St_Felicity invited me over here because he said our discussion on the Eucharist was hijacking the other thread. So I’ll continue with the discussion over here:
JimB:
STONE SAID - Paul is not necessarily being literal here. In fact I do not believe he is being literal.
Dear Stone, How much more literal can Paul be?
Only as “literal” as the context in which it was said. Just previously Paul stated: “…and all were baptized (identified) into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same SPIRITUAL food; and all drank the same SPIRITUAL drink, for they were drinking from a SPIRITUAL rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ (Messiah)” (1 Cor. 10:2-4). There was a SPIRITUAL significance behind the manna, the water and the rock, and their participation in them. They all pointed to the Messiah who was yet to come.
Now in verse sixteen, in the same manner, our blessing is SPIRITUAL when we partake of the communion bread and drink the communion wine. As the manna, the water and the rock spiritually looked forward to the Messiah, so the bread and wine spiritually look back, in humble, appreciative “remembrance” to the cross and the sacrificial death of Messiah. The context does not at all require a literal meaning, i.e., that Paul was stating that in some mystical way the bread and wine “transubstantiate.”
The following is just something for you to consider:
The Last Supper was celebrated in anticipation of the sacrifice of Jesus that would occur the following day. In the sacrificial “peace-offering” of the O.T. a portion of the food was eaten by both priest and people (Lev. 3:1-11; 19:5-6; 1 Sam. 9:13). In that way they shared in (identified with) the sacrifice. When Jesus said to the disciples in the upper room, “Take eat, this is My body…” symbolically they too (like the people in the O.T.) were sharing in (identifying in) the ultimate peace-offering that was about to occur the following day. We symbolically share in and identify in the same Sacrifice today when we participate in Communion. And for this reason Paul says, “Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ” (1 Cor. 10:16)? He is not at all stating that the bread literally becomes the body of Christ, but like in the O.T. we share (identify) with Christ’s sacrifice offered on our behalf when we break and eat the bread (1 Cor. 10:18). For this reason Paul says that those who eat and drink in an unworthy manner are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, which the bread and wine symbolize (1 Cor. 11:27).
Jesus said, “
This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood.” In the O.T. when a covenant was inaugurated it was done with a meal - shared by those with whom the covenant was made. For instance, the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai (Mosaic) was followed by a meal (Ex. 24:9-11). When Jesus said "
This is the cup of the New Covenant in My blood" (
note: He didn’t say “this is my blood”), He essentially made the Last Supper into a “covenant meal,” as well. Hence, the New Covenant was
ratified by Jesus in a meal at the Last Supper - the New Covenant, however, was actually
inaugurated at the cross. It is this “cup of the New Covenant in His blood” that we identify with when we participate in Communion.
Because it is the “CUP of the New Covenant” and His “body which is given,” it is important that the participants share in both bread and wine. They symbolize two different aspects of what was accomplished on the cross: (1) The ultimate peace offering made with God on our behalf and (2) the New Covenant inaugurated in His blood.
And He says, “do this in remembrance of Me.”
1)They left because they knew he meant what he said
Hmmmmmm.
