The Jews have their annual Passover meal to commemorate God delivering them from bondage in Egypt. God sent his death angel to kill the first born of every family in Egypt. The Jews were told to slaughter a lamb and smear the blood on the posts and lintels of their doors so that the death angel would “pass over” their house and not kill their first born. God commanded the Passover feast of the Jewish people was to be a solemn observance for all the children of Israel for all generations. I’m no expert on the Passover meal but I know it contains lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread. Jesus shared his last Passover meal, known as the Last Supper, with his disciples just before his arrest and crucifixion. During the meal Jesus blessed the food and broke bread for each disciple to eat. Jesus said the bread represents his body which is broken “for you” (on the cross). Jesus then passed the wine cup around for each disciple to take a sip. Jesus said the wine represents his blood shed “for you” (on the cross).
Jesus said his blood establishes a new covenant whereby the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us through faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Jesus said we are to partake of the bread and wine in remembrance of him which tells me it’s to be an annual occurrence to commemorate our salvation through the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus. God wanted the Jews to commemorate their deliverance from the bondage of slavery by the Egyptians. In the new covenant God wants all Christians to commemorate their deliverance by Jesus from the bondage of death and Satan. Christian denominations have different views on the Last Supper. Catholics believe when they take the consecrated bread and wine (Eucharist) the bread and wine actually becomes the body and blood of Jesus. This is known as the doctrine of transubstantiation.
Protestants have several different views. The Lutherans believe in consubstantiation where Christ penetrates and permeates the bread and wine. The body and blood of Jesus are present in addition to the bread and wine. In the dynamic view, espoused by Reformed and Presbyterian churches, Christ is not literally present in the bread and wine but is spiritually present. The memorial view, held by most Baptist and independent churches, holds that the Communion service is mainly a commemoration of Christ’s death on the cross, though Christ is not physically or spiritually present. The bread and cup are a figurative memorial to Christ’s death.
I’m a Baptist but I’ve never taken part in a commemoration of the Last Supper even though Scripture commands it. I can understand why the Eucharist is so important to Catholics if they think they are partaking of the actual body and blood of Christ but I think they are mistaken. When I read the Scriptures about bread and wine being Jesus’ body I don’t take it literally. Jesus is using the bread and wine as a metaphor for his body and blood. Jesus uses metaphors repeatedly throughout the Bible.
1 Corinthians 11:24-25 – And when He had given thanks , He broke it (bread) and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me”. In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me”.
1 Corinthians 11:28 – But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
In the first two verses the term remembrance means “in memory of”. If the bread and wine were the actual body and blood of Jesus God would not have neglected to leave out so important a point. If you were partaking of the actual body and blood of Christ you wouldn’t need to keep doing it over and over every year. In the second Scripture we find the same thing. God is telling us to look inward when we take Communion. Again, if the bread and wine were the body and blood of God’s dear Son He would have not have neglected to tell us something so important. The reference is obviously a metaphor. While different Christian denominations may not always agree on all aspects of our faith, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus and when we get to heaven all will be revealed.
Witnessing for Christ