Wednesday, May 1, 2024

The Directive (Matt. 26:26a,27)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/1/2024 12:00 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                       Focus:  “The Directive”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                            Reference:  Matthew 26:26a, 27

 

            Message of the verses:  “And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said “Take, eat;…” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying “Drink from it, all of you;”

 

            It is not really certain what part of the meal they were eating at this time, but the supper was still in progress, and our Lord instituted the new memorial in the midst of the old, as He instituted “The Lord’s Supper.”

 

            The first thing that Jesus did was He took some bread, and as He always did before eating He gave thanks for the food He was about to eat.  See Matthew 14:19 and 15:36 to show Him doing this.  MacArthur describes the following:  “The unleavened bread was baked in large, flat, crisp loaves, which Jesus broke into pieces before He gave it to the disciples with the instructions, “Take, eat.”  The fact that He broke the bread does not symbolize a broken body, because John makes clear that, in fulfillment of prophecy, ‘Not a bone of Him shall be broken”  (John 19:36; cf. Ps. 34:20), just as no bones of the original Passover lambs in Egypt were broken (Ex. 12:46).”

 

            The next thing He did shortly after giving out the bread when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying “Drink from it, all of you.”  MacArthur adds “The verb behind given thanks is eucharisteo, and it is from that term that we get Eucharist, as the Lord’s Supper is sometimes called.”

 

            He goes on to write “As would be expected, all eleven disciples drank of it (Mark 14:23).  It should be noted that the Roman Catholic practice of not allowing the entire congregation to partake of the cup is in direct contradiction of Jesus’ explicit directive, of the disciples’ obedient example, and of Paul’s later teaching (see 1 Cor. 10:16, 21; 11:28).

 

            “Those two acts of Jesus were normal features of the Passover, in which unleavened bread was eaten and diluted wine was drunk at several points during the meal.  This was probably the third cup, called the cup of blessing.  Paul refers to it by that name in his first letter to the Corinthians:  “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ?” (10:16). It is from the King James translation of that verse (“…is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?”) that Communion, another name for the Lord’s Supper, is derived.  A few verses later Paul refers to this cup as “the cup of the Lord” (v. 21).”

 

            I hope that this has been something that will be useful for those who read this and will think about it when The Lord’s Supper is given and you partake in it.

 

5/1/2024 12:26 PM

 

             

 

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