The Lord's Supper!
1 . Primitive Christianity celebrated the Lord's Supper every time the people gathered together for worship. This was the practice of the earliest Church in Jerusalem
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:42
or as from the Greek
And they continually adhered with strength to the teaching of the apostles and in the fellowship, in breaking the bread and in the prayers. Acts 2:42
The early Jewish believers in Jerusalem were all men and women who knew the Bible very well. Many of the men had memorized the Old Testament. It was the highest ideal of Jewish manhood to be able to discuss the Scriptures with learned men. So why did they... adhere themselves with strength to the apostle's teaching - as if they needed it so badly? It was because the apostles were teaching them the words of Christ! And the apostles were using Old Testament Scriptures to prove that Jesus was the Christ - the promised Messiah - and that He had accomplished the work of the Messiah. Even more transforming was the word that Jesus had risen! He was alive! And He loved His Church, and lived in every believer. This unity with the risen Christ brought the people together in close fellowship.
note: The Greek word "koinonia" can be translated as "fellowship" (Acts 2:42), or "communion" (I Corinthians 10:16). That's because "koinonia" literally means "joint participation."
note: The phrase "breaking the bread" refers to communion. (Acts 2:42) "Breaking bread from house to house," refers to sharing a common meal. (Acts 2:46)
2. So the people "continually adhered with strength" not just to the apostle's doctrine and fellowship, but also to the Lord's Supper, and prayer.
3. The early Christians celebrated the Lord's Supper every time they came together. (see I Corinthians 11:20) Why was the Lord's Supper so important to them? The answer has to be in what they believed about it. But what did they believe? We can only guess. Yet there are some strong clues in I Corinthians chapter 10...
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion ( joint participation ), 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. I Corinthians 10:16-17
note: The "cup of blessing" means the communion cup. Jesus started the celebration of communion at the Last Supper. The Bible says, And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take eat; this is My body." Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Matthew 26:25-28
4. Jesus said His blood was shed for the remission (complete dismissal) of sins. This was the "cup of blessing" for the Christians because sin was finally taken completely away - not just "covered" by animal sacrifices. And they could enter the presence of God (the Holy of Holies), with Christ. Their communion was a joint participation in the blood of Christ - and everything gained by that blood. And so it was a celebration of their union with Christ - which was very real to them. In fact, it was the greatest reality they embraced. Their oneness with Christ meant everything to them. (That's why people first started calling them "Christians,") This was the standard of their faith. But not only that - to them communion was a common joint participation in that union with Christ. So that by the act of communion they not only celebrated their union with Christ - but also with each other! For Christ had made them one, making peace by the blood of His cross - cause enough for anyone to celebrate! (see Ephesians 2:14)
5. The bread was also a symbol of their unity with each other. For, Paul said, "We all partake of that one bread."
note: The Old Covenant given through Moses at Mt. Sinai actually condemned the people (see II Corinthians 3:9), because their sins were never really taken away - only covered. So (because it was misunderstood), the Old Covenant became a covenant of law to the people. No matter how many animal sacrifices they made, it was never enough. But those sacrifices were meant to point them to Jesus, "the Lamb of God who - takes away - the sins of the world!" John 1:29
6. It makes sense, then, that these early believers in Jerusalem would celebrate with great joy.
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:46-47
note: In this verse "breaking of bread" does not necessarily indicate the Lord's Supper, but simply means the common meals the early Christians shared with each other. Yet this does not exclude the Lord's Supper because it was their practice to celebrate the Lord's Supper at the conclusion of every such meal.
"Breaking of bread" (Acts 2:46) is not the same thing as "breaking the bread" (Acts 2:47) Remember that the book of Acts and the gospels are condensed narratives because of the limitations of writing on papyrus scrolls. Luke would hardly have repeated himself. (see Lenski)
7. I believe the Church of today should make every effort to return to the beliefs and practices of the first Christians in Jerusalem. But it would be useless to return to the practice without first returning to the faith.
8. Those early Christians actually believed that they were eating the body, and drinking the blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ! In fact, that was the whole point of taking communion! Paul said,
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.
I Corinthians 10:16-17How would you internalize something? How would it become a part of you? How would you internalize the New Covenant made with Jesus' blood? Would it not be by eating the body and drinking the blood? By faith, the early Christians believed that is exactly what they were doing, when they ate the bread and drank the wine. For those who have objections - read on....
Every covenant (with God), is made with blood - for without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. That's why the wine used in communion is blood red. The wine used at Passover was red to remind them of the blood of the covenant given at Mt. Sinai. They drank that blood/wine to remind themselves of God's covenant mercy towards them - and to affirm that they were still God's covenant people. All the blessings and obligations of that covenant were still binding upon them. This was Jewish tradition! (For those who say that the early Jewish Christians would never drink the wine, if they thought it was the blood of Christ - for drinking blood would be an abomination to them - I say, "NONSENSE." That's exactly what they believed they were doing!) They wore their unity with Christ on their shirtsleeves. It was the lynchpin of their faith. That's why taking communion was so important to them. They celebrated their victory every time they got together for worship.
What did Jesus say at the Last Supper? "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
note: At Mt. Sinai, Moses had sprinkled the blood of animal sacrifices on the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant" (Exodus 24:8). That's why, to this day, the Jewish people use red wine at the Passover meal - to symbolize the blood of the covenant - and yes, they drink it.
note: In Bible times it was indeed red wine that was used at the Passover Feast, but that wine was very weak. A person would have to drink gallons of it to get drunk. Today's wine is much stronger. That's why many Christian churches use grape juice instead. I see nothing wrong with that.
9. I believe that the bread and wine actually do become the body and blood of Christ - by faith - when the believer eats the bread and drinks the wine. I believe this is what I Corinthians 10:16 says. Otherwise how would we be united with Christ in communion? What would be the point of even taking communion? What if my wife said to me, "I will be symbolically united with you?"
note: I do not believe that the act of consecrating the bread and wine turns them into the body and blood of Jesus. If that was the case, it would be a magic act that any so called priest could do (whether or not he was even saved), and I do not believe in that at all. Then why do we "consecrate" the bread and the wine? Answer - we don't. We simply repeat Jesus' words of institution when He first gave the bread and wine to His disciples. We do this to remind ourselves of what Jesus said concerning the significance of communion.
Further Gleanings:
The Christians at Corinth were evidently getting drunk with the communion wine (see I Corinthians 11:21) They actually had the right idea. It's just that they should have been drunk in the Spirit - not physically drunk. Communion is a celebration of great joy and deep thanksgiving.
If we are united with Christ in His death (and thus are set free from the guilt of sin), - we are also united with Christ in His resurrection (and so we are set free from the power of sin.) Communion unites me with Christ in His death, and resurrection, and everything Christ stands for - and unites me with all other Christians. For we all stand on that same - common ground. That's why the first Christians celebrated communion at every opportunity!