The Signs of the Meal that is Holy

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:19-20).

Jesus… “earnestly desired to eat this Passover” (Luke 22:15) with His disciples. The letter to the Hebrews reminds us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). That means Jesus earnestly desires to meet with His disciples and share this meal with them in every age. Theologians and scholars have tried to understand the promise of the Lord’s presence at His table. I believe He gives some revelation into this mystery in the words He shared with His disciples around that first table. He told them He would not share this Passover meal again until its purpose was completely fulfilled… “I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:16). Jesus made the special bread and third cup of the Passover meal visible signs of sacred things that He was about to fulfill. In so doing He fulfilled the deep, prophetic meaning of this holy meal so that He could set His table and invite us to a sacred communion with Him through faith in the signs of the meal that is holy.

The sign of the bread. During the Passover meal Jesus took the Afikomen, the middle one of the three pieces of matzah that stood for the priest or mediator between God and the people. It was wrapped as he would be wrapped in linen for burial and hidden somewhere in the house as he would be buried. It was found and brought back to the meal as he would be resurrected. Jesus took this bread, gave thanks for it, and distributed it to the disciples, as a sign of redemption for all who will receive it in faith. In this, Christ was showing the disciples that this middle piece of matzah was the sign of His spotless body given for the redemption of His people. As the matzah is striped and pierced, His body would be striped and pierced, and by those wounds we are healed… “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Christ made this middle piece of matzah, the Afikomen, a sign of His bodily sacrifice and it has become our communion bread.

The sign of the cup. The third cup of wine was taken after the meal. It was the Cup of Redemption from slavery into freedom. It reminded the Jews of the covenant confirmed by the shed blood of a spotless, innocent Lamb that secured their redemption from Egypt… “The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13). Jesus intentionally took this third cup, gave thanks for it, and gave it to His disciples. He identified this cup as a sign of a new covenant sealed with His blood as the Lamb of God… “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Christ made this cup a sign of His saving blood, and it is our communion cup.

The sign of communion. It’s no wonder we have come to call this meal holy communion. It is sometimes called the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist, a word of Greek origin meaning thanksgiving. You see, Christ instituted a meal to invite us to withdraw from this temporal world and enter into intimate fellowship with Him. The Spirit inspired John to echo Christ’s invitation to commune with Him over a meal… “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). The key to experiencing the presence of the Lord at His holy table is faith in the one who gave us these signs of His broken body and poured out blood. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to confirm this truth… “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:27-28). When we come to the Lord’s table recognizing our deep need of a Savior and discerning and believing the signs of His broken body and His shed blood, He promises us a sweet communion with Him.

As we grow up into Christ, we experience communion with Him when we faithfully discern…

The Signs of the Meal that is Holy.

The Cup of Holiness

And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.  And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes” (Luke 22:14-18).

The ancient Jewish commentary, the Midrash, records that the Passover meal or Seder celebrated in Jesus’ day included four different cups, each with a special meaning. Christ intentionally highlighted two of the cups and the Holy Spirit inspired the gospel writers and the Apostle Paul to record His words about these cups for us. Luke notes that after Jesus expressed how earnestly He desired to share this Passover with His disciples, He took the first cup, called the Cup of Sanctification that symbolized God’s taking out the children of Israel from among the Egyptians, gave thanks for it, and instructed His disciples to share it among themselves. He added a curious prophecy, that He will not drink from this particular cup again… “until the kingdom of God comes”. There is precious truth revealed in Jesus’ words about this first cup of the Passover meal that some have called the cup of holiness.

Jesus passionately purchased holiness for us at the cross. There is a reminder here of the great price of our freedom from sin. Jesus saw through the first cup of the Passover meal all the way to the cross, and He earnestly desired to fulfill His mission to pay for sin there. Sitting here in the midst of His disciples He was compelled and encouraged toward Calvary by love for them and He was driven by the beautiful vision of seeing them set free from the bondage of sin… “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). In just a little while He would be alone and overwhelmed by the impending agony of the cross, He would need the encouragement of angels… “’Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:42-44). Perhaps Jesus desires our holiness even more than we do. May Christ’s passion compel us to pursue the holiness He earnestly desires for us!

Jesus purposefully prescribed holiness for us every day. Diligent disciples are to grow in the holiness Jesus purchased for us at Calvary… “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).  He promised the grace of the Holy Spirit to help complete the work of sanctification in us… “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13). In His instruction that the disciples share the one cup of holiness together, Jesus’ exhorts disciples in every age to help one another to grow in holiness as we travel together through this unholy world toward the kingdom of God… “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1-2). May Christ’s prescription for holiness compel us to grow in holiness together with other disciples in a good local church!

Jesus prophetically promised holiness for us in heaven. Jesus promised that He will drink the Cup of Sanctification with us in eternity. What a precious promise! Because of the new covenant that this supper with His disciples illustrated and that Christ would soon seal with His own blood, we will soon be set free from the grip of sin and temptation forever… “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever” (Amen. Jude 1:24-25). May Christ’s promise of eternal holiness compel us to resist and live above sin’s meager temptation today!

As we grow up into Christ, we grow in the holiness He purchased, prescribed, and promised us in…

The Cup of Holiness.