Jesus wants man to partake of the Lord’s supper. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 recounts the command of Jesus: … the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that 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.” Why partake the Lord’s supper? What constitute the Lord’s supper?
Why Partake Of The Lord’s Supper?
Jesus said in John 6:53-57 that if you partake of the Lord’s supper, one will have eternal life, will be raised up in the last day, and will abide in Jesus: “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”
God’s plan for man is for him to be with God in a loving relationship. Being raised up on the last day is like having eternal life which is being with God in terms of time because if one remains dead, he cannot be with God in a loving relationship. And of course abidance in Jesus simply means being with God.
What Was The Bread?
According to Matthew 26:17-19, the Lord’s supper was instituted by Jesus at Jerusalem in the evening of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was strict law, as laid down in Exodus 12:1-20, that on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the Jews must remove leaven from their houses, and for the seven days’ duration of the feast they were prohibited from eating anything leavened. As such, at that time and at that place there was no bread other than unleavened bread. Accordingly, the bread that Jesus used for the Lord’s supper could not be anything but unleavened bread.
Regardless of the size of the congregation, only one bread is used and it is broken (not cut). 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 states: “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.” The portion of the Lord’s supper is small, not meant to be a meal to fill one’s hunger. Hence, 1 Corinthians 11:34 says, “If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment.”
What Was In The Cup?
The drink in the cup that Jesus used for the Lord’s supper was grape juice; not fermented wine.
First, in all narratives of the occasion – Matthew 26:29, Mark 14:25 and Luke 22:18 – the drink was “fruit of the vine”. The Greek phrase for “fruit of the vine” is γενήματος τῆς ἀμπέλου (geneématos teés ampélou) and it literally means grape. Grape being solid cannot be drunk. So, when the Bible says Jesus and his disciples drank “grape”, it can only mean they drank the juice of the grape.
Second, throughout the New Testament whenever fermented wine is referred to, the Greek word οἶνος (oinos) is used. If Jesus had used fermented wine for the Lord’s supper, the Bible would have simply used the common word oinos. Instead, for the Lord’s supper, the Bible chooses the unique expression “fruit of the vine”, which is found nowhere else in the Bible. This distinguishes “fruit of the vine” from fermented wine.
Third, as explained above, at the time and place Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, nothing leavened could be found in any house. Fermented wine is a leavened product. It is produced when leaven, usually yeast, is added to grape juice and left to ferment. Hence, fermented wine could not have been used by Jesus for the Lord’s supper.
Fourth, in Matthew 26:29 at the Lord’s supper, Jesus made this promise: “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” If by “fruit of the vine” Jesus meant wine, he had broken his promise because as it turned out, even before he died (not to mention the coming of the kingdom), Jesus drank wine as noted in John 19:29-30: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to his mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished!” And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” Sour wine ὄξος (oxos) was a cheap type of wine that Roman soldiers were accustomed to drink. It has been prophesied in Psalms 69:21 that the Messiah would be given this type of wine to drink while suffering. Jesus would have known of this prophecy and would not have made the promise if “fruit of the vine” were wine.
Fifth, the apostolic church did not use fermented wine for the Lord’s supper. In 1 Timothy 5:23 Paul advised Timothy: “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” This indicates that Timothy was a teetotaler and so had to be advised to take “a little wine” as medication. However, Timothy was a full-time minister and must have been administering numerous Lord’s suppers, or at the very least had been partaking them frequently. Hence, the apostolic church could not have used fermented wine for the Lord’s supper as otherwise it would have been impossible for Timothy to be a teetotaler.
Misconceptions About The Lord’s Supper
What’s Next?
Read on about another command of Jesus to enable man to choose whether to love God and be with him: Keep The Sabbath – Why? When Is It? How To Keep It?