Again, I am drawn to leapfrog the obvious. I have to return to the blood of the new covenant. Before that subject can really be seen through, we must talk about blood itself.
Le 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 maketh an atonement for the soul.
There is only one reason we bleed.
God gave us blood.
All of life runs in our veins. And the lamb and the bull offered to God as atonement for our evil hearts let their blood instead of ours. But their blood could do nothing for us. It was merely a focus for our faith before Christ revealed the truth. His Blood changed everything.
The Life that was poured out of the Son of God made all His children clean.
Whoops. It's still too early to bring out the new covenant. Instead, focus on the blood itself.
"The cup we drink..."
We take into our bodies the very life of the Lord Jesus. All the pagan rituals of blood drinking pale and fail before this truth of Christ's Life poured out for us, on us, and even into us. The Life is in the Blood, and in the Lord's Supper we join in the communion of His Life.
It is one Blood that runs in all our veins.
It's been years now since I took communion with wine, but I'll always wish for it. The burn of the alcohol drives home the nature of what I'm doing. I'm drinking the Life of a Living Lord. That should burn a little bit.
1) We declare His death until He comes
2) We embrace the breaking of His body for us.
3) We declare our willingness to join Him in suffering.
4) We declare our oneness with every one who's ever known Him.
5) We declare His pleasure with us.
6) We declare the union of our lives with His.
Showing posts with label The Lord's Supper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Lord's Supper. Show all posts
14 August, 2007
13 August, 2007
The Two Loaves
Whilst I am yet on the subject of the bread within the Lord's Supper, let me mention the two loaves.
Lev 23:16 & 17
Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
50 days = Pentecost. The Feast of Pentecost was a Jewish feast long before the Spirit ushered in the church on that day and revealed its meaning forever. And yet, so much of its meaning is lost when we talk about the L0rd's Supper.
There were two loaves because of the domestic and the wild olive branches. The Jews are the first loaf, and we gentiles are the second. So, when we tear the loaf, we really should remember that we are tearing both loaves at once. We are one with those who came before us in Isreal. And what's more, this is a picture of how the Lord's Supper transcends ALL time. We show ourselves one with Abraham, and with Polycarp, and with Luther and so on. The loaves, and the body of Christ, and the church are all one across every moment - because God is I AM across every moment. It could be no other way.
Note also a couple things about the loaves. They are made of fine flour, and they are baked with leaven! How many times have you heard that the Lord's Supper must be taken with unleavened bread? And of course, the Passover meal was indeed taken with unleavened bread. Pentecost came 50 days after the celebration of the firstfruits (it's been too long since I studied all this, and the night grows late, but the details can slide here) so I'll agree that unleavened bread is the star of the Lord's Supper, but give the Pentecost loaves due thought.
They are made of fine flour. This could mean wheat thoroughly crushed by life's hardships, but that would be out of character with the feast. I believe instead that this points to the sweetest and most delicate of breads. This is the church as the Lord celebrates her. These loaves are not to be eaten by man, but are instead waved unto the Lord Himself. These are given to Him (and not burnt, because burning bread is NOT a pleasant aroma to the Lord as is the burning fat of the offering.) Our Lord sees us as a fine flour, and a delicate bread. To us, the bread is unleavened and harsh. To Him it is sweet and fine.
But another word is in order regarding the leaven. In the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the leaven speaks of sin. Every seed of sin must be removed from our houses and our bodies lest it grow and ruin the whole batch. On grain of yeast is enough to make us unable to accept God in to sup with us.
But this is not the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the leavening is not that of sin, but that of Life. The little leaven that leavens the whole batch here is that of the Life of Jesus Christ born in us - and in the Jews of olden days, and in the earliest church, and in the later church, and in those yet to come. The leaven that softens those twin loaves is ONE leaven; it is the Life of the holy God born in us - that which is born of Spirit is spirit.
So, as you take the bread, remind yourself of the sweet savor you are to God. Remind yourself that He partakes of the offering even as you do, and joins Himself to you even as you do to Him. He partakes in the wave offering of our communion together forever, one with each other and with Him.
1) We declare His death until He comes
2) We embrace the breaking of His body for us.
3) We declare our willingness to join Him in suffering.
4) We declare our oneness with every one who's ever known Him.
5) We declare His pleasure with us.
Lev 23:16 & 17
Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
50 days = Pentecost. The Feast of Pentecost was a Jewish feast long before the Spirit ushered in the church on that day and revealed its meaning forever. And yet, so much of its meaning is lost when we talk about the L0rd's Supper.
There were two loaves because of the domestic and the wild olive branches. The Jews are the first loaf, and we gentiles are the second. So, when we tear the loaf, we really should remember that we are tearing both loaves at once. We are one with those who came before us in Isreal. And what's more, this is a picture of how the Lord's Supper transcends ALL time. We show ourselves one with Abraham, and with Polycarp, and with Luther and so on. The loaves, and the body of Christ, and the church are all one across every moment - because God is I AM across every moment. It could be no other way.
Note also a couple things about the loaves. They are made of fine flour, and they are baked with leaven! How many times have you heard that the Lord's Supper must be taken with unleavened bread? And of course, the Passover meal was indeed taken with unleavened bread. Pentecost came 50 days after the celebration of the firstfruits (it's been too long since I studied all this, and the night grows late, but the details can slide here) so I'll agree that unleavened bread is the star of the Lord's Supper, but give the Pentecost loaves due thought.
They are made of fine flour. This could mean wheat thoroughly crushed by life's hardships, but that would be out of character with the feast. I believe instead that this points to the sweetest and most delicate of breads. This is the church as the Lord celebrates her. These loaves are not to be eaten by man, but are instead waved unto the Lord Himself. These are given to Him (and not burnt, because burning bread is NOT a pleasant aroma to the Lord as is the burning fat of the offering.) Our Lord sees us as a fine flour, and a delicate bread. To us, the bread is unleavened and harsh. To Him it is sweet and fine.
But another word is in order regarding the leaven. In the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the leaven speaks of sin. Every seed of sin must be removed from our houses and our bodies lest it grow and ruin the whole batch. On grain of yeast is enough to make us unable to accept God in to sup with us.
But this is not the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the leavening is not that of sin, but that of Life. The little leaven that leavens the whole batch here is that of the Life of Jesus Christ born in us - and in the Jews of olden days, and in the earliest church, and in the later church, and in those yet to come. The leaven that softens those twin loaves is ONE leaven; it is the Life of the holy God born in us - that which is born of Spirit is spirit.
So, as you take the bread, remind yourself of the sweet savor you are to God. Remind yourself that He partakes of the offering even as you do, and joins Himself to you even as you do to Him. He partakes in the wave offering of our communion together forever, one with each other and with Him.
1) We declare His death until He comes
2) We embrace the breaking of His body for us.
3) We declare our willingness to join Him in suffering.
4) We declare our oneness with every one who's ever known Him.
5) We declare His pleasure with us.
12 August, 2007
Filling Up the Sufferings of the Christ
There are still more mysteries hidden in this breaking of the body of Christ. The greatest is likely to be that it is not only His body that is torn.
When we tear the bread, we show the sufferings of Christ for His own. But the bread is also a symbol of us, His body, the church.
1 Cor 10:17
For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
And so, when we tear the bread, we equally symbolize our sufferings at the hands of His enemies and ours. There was a cup of suffering for the Lord Jesus, and there is a cup of suffering for us. The Lord refrained from allowing anyone to share in His cup, but there is a very real sense in which Christ's sufferings were not enough - there are sufferings yet to be paid, and we are privileged to join our Lord in those deep waters.
Col 1:24
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
Php 3:10
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
So in our time of communion with the Lord and with the saints, we worship and declare the sufferings of the Lord, but we also declare our intent to join Him at the cross. We commune with His sufferings for us, but we also commune with Him as fellow sufferers.
1) We declare His death until He comes
2) We embrace the breaking of His body for us.
3) We declare our willingness to join Him in suffering.
When we tear the bread, we show the sufferings of Christ for His own. But the bread is also a symbol of us, His body, the church.
1 Cor 10:17
For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
And so, when we tear the bread, we equally symbolize our sufferings at the hands of His enemies and ours. There was a cup of suffering for the Lord Jesus, and there is a cup of suffering for us. The Lord refrained from allowing anyone to share in His cup, but there is a very real sense in which Christ's sufferings were not enough - there are sufferings yet to be paid, and we are privileged to join our Lord in those deep waters.
Col 1:24
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
Php 3:10
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
So in our time of communion with the Lord and with the saints, we worship and declare the sufferings of the Lord, but we also declare our intent to join Him at the cross. We commune with His sufferings for us, but we also commune with Him as fellow sufferers.
1) We declare His death until He comes
2) We embrace the breaking of His body for us.
3) We declare our willingness to join Him in suffering.
His Body Torn for Us
In the Lord's Supper, there are a number of hidden mysteries.
One of them is hidden in the bread. Please allow me to leapfrog the obvious. We are, all of us, the grains of wheat that become the bread. This is why they call this meal, "communion." In it the bread shadows the church - a single, nourishing whole made from many.
1 Cor 10:16
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?
And the bread explicitly shadows the body of Christ.
1 Cor 11:24
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.
The bread that we share together should be whole at the start of the Supper, and it should be broken as it is passed around. We must tear His body to be healed in our own. The tearing of the bread is a moment of deep reflection, because there is no healing, no salvation, no hope for us if His body is not broken and torn for us 2000 years ago. It is no use being like Peter and forbidding the Lord to die. We must embrace His sacrifice and can offer only the sacrifice of thanksgiving to Him.
1) We declare His death until He comes
2) We embrace the breaking of His body for us.
One of them is hidden in the bread. Please allow me to leapfrog the obvious. We are, all of us, the grains of wheat that become the bread. This is why they call this meal, "communion." In it the bread shadows the church - a single, nourishing whole made from many.
1 Cor 10:16
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?
And the bread explicitly shadows the body of Christ.
1 Cor 11:24
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.
The bread that we share together should be whole at the start of the Supper, and it should be broken as it is passed around. We must tear His body to be healed in our own. The tearing of the bread is a moment of deep reflection, because there is no healing, no salvation, no hope for us if His body is not broken and torn for us 2000 years ago. It is no use being like Peter and forbidding the Lord to die. We must embrace His sacrifice and can offer only the sacrifice of thanksgiving to Him.
1) We declare His death until He comes
2) We embrace the breaking of His body for us.
Proclaiming A Death
WooHoo! Last Sunday I was asked to talk for 2 minutes about the Lord's Supper. (I had a full hour to prepare, so I felt really, really lucky. :-) As I was thinking about what to say, I was just buried by all the little 2 minute notes I could put out there. Before I was done, I guessed there must be a dozen.
Needless to say, I will have to see whether I was right!
Since it was the one and only chance I will probably get, I decided to go for the safest bet. Here's what I said on Sunday.
---
There are so many things to talk about with the Lord's Supper. There's the two loaves waved by the priest in the old testament, the crushing of the wheat to make the bread, the wine/blood flowing through all our veins. I really struggled to decide what to talk about, but I'm going to talk about the last verse of the passage the pastor always reads before we share the supper.
1 Cor 11:26
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he come.
Taking the Lord's Supper is the most intimate act of worship you will ever do. In taking it, you share the body of the Lord, and you mingle His blood with yours as a body of believers. In that moment, you become one with each other and with Him.
And as you take the bread and the wine, you are declaring something to all the world. Together, you are telling the world that Jesus died - and that is a huge declaration. From the moment The Word said, "Let there be light" until the moment He rolls this old creation up and begins again, there will never be a greater event than the death of the Lamb of God. There is not a greater praise than to declare it.
This is His body broken for us. This is His blood poured out for us.
For love of His Father, and for love of us, Jesus went like a lamb to the slaughter. The King of a Universe He had created laid down His body to be broken. He took on flesh so that He could suffer His blood to be poured out, and by His obedient death He cleansed all things, including us.
By taking this bread and drinking this wine, you declare to the world the supremacy of that sacrifice. Remember that as you remember Him.
Needless to say, I will have to see whether I was right!
Since it was the one and only chance I will probably get, I decided to go for the safest bet. Here's what I said on Sunday.
---
There are so many things to talk about with the Lord's Supper. There's the two loaves waved by the priest in the old testament, the crushing of the wheat to make the bread, the wine/blood flowing through all our veins. I really struggled to decide what to talk about, but I'm going to talk about the last verse of the passage the pastor always reads before we share the supper.
1 Cor 11:26
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he come.
Taking the Lord's Supper is the most intimate act of worship you will ever do. In taking it, you share the body of the Lord, and you mingle His blood with yours as a body of believers. In that moment, you become one with each other and with Him.
And as you take the bread and the wine, you are declaring something to all the world. Together, you are telling the world that Jesus died - and that is a huge declaration. From the moment The Word said, "Let there be light" until the moment He rolls this old creation up and begins again, there will never be a greater event than the death of the Lamb of God. There is not a greater praise than to declare it.
This is His body broken for us. This is His blood poured out for us.
For love of His Father, and for love of us, Jesus went like a lamb to the slaughter. The King of a Universe He had created laid down His body to be broken. He took on flesh so that He could suffer His blood to be poured out, and by His obedient death He cleansed all things, including us.
By taking this bread and drinking this wine, you declare to the world the supremacy of that sacrifice. Remember that as you remember Him.
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