Breaking Bread In The Lord's Communion
A Review of Scriptures with Questions and Answers
by Don Snow
“Therefore,
whoever eats this
bread or drinks this
cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be
guilty of the body and blood
of the Lord.
But let a
man examine himself, and so
let
him eat of
the bread and drink
of the cup.
For he who eats and drinks
in an unworthy manner
eats and drinks judgment to himself, not
discerning the Lord's body.”
(NKJV) - (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)
Since
Christ is the
propitiation or means of appeasing for
our sins (Romans 3:25; I John 2:2, 4:10), our obedience to
the commands of
God glows as
one of the desires of
the Eternal God
(Romans 6:16-18; I
Peter 4:17-19). For Jesus
says in John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those
who worship Him must
worship in spirit (Ref. # 4151, ‘mind, soul,
heart’ - Isaiah 57:15) and
truth (Ref. # 225, ‘fact, certainty’ - John l4:6; 17:17).
Most religious organizations claiming to
believe in Jesus Christ observe
some form of
communion (or ritual) to
commemorate the Lord’s
sacrifice for the
sins of mankind. Yet many
of these denominations only
observe it once
a month, or two
or three times a year.
The Church of Christ
observes the Lord’s
Communion, and with
regularity, each Lord’s
Day or first day
of the week.
However, many churches of
Christ observe the
Communion with various
FORMS
of commemoration and
seek to justify their
assorted
VERSIONS.
The Bible exhorts all
to ‘rightly divide the word of truth’ (2 Timothy 2:15) and
not ‘twist the scriptures to
one’s own destruction’ (2 Peter 3:16). With these
warnings in mind let
us review the
love and mercy of God and
what the Bible
has to say about the
seriousness of Christ’s Communion. Let us
emphasize Christians joining together to ‘break bread’ for remembrance of
and fellowship of
Jesus Christ.
LORD’S COMMUNION ESTABLISHED DURING
PASSOVER.
The Passover was an Old Testament
Memorial: “a feast instituted by
God in commemoration of the
deliverance of Israel
from Egypt, and
anticipatory of the expiatory sacrifice of
Christ”- W. E. Vine
Expository Dictionary. The Passover, also
called the Feast of the
Passover & Feast of
Unleavened Bread, was the
most sacred and
important feast in
the Jewish religion. It was observed on the 14th of
Nisan (earlier called Abib,
Deut. 16:1), the first month of the Jewish Year (our March or early
April).
The Passover in each Israelite’s household was a physical meal
that pointed FORWARD to the
coming Messiah who would remove sins
of those faithful to
God and His
Word - their sins having been
remembered each year by
animal sacrifices under
the Old Testament (Hebrews 9:1-15; Leviticus 16; Isaiah 53; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews
10:1-18).
No bone of the Passover lamb
was to be
broken (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12). The body of
the pascal lamb
remained whole and
each Israelite took and
ate his portion from
the one lamb, a tribute to Christ with
whom Moses and Elijah appeared in
glory and spoke
of Christ’s ‘final
accomplishment at Jerusalem’ (Luke 9:28-35). Also “Christ our
Passover is sacrificed for us”
(I Cor. 5:7).
And no bone
of Christ’s body
was broken in
His sacrifice for sins (John 19:36; Psalms 34:20).
THE LORD’S COMMUNION
In Matthew 26:26-28, “And as
they were eating, Jesus
took bread, and blessed it, and brake
it, and gave it
to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this
is my body.
And he took
the cup, and gave
thanks, and gave 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.”
When Jesus took
bread to establish His
Communion, it was
unleavened bread. THERE WAS
TO BE NO
LEAVEN
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT PASSOVER & SEVEN DAYS FEAST
(Hebrew Ref. # 7603, ‘ fermentation,
leaven’ - Gesenius
Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, or the ‘swelling by
barm or yeast
fermentation’ - Strong’s Lexicon;
Exodus 12:15-19; Leviticus
23:4-8; Deut. 16:1-8).
Unleavened bread describes bread
that has no
yeast or other ingredients of fermentation or
leaven, such as sour milk (or buttermilk), baking soda, and/ or baking powder, etc. (Leaven: World Book
Ency.). Some worshipers,
however, contend that leavened bread
and fermented wine
may be used to mean the Lord’s
one sinless body
and blood in
the Communion. But God
forbade leaven or
honey to be
offered in His temple (Leviticus 2:11). In the N. T., leaven
is a perversion of
God’s Word by the
DOCTRINES OF MEN (Matt. 16:6-12), and an
indication of malice & wickedness (I Cor. 5:7-8).
The Lord’s Communion is
a Christian’s spiritual remembrance of
and fellowship of
the Savior. It points BACKWARD to
Christ’s sinless body
and shed blood
that He sacrificed for sins. And Christians need
to understand and
appreciate this Communion and
observe it faithfully - lest
we forget what the
Lord has done
for our eternal souls’
salvation. Three facts
to consider: (1)
“for ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people...”(1 Peter 2:9-10;
Revelation 1:6); (2) through Christ’s death, God granted “redemption of the transgressions under
the first testament” for those
faithful to Him (Hebrews
9:15); and, (3)
God’s salvation is
still available to
those who believe & obey the Lord (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark
16:15-16).
CLARIFYING THE CONFUSION ABOUT
BRAKE.
To ‘break bread’ includes, among other things, the eating of bread, although
eating may not be
specifically stated in the
verse. And so
when Christians come
together to worship God and
‘break bread,’ God’s
Word is not
suggesting that we
just break up bread, but that we break and eat bread from one loaf. This is
a remembrance of
and fellowship of Christ
who sacrificed His one body
for our sins.
Today, many church
members have assumed that
there are various forms
of breaking bread,
and/ or eating bread in the Lord’s Communion. The following is a list of
four possibilities:
-
“Jesus broke from the
one loaf for His
participatory piece and
ate; then
gave the one
loaf to
another so that
each disciple could
break from one
bread for
his individual piece
to eat.”
Or
-
“Jesus broke the
one loaf
into two halves for
each disciple to
break from
a
half-loaf
to
eat.” Or
-
“Jesus broke the
loaf into multiple pieces
so that each
disciple could just take
a
piece to eat.” (Only one disciple breaks the bread).
-
Then there are
- “Church members who
have abolished ‘breaking bread’ from
one loaf, and
just have each
worshiper eat a
wafer or
a cracker.”
Scripturally only one
FORM can apply
to the Lord’s Communion. And
when the rest
of the scriptures are
observed, Christians will
find that forms 2, 3, and 4 do
not conform to God’s Word of Truth.
In order to help us understand the meaning and importance of
the Lord’s Communion and
the breaking of
bread, let’s carefully observe I Corinthians 10:15-17, “I speak
as to wise
men; judge for yourselves what I say.
The cup (‘a cup, a drinking vessel’ - Ref. # 4221)
of blessing which we
bless, is it
not the communion (‘fellowship, association, joint-participation - Ref. #
2842) of the blood of Christ. The bread which we
break (same Greek Ref. # 2806 as Jesus
broke bread in
Matthew 26:26), is
it not the
communion (‘fellowship,
joint-participation’ - Ref. # 2842) of the
body of Christ? For we
being many are
one bread (‘loaf’ - # 740), and one
body (‘a large or small
number of men closely united
into one society, or family as
it were; a social, ethical,
mystical body; so
in the N.T. of the church’ - Ref. # 4983):
for we are all (‘any, every, the whole’ - Ref. # 3956)
partakers of that
one bread (‘loaf’).
Jesus Christ went through a violent and shameful death as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind (Matthew 27; Romans 4:25).
Yet not one bone
of Christ’s body was broken (John 19:36). However, the Lord’s Communion with one loaf in each congregation, like the one Passover lamb
per household, is the
Christian’s remembrance of
and fellowship of
Christ’s one body
that He sacrificed for each
convert’s sins: “For as often
as you eat
this bread and drink this
cup, you proclaim the
Lord’s death till
He comes.” (I Corinthians 11:26)
THE DAY FOR
COMMUNION OBSERVANCE.
The scriptures read in Acts 20:7, “And upon the first day of
the week, when
the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto
them...”
The “first day of the week” is:
(1) the day
that commemorates the Lord’s
resurrection from the
dead; (2) the day
the Lord’s church began on earth; and (3)
the day of divine
worship observed by
faithful Christians.
In People’s N.T. Commentary (for Acts 20:7), the
following information is given:“the early church
writers from Barnabas,
Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, to
Clement of Alexandria, Origen
and Cyprian, all
with one consent, declare that
the church observed the
first day of
the week. They equally agreed
that the Lord’s Supper was observed weekly, on
the first day of
the week.” [Also read I Cor. 16:1-2]
Yes, upon the
first day of
each week, faithful Christians assemble to
worship God in
spirit and in truth (John
4:24). The Lord’s
Communion is to
be arranged so
that each loyal
worshiper remembers and
fellowships Christ,
who is the one
sacrifice and sin-offering in
the presence of
God the Father
for the sins, salvation and eternal life of
each Christian. However, each
person will face
his or her own
judgment account (2 Cor.
5:10).
THE IMPORTANT MESSAGE.
The Lord and
His apostles have advised mankind to “obey God
rather than men” (Acts 5:29), warned
of the coming
of “grievous wolves”
(Acts 20:29-30), and cautioned against the destructive doctrines of
“false teachers” (2 Peter 2:1-22).
Also it warns
in Mark 7:6-7; Romans
16:17-18; Galatians 1:6-10; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17; 2 Peter 3:14-18; Jude 1:3-4 of preachers who,
for wealth or for
various reasons, would
bring in “damnable heresies” (2 Peter
2:1). Also James
gives this warning to
all masters & teachers (instructors, Ref. # 1320) of God’s Word: “we shall
receive a stricter judgment”
(greater condemnation, James 3:1).
And the Lord
affirms that He
will say to “many” people at
the judgment ( Matthew
7:21-23) - “you that work iniquity” (“without
God’s law” - Ref.
# 458). “I never
knew you: depart
from Me.” Yes, our
love & respect for God and
His Word of Truth
are very critical because “...all things are
naked and opened unto
the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13; Proverbs 15:11)
In I Corinthians 11:17 thru 22, the scriptures record
that those Christians at
Corinth had created
IRREGULARITIES and VARIATIONS in the Lord’s Communion. And Paul
admonished those believers in
Christ by saying
in verse 17: “I
do not praise
you, since you come together not
for the better, but
for the worse.”
In I Corinthians 10:16-17, Paul
outlined the pattern for the Lord’s Communion. Let’s observe these verses from different translations of God’s Word and
note the important message:
New King James Version - “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? For
we, though many, are
one bread and one body; for we all partake of that
one bread.”
Revised Standard Version - “The cup of blessing which
we bless, is it
not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread
which we break, is it not a
participation in the body
of Christ? Because there is
one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the
one bread.”
The Simple English Bible - “The cup of blessing
which we bless is the sharing of Christ’s blood,
isn’t it? When we
break off a piece of the bread,
it is the sharing of Christ’s
body, isn’t it? Though there are
many of us, we are one body.
There is one loaf, but all of us share this one loaf.”
Twentieth Century New Testament -
“In the Cup of
Blessing which we
bless, is not there a sharing in
the blood of the Christ? And in the Bread which we
break, is not there a sharing in
the Body of the Christ? The Bread is one, and we, though
many, are one body; for we all partake of that one Bread.”
Young’s Literal Translation - “The cup of the blessing
that we bless--is it not the
fellowship of the blood of the Christ?
the bread that we break--is it not the
fellowship of the
body of the Christ?
because one bread, one body, are we the many--for we all of the one bread do
partake.”
Montgomery’s New Testament - “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a common participation
in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a common
participation in the body of Christ?
Because we who
are many are one bread, one body, for we all do share in the one loaf.”
Yes, Jesus Christ
is the
ONE &
ONLY Divine Power
and Wisdom of God
for the salvation of
mankind (I Corinthians 1:18 thru
31). Every Christian
should be faithful in attending the
public worship (Hebrews 10:25), and
in having fellowship with
God the Father, Christ
the Lord, and the Holy Spirit (2
Cor. 13:14; Ephesians 2:18, & I Peter 3:18).
Also, Christians should be
trustworthy in the
remembrance and fellowship of
CHRIST’S LOVE &
SACRIFICE OF HIS
ONE SINLESS BODY
FOR OUR SINS IN A
WORLD OF SATAN,
SIN & DEATH.
There’s an old saying
about life, “We may
be honestly mistaken about
things, but when
confronted with truth,
we either cease
to be honest
or cease to
be mistaken.” Of course, some are amazed
& glad to
know truth about
the Lord’s Communion, while
some are upset & angry.
PART II - QUESTIONS and ANSWERS
IN
SEARCH OF THE LORD’S TRUTH (John 8:32)
QUESTION 1:
“WHAT
DO ‘BONES’ HAVE TO
DO WITH THE LORD’S COMMUNION BREAD?”
ANSWER:
In
Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12 the
LORD said of
the Passover lamb, “neither shall
ye break a
bone thereof.” No bone of the
Passover lamb was to
be broken in
each Jewish household because the
one lamb “meant” the one
sinless body of
the Lord who
was promised to come
and die for the
sins of mankind (Deuteronomy 18:18-19; Isaiah
7:14, Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 53;
Matthew 1:18-25).
The body of the
one lamb in
each household remained one
form throughout the
Passover, and each
Israelite took his
portion from the
one lamb and
ate.
No bone of
the sinless body
of the Lord and
Savior was broken (John 19:36; Psalms
34:20; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22 ). Christ was/ is “The Lamb
of God who
takes away the sin of the
world” (John 1:29).
Although the body
of Christ was severely whipped, beaten, spit
upon, and nailed
to a cross
(John 19), yet the Lord’s sacrificed body
for sin was neither broken
into halves - nor
shattered into pieces (John 19:36).
Bones made up
the skeletal part of the
bodies of both Christ and
the Passover lamb.
While there are no
bones in the Lord’s Communion bread,
yet the bread’s oneness symbolizes the one
body of Christ. Hence, for one
participant in the
congregation to break
the one bread
into halves, fragments, or
serve wafers,
HE SYMBOLICALLY DOES
TO THE BODY OF
CHRIST WHAT THE
OLD TESTAMENT SAID
WOULD NOT TAKE
PLACE.
But
when each Christian breaks
his or her
piece from one
loaf and eats
in the Lord’s
Communion, he or
she personally has (or should have) a ‘remembrance’ of and ‘participation’ of Christ
who sacrificed His
one
body & blood for
his or her sins
and salvation.
QUESTION 2:
“WHERE IN THE SCRIPTURES DOES IT TELL THAT
JESUS DRANK OF
THE FRUIT OF
THE VINE IN
ESTABLISHING HIS COMMUNION AND
THAT IT SUGGESTS HE BROKE AND ATE
OF THE ONE
BREAD?”
ANSWER: First, it’s
important for every
faithful Christian to understand the “outgoing” of the Passover Memorial in
the Old Testament and
the “incoming” of the Lord’s Communion in the
New Testament (Jeremiah
31:31-34; Romans 7:6; Galatians 3:19-29; Ephesians 2:14-22; Colossians 2:14-23; Hebrews 8:6-13, & 9:11-28).
Christ established His
Communion with one
bread and one
cup of the
fruit of the
vine. In the
Lord’s Supper (‘a
formal, chief meal’ - Greek Ref. # 1173),
Christ “took the cup (containing fruit
of the vine) and
gave thanks, and
gave it to them,
saying, ‘Drink from (“of, out of,
the
thing out of which one
drinks” Greek Ref. # 1537) it,
all of you.
For this is My
blood of the
new covenant, which
is shed for
many for the
remission of sins. But I say unto you,
I will not drink henceforth (again, from
now
on) of this fruit of the vine, until that
day when I
drink it new
with you in
My Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26: 27-29). If Jesus
only ate &
drank of the Passover Memorial, and
did not break
and eat of
the one bread and
drink from the one cup of
blessing when He
ordained His Communion,
then why did
Jesus wait until
after the Communion to
say “...I will drink no more
of the fruit
of the vine, until that
day when I
drink it new in the
kingdom of God.”? -Mark 14:25
Please note that ‘wine’ is
never stated for the
Lord’s Communion, only ‘fruit of
the vine,’ which was
not fermented. The “fruit of the
vine” has reference to
the juice of the grape (Hebrew Ref. # 8492). In Isaiah 65:8, “Thus says
the LORD: As
the new wine
is found in
the cluster, And one
says, 'Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it,' So will I do for
My servants' sake, That
I may not
destroy them all.”
In the
Communion Christ called
the container for
the “fruit of the vine” a “cup.” Greek
Lexicons and Dictionaries define “cup” as: (‘a cup, a
drinking vessel’ - Ref. # 4221).
In the Communion Christ said: “This cup (a
drinking vessel containing ‘fruit of the
vine’) is the new
testament in My
blood which is
shed for you.” (Luke 22:20; I Cor. 11:25). There are two things to be
noted in this
scripture: the blood
of Christ and
the one New Testament of
Christ.
Christ sacrificed His body
and blood for
our sins, and blood-sealed one N. T. for
“obedience to the faith” for
salvation and Eternal Life. [Read Romans 1:1-7 & 16:25-27].
In I Corinthians 11:26-27 it
reads: “For as often as
you eat this
bread and drink
this cup, you
proclaim the Lord's
death till He
comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this
cup of the
Lord in an
unworthy manner will
be guilty of
the body and blood of the
Lord.”
How does one drink a cup?
The “cup of the
Lord” is used
by metonymy for
each Christian to
drink & share
the fruit of
the vine for
remembrance and fellowship of Christ’s blood and
one blood-sealed N. T.
“Metonymy” is defined as: “a figure
of speech consisting of
the use of
the name of
one thing for that of another of
which it is
an attribute or
with which it
is associated,” Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary.
Metonymy is
not unusual. People use
metonymy most days
in conversations. For example, “Would you like a cup?” - referring to the cup’s contents, maybe coffee or
tea, etc. “Would you like
a bowl?” - referring to
the bowl’s contents, maybe
beans or soup, etc. “The tea kettle boiled.” - referring to
the contents in
the tea kettle. “The White House signed the
papers.” - referring to the
President signing certain papers. In ‘metonymy’ a person
cannot, by rules of
language, call the contents of
a container by
the name of
that container, unless those
contents are in
THAT CONTAINER.
If Christ said
‘cup,’ then it’s
not a bucket, barrel, nor cups. In Luke 22:20 & I Cor. 11:25 Christ
gives a double use of
Metonymy. Consider the
next Answers: Whether Christ Ate Of
The One Bread?
QUESTION 3:
“MUST THE COMMUNION BREAD REMAIN
IN ONE LOAF
IN ORDER TO
BE ONE BREAD?”
ANSWER: Bread must remain in one loaf in order
to be ‘one bread’ or ‘one
item.’ The one
bread “is” (‘to make or meaneth’ - Ref. # 2076) the
one body of
Christ. When bread
is baked into a
loaf, it is
one bread. When that
loaf is sliced or broken
into pieces, it may
be from one bread, but it’s
no longer a
loaf.
It’s just broken
pieces of bread. In fact,
a person may
break or slice several loaves of bread
into pieces of
bread, and it
will still be bread, but
not one loaf.
When a Christian selects a
piece of bread,
or a cracker, he’s
not “breaking bread” from one loaf to
eat for remembrance of
and communion of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
In
I Corinthians 10:16-17, the apostle Paul
writes: “The bread which
we break, is
it not the
communion of the body of Christ?
For we being
many are one
bread, and one body: for
we are all
partakers OF
that one bread” (KJV). This word
‘OF’ is ‘ek’
(Greek Ref. # 1537) and defined in Thayer’s Greek
Lexicon in Section II,
number 9, as: “the supply
out of (from) which a thing is taken, given,
received, eaten, drunk, etc., I Cor. 10:17.” The other “of” words in
this verse are
from Ref. # 3588, and
are the general meaning and
usage of the word.
One lamb in each Israelite’s house
allowed each ‘worshiper’ to
take from one lamb and
eat for a
‘memorial of
the coming Lord.’
Likewise, one bread in
each congregation’s Communion allows
each Christian to break &
eat from one
loaf for remembrance &
fellowship of the Christ Who has
come.
QUESTION 4:
“ISN’T THE ONE BREAD
NOT LESSENED (OR
DECREASED), NO MATTER INTO HOW
MANY PIECES THE LOAF
IS BROKEN, OR
HOW MANY WAFERS ARE
USED IN THE
LORD’S COMMUNION? ISN’T IT STILL ONE
BREAD?”
ANSWER: I cannot
but guess as
to why Christ
broke from one
bread before declaring to
the disciples: “This is
My body.” But we
can rest assured that
the Lord wanted
His disciples (and all Christians) to accept this one
loaf as His
one body, not
as pieces, fragments, nor
crackers of His
body. Jesus said
in Luke 22:19, “this do
in remembrance of
me.” Do what? Do what I have just done!
If Jesus
broke the one bread into
halves or multiple pieces, then
all disciples are to
do the same. If Jesus
set trays of
wafers or crackers before
the disciples and said: ‘take, and eat,’ then
all disciples are
to do the same.
BUT JESUS DID
NOT DO THAT.
According to scriptures the
Lord broke off
a piece from
the one loaf and
ate. Christians are
to do the
same when we
“break bread.” We are to
break bread and eat for remembrance of
and fellowship of
Christ’s one sacrificed body for our
sins in worship to
God on “the first day of the
week” (Acts 20:7).
The first day
of the week
is Sunday, not Wednesday nor Saturday.
If Jesus
broke the bread
into halves, or multiple pieces, it
could only be
done once. Once
the loaf is broken into
halves or pieces, no other
worshiper can break
the one bread or loaf into
halves or pieces and
eat. However,
each and every
Christian can break
off his piece
from one loaf
and eat. And throughout the
communion service the
bread and the body of
Christ each
REMAINS ONE,
for “we (the
worshipers) are all
partakers of that one
bread (‘loaf’).”
QUESTION 5:
“DOES ‘THE BREAD
WHICH WE BREAK’ AND ‘THE CUP OF
BLESSING WHICH WE
BLESS’ REFER TO WORSHIPERS WITHIN
ONE
CONGREGATIONAL
ASSEMBLY, OR DOES IT REFER TO THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH
OF ALL CONGREGATIONS THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE?”
ANSWER: We in “we bless” is a reference
to “WE THE
ASSEMBLED IN EACH
CONGREGATION.” The concept of
the ‘Universal Church’ is
the kingdom of heaven on this earth (Matthew 16:13-28). However, the headquarters for
the church of Christ
is in heaven, not on earth. Christ “is the
head of the
body, the church, who is the beginning, the
firstborn from the
dead, that in
all things He may
have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18;
Ephesians 1:19-23).
Since the 1800's
A.D., those who
‘support the use
of multiple cups’ have
used the Universal Church
concept to get ‘multiple cups’ into
the Lord’s Communion. The Universal theory
seems to be
another plea for “pieces of bread” in the Communion.
If ‘we’ is referring to all
congregations of the
Universal Church, then
‘WE THE ASSEMBLED’ are
going to be in
BIG TROUBLE
with the Lord
and Savior. The Bible states in
I Corinthians 14:31 that all
preachers and teachers are
to speak “one by one” so “that all may learn”- “For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all
may learn, and all may be
comforted.”
“Must
the preacher in
the Ephesian congregation (or Atlanta, GA), and
the preacher in
the Corinth congregation (or Birmingham, AL)
ALL REMAIN
SILENT
while the preacher in the
Rome congregation (or Dallas, TX) is
speaking, or leading a
prayer?”
Of
course not!
If this
‘we’ (in “we bless”)
refers to all
congregations of the Universal Church, and refers not to
each individual congregation’s worship to
God, then we
could definitely have
“we” speaking or “we” having prayer at
the same time, and/
or “WE” doing
many other things
that violate the
Lord’s commands. Read Matt.15:9 and
I Cor. 15:1-2.
In the church of
Christ, no faithful congregation has
each worshiper speaking loudly
his personal prayer
in the worship assembly. A Christian brother leads
the prayer, and
it prevents confusion and
noisy disorder in
the worship (see I Corinthians 14:33, 40). Even Paul
wrote in I Cor. 14:16, “if you bless with the spirit, how will he who
occupies the place of the
uninformed say ‘Amen’
at your giving of
thanks, since he
does not understand what you say.”
Christians are to
obey the Lord’s instructions for
the Communion, just as Israelites were
to obey the Lord
for the Passover.
QUESTION 6:
“SINCE JESUS BROKE
THE COMMUNION BREAD BEFORE
GIVING IT TO
THE DISCIPLES, AND SAID: ‘TAKE EAT;
THIS IS MY BODY
WHICH IS BROKEN FOR
YOU,’ SHOULDN’T THE BREAD BE BROKEN IN HALF OR INTO PIECES, BEFORE IT’S GIVEN TO CHRISTIAN WORSHIPERS TO BREAK AND/
OR EAT?”
ANSWER: As we
have mentioned previously in
this article, the lamb in the Passover “meant” the body of the
coming Christ and
Savior, and the
bread in the
Lord’s Communion “means” the
body of the
crucified Christ.
Hence,
it is obvious that
the lamb is a “type” of the
bread.
In
John 19:36 & Psalms 34:20 it reads
that not one
bone of Christ’s body
was to be broken. Therefore, when Jesus
affirmed in I Cor. 11:24, “this is
My body, which
is broken (Ref. # 2806)
for you”, He was using “a figure of speech, a
metaphor, signifying that
His body was
to be sacrificed or shattered by
a violent death” - Thayer’s Lexicon. Otherwise, Christ would
have contradicted Himself and
His Word of truth.
Each Christian is to remember that
brutal sacrifice when
he/ she breaks
from one loaf in the Communion. Here is
the breaking of bread. When Christ
gave thanks for
the one bread,
broke, and handed
the one loaf
to a disciple and
said to all - “take, eat; this is My body.”
- “Do this in remembrance of Me.” -
no other breaking is
mentioned.
Nowhere does the
Holy Bible state that Christ
broke the bread in
half. And breaking bread
implies eating, as
Paul demonstrated in Acts 27:34-35.
Some believers say they
cannot believe that
Christ communed of
His own body and
blood with one
bread & fruit
of the vine in one
cup. But remember, Christ
partook of the Passover Memorial of
His future coming and dying
for
the redemption of
the faithful under
the Old Testament (Matthew
26:17-18; Hebrews 9:15).
Why should Christ not partake of the
Communion of His
gift, in coming
and dying for the
sins and salvation of
the faithful who obey
His New Testament Word? Christ’s body
was sacrificed as a sin-offering for each
penitent, baptized believer who
walks in newness of
life, and worships God
in spirit and in
truth (John 4:24; Acts
2:38-42; Romans 6).
But, NO, Christ
did not ingest
His own physical body and blood.
Truly, the breaking of
Christ’s body in
the Lord’s Communion takes
place when EACH child of
God in a
worship assembly takes and
breaks from the
one loaf, and
eats. It is
not one person significantly breaking the
bread into halves
nor pieces - nor serving wafers
or crackers. The keynote issue
is:“How many bodies &
testaments did Christ
give?”
Let me repeat: * One bread (one loaf) in
each congregation of
the church of
Christ allows each worshiper to take,
break from one bread,
eat, and have a
spiritual ‘remembrance’ & ‘fellowship’ of
the one sacrificed body of the Lord
who has come (a single use of metonymy).
* One cup with “fruit of
the vine” allows each Christian in
the worship assembly to
drink and
have a
spiritual “remembrance” and “fellowship” of the blood of
Christ and of His
one blood-sealed New Testament
(a double use
of metonymy).
QUESTION 7:
“WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES
IT MAKE WHETHER EACH
CHRISTIAN BREAKS FROM ONE LOAF, OR
FROM TWO HALVES OF A LOAF, OR JUST EATS
A WAFER IN THE
LORD’S COMMUNION? ISN’T IT THE REMEMBRANCE OF CHRIST THAT COUNTS, AND NOT THE
WHY, NOR THE
HOW WE COMMUNE?”
ANSWER: The answer
to
this question is
not a matter of
“either-or” but of both. The N.T. instructs us
to remember Christ, but Christ
also gave us
instructions and examples of
the “how” and the “why” of the Communion. Should we not follow the instructions of
the Lord in His
Communion as we’re to do in
baptism, singing, teaching, praying, etc.?
There was one
breaking of bread
by the Lord.
And there is
one breaking of
bread by each
Christian in the
Lord’s Communion. It is
the giving of
thanks for the
one bread by
each congregation that
sets it apart
for spiritual use
of Christ’s one
sacrificed body in
the Communion.
When Christians, in the
worship assembly, offer
a prayer of thanksgiving for
the bread and a
prayer of thanksgiving for
the cup of
blessing, as directed by
Christ (Matthew 26:26-28), it
renders these items
sacred, holy, and consecrated for the
Lord’s Communion.
In I Corinthians 11:27,
it reads: “Whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup
of the Lord,
unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” ‘Unworthily’ is Greek Ref.
# 371, ‘irreverently.’
W. E. Vine describes this
Greek word “ANAXIOS”, used
in I Cor. 11:27 as: ‘partaking of
the Lord’s Supper UNWORTHILY, i.e.,
treating it as
a common meal,
the bread and
cup as common things, (and)
not apprehending their
solemn symbolic import.’
This word ‘UNWORTHILY’ (‘irreverently’) is
not referring to
one’s sense of
being UNWORTHY
or UNSUITABLE to
come to the
Lord’s table as
a Christian and
child of God.
It has reference to the
MANNER and/ or METHOD of
one’s observance of
the Lord’s Communion, and
treating ‘it’ as a common
meal.
In fact, in verse 29 it reads: “For he
who eats and
drinks in an
unworthy manner, eats
and drinks damnation (“judgment, punishment”, Ref. # 2917) to himself, not
discerning the Lord’s
body.” The “one bread” is a
remembrance of & communion of
Christ’s body. The “fruit of the vine” is a
remembrance of &
participation of the blood
of Christ. And “the cup of blessing” is a remembrance of
& fellowship of the one
N.T. sealed into Law by
the sacrifice and
shed-blood of Christ - “This cup is the new testament in
My blood, which
is shed for
you." (Luke 22:20; I Cor. 11:25)
CLOSING THOUGHTS
In the 1500's A.D.
the Catholic church
invented the doctrine of
TRANSUBSTANTIATION
for the Lord’s
Communion.
This
ideology declares that
the bread is
actually changed into the physical body of Christ, and
the fruit of the vine is
actually changed into
the physical blood
of Christ. This theory does not
take place in
the Lord’s Communion. Not only
is this “doctrine of men”
shown to be
false by the
Word of God,
but any truthful analysis will
prove it to
be misleading and
superstitious.
Some people claim
that the “cup” is the
blood of Christ. The Lord
states that the “cup” with “fruit of
the vine ” is the
remembrance of and joint-participation
of
Christ’s one N. T. that He
sealed with His
blood.
When Christians at
Corinth began to
bring changes into the
worship assembly (I Cor. 10:14-22), the Apostle Paul
warned them of
idol worship. He wrote in verses 21-22, “You cannot (‘by permission’ - Ref. # 1410),
drink the cup of the Lord
and the cup of demons; you
cannot partake of
the Lord’s table
and of the
table of demons. Or do
we provoke the
Lord to jealousy (‘anger’, # 3863)? Are we stronger than He?”
In the
late 1800's A.D. several
kinds of improper disputes arose
in churches about
sanitation for using
one “cup of blessing” and
one “bread” in the
Lord’s Communion. This resulted in the introduction of
multiple cups of various liquids, and
pieces of bread. However, reputable doctors and
The Centers For Disease Control in
Atlanta have assured me
that no one
should have any
worry in sharing the ‘fruit of the vine’ from one communion cup
and/ or breaking bread
from “one loaf” in the Lord’s Supper. When Christ our Creator established His Communion He
knew all about
this world’s sanitation and our physical makeup (Colossians 1:15-18; John
1:1-14).
Christ knew about
the countless sites we
visit, the endless objects we
handle, and the various places
we go for
eating and drinking. But “do I have enough faith
and trust in Christ and The Word of
God to observe the
Lord’s Communion as the
Savior gave it?” (Read Leviticus 10 and
Matthew 15:1-9). In
Christ’s love, Don Snow