As
he shared with the church members in Corinth concerning the “Lord's
supper”,
Paul the
apostle referred to the way Jesus, “gave
thanks”,
broke bread, and said, “take, eat:
this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of
me” .
In
chapter eleven and verse twenty-five of First Corinthians, Paul
shared with the Corinthian church members how Jesus, “took
the cup, and when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new
testament in my blood”,
where we read:
After
the same manner also he took
the cup, when he had supped, saying,
This
cup is the new testament in my blood: this do you, as often as you
drink it,
in remembrance of me.
The
verse begins, “After
the same manner also he took
the cup, when he had supped,...”.
Paul began
with the word, “after the same
manner” which
means “and thus likewise” “also”
which means “in addition” “he
took the cup”
or “Jesus held, owned and possessed the drinking vessel”, “when
he had supped”
which means “after Jesus had partook of, drank of and imbibed”.
Paul referred to the way Jesus, after taking the bread, giving
thanks, breaking it and presenting it to His disciples, also “took
the cup”
and “partook of” and drank of it.
The
verse continues, “... saying,
this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do you, as often as
you drink it,
in remembrance of me.” Paul
added the word, “saying” which
means “uttering, declaring or proclaiming”, “this
cup” or
“the drinking vessel Jesus held” “is
the new testament”
which means “the cup is the fresh, recent, unused, unworn,
unprecedented, uncommon and unheard of disposition and covenant”
“in my blood”
or “in Jesus' bloodshed”: “this
do you”
which refers to “the church members were to practice drinking of
the cup”, “as often”
or “when so ever and as many times” “as
you drink it”
which means “while the church members imbibe it”, “in
remembrance”
or “with recollection” “of me”
which refers to “Jesus”. Every time the church members in Corinth
received of the “cup”
in the “Lord's supper”,
they were to “recollect” that it represented Jesus' “bloodshed”
for them.
When
we meditate upon these words from Paul, we see how he relied upon the
Lord Jesus' words to demonstrate how the church members should
“assemble”. They were to observe “communion” which included
both the “broken bread”, which represented Jesus' broken
body, and they were to drink of the “cup” which
represented His “bloodshed” for their sins. Each of these parts
of the “holy sacrament” were to remind the church members of what
Jesus did for them, and as we partake of these “elements”, we
should remember what He did for us as well.
Next
time Paul shares with the church members what Jesus said to do, “as
often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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