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Does Islam cause terrorism? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Moral Equivalency Applied Islamic History 0409.htm
Is the Bible God’s Word? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Is the Bible the Word of God.htm
Why does God Allow Evil? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Why Does God Allow Evil 0908.htm
Is Christian teaching from ancient paganism? /Bookhtml/Paganism influence issue article Journal 013003.htm
Should God’s existence be proven? /Apologeticshtml/Should the Bible and God Be Proven Fideism vs WCG.htm
Does the Bible teach blind faith? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Gospel of John Theory of Knowledge.htm
What
Is the Meaning of Lord’s Supper/Passover Ceremony?
Why
is the Lord’s Supper/Communion/Passover ceremony still important? What does it mean? Historically, the Gospels portray the first
“Lord’s Supper” as part of a Passover Seder meal the night before
Jesus died. During that meal, Christ
changed the symbols taken from roasted lamb to bread and wine, which are
symbols of accepting the new covenant and accepting Jesus’ sacrifice. Paul explains that if someone eats
and drinks of the Lord’s Supper (i.e., “communion” or the Eucharist), he or she
has accepted Jesus' sacrifice and announces it to others
publicly (I Cor. 11:23-26):
“For
I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord
Jesus in the night [Passover] in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He
broke it, and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in
remembrance of Me." In the same
way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new
covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of
Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim
the Lord's death until He comes.”
Jesus
clearly said that the bread symbolized His body and the wine symbolized His
blood being sacrificed to save His disciples.
The Eucharist also symbolizes the mystical
spiritual unity of the church, of the Body of Christ: "Is not the cup of
blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in
the body of Christ? Since there is one
bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread"
(I Cor. 10:16-17). In general in I
Cor. 11:23-33; 10:15-17, Paul also instructs Christians about how to
take the Lord's Supper properly, with the right attitude and focus, so God
doesn't punish us. Such directions apply just as much today as they did
then about taking the symbols of Jesus' sacrifice.
However,
two or more years before Christ died, he told a crowd of disbelieving Jews that
they would have to accept His sacrifice in order to be saved. He proclaimed (John 6:48), “I am the bread
of life,” and (verse 51), “I am the living bread which came down from
heaven. If anyone eats of this bread,
he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I
shall give for the life of the world.”
After Jesus told some of His disciples, "unless you eat the flesh
of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves," a
number “of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore"
(John 6:53, 66). Although in this chapter of John’s Gospel
Jesus didn’t establish a specific ceremony or ritual when debating with the
Jews, He clearly explained here the meaning of the symbols of the Lord’s
Supper. By participating in this ceremony we show that we have the saving faith
that allows us to be saved. Indeed,
someone who refuses to engage in this ceremony shows that he doesn’t have
saving faith, which on this basis makes it necessary for salvation. God
requires Christians to take the Lord’s Supper.
I believe that it should be taken on the night of Nisan 14 (using the Jewish calendar) once a year,
which is the same night that Jesus took it with His disciples originally.
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Why does God Allow Evil? Click
here: /Apologeticshtml/Why Does God
Allow Evil 0908.htm
May Christians work on Saturdays?
Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Protestant
Rhetoric vs Sabbath Refuted.htm
Should Christians obey the Old
Testament law? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Does the New
Covenant Abolish the OT Law.htm
Do you have an immortal soul?
Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Here and
Hereafter.htm
Does the ministry have authority?
Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Is There an
Ordained Ministry vs Edwards.html
Is the United States the Beast?
Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Are We the Beast
vs Collins.htm
Should you give 10% of your
income to your church? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Does the Argument
from Silence Abolish the Old Testament Law of Tithing 0205 Mokarow rebuttal.htm
Is Jesus God? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Is Jesus God.htm
Will there be a third
resurrection? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Will There Be a
Third Resurrection.htm
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