves with the Lamb of God. We identify ourselves with His death, His burial, and His resurrection.
- We partake of the bread — His flesh as the Bread of Life – for healing that it provides.
- We partake of the wine — His Blood as the Lamb — for the remission of our sins after we confess them to Him.
- As we partake of the elements of bread and wine, we are feasting on the Lord Jesus Christ. We infusing Him inside of us. Thus we receiving the life that is eternal from Him as the living Bread and the Lamb of God.
Jesus gave Himself for us not only in the sacrifice of the Cross, but also as the elements of Communion. If we believe in the Cross, we should believe in taking of Communion. They both are described in the same Word of God.
Next we will discuss the power of the Blood of the Lamb.