Meditations on the Lord’s Supper
In most churches we partake of the Lord's Supper every month by eating a small morsel of bread and drinking a tiny cup of grape juice. We use it as a time of meditation, but do we often think of the significance of those two elements?
The Bread
Bread is so common in every culture. In some languages bread is synonymous with food. The expression in countries from Iran to Pakistan, "Nan tayar ast" means the food is ready. But literally, it says "bread is ready".
Bread is mentioned 330 times in Scripture, but often in very significant places. The first mention of bread was by God, in the curse after Adam and Eve sinned. The second was when Melchizedek offered bread and wine to Abram after the he smote the kings. This was also the first time bread and wine were mentioned together. The third mention of bread was when Abraham offered bread to the Lord when He promised Abraham a son. Then the fourth time bread was mentioned was when Abraham offered bread to the angels of the Lord before they cursed Sodom. And the fifth time we read of bread was when Abraham gave bread to Hagar before sending her away.
The first mention of bread in the New Testament was in Christ’s temptation by Satan. The second is in the Lord’s prayer.
These are key events that we all remember.
Bread also signifies life. Jesus said of bread, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Then he said, “as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” That statement includes his life, death, resurrection, and his return.
Next time you take communion, look at the little bit of bread in your hand. In this simple bit of bread is encapsulated the whole Gospel, including his birth, his death, his resurrection, his present ministry of intersession, and his imminent return for his church.
What was the attitude, the atmosphere when Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples? Probably serious, yet rejoicing. Jesus had been received as a prophet, if not the messiah, as he entered Jerusalem just a day or so before. Now they were celebrating the age-old Passover feast, miraculously provided by an anonymous donor. They were having a good time together. In the middle of this, Jesus took the bread and broke it according to tradition. But then he says, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
Suddenly, without warning, they were faced with the reality that following the Master was serious business. It could lead to death.
This is the picture, the reminder, that Christ leaves us, yes commands us to perpetuate forever, as we gather together. The Christian life is not just fun and games—it is a struggle to the death.
The Cup
The last words of Christ on the cross were a quote from Ps. 22:1, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46)
That's a very significant question. If God forsook His Son in his darkest hour, how do we know he will not forsake us when we need him the most? He promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” But he forsook his only son on the cross. Why? Now what assurance, what confidence do we have in a God like this?
An examination of the cup may shed some light on that.
There is a strange paradox that takes place at the last supper and later in the garden. At the last supper, Jesus told his disciples, “I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matt 26:29). Yet a few hours later he agonized in prayer, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matt 26:39). That prayer was not answered. In John 18:11 he said, “Shall I not drink the cup which my Father has given me?” So, it seems there is more than one cup involved.
To understand this, we need to go back to the Old Testament.
Ps 75:8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, full of wine blended with spices, and he pours out from it. All the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.
Isa 51:22 ”Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people: "Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;“
Ps 116:13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD,
Jesus at Calvary took the cup of wrath, the anger of God against sin. He took that out of our hands, leaving us the cup of sweet salvation. For us, it was the wrath of God exchanged for the joy of the Lord. But when Jesus took our sin on himself, the father was forced to turn his back on his own son.
Why did God forsake his own son on the cross? He forsook his son so he would not have to forsake us. He forsook his son, to give us salvation.
Now, that is a God we can trust. That is a love that cannot be surpassed; a God who loves you so much he is willing to turn away from his own son to rescue you.
This is summed up nicely at the end of Romans chapter 8, starting at verse 32:
”He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.“