linda sue

On the night of the passover, Jesus washed His disciples feet. There was a meaning in this for all of us. He says our bodies are clean, but our feet get dirty. What does this mean? We are saved, period! But we continue to sin. Jesus says we need to be cleansed before we can fellowship with Him. I think that is why He washed His disciples feet before instituting the Lord's Supper. We need to be prepared to fellowship (repent and be forgiven of known sin) before we eat and drink of the body and blood.

Again I would have to say that the animal was a symbol of the true sacrifice that was to come. Only the sacrifice provided by God would be able to satisfy the sin debt. This was made clear with Abraham and Isaac. When God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, he said that God would provide the sacrifice. Every Isrealite knew that the animals were sysmbols of the true sacrifice to come. God's grace and mercy was shown to His people when they, like we, believed what God said, and followed His commands. You need to read Hebrews to see what God saw in the Old Testament Saints. It was Faith. Not the animals, but faith in God and what the animals represented.

Why does christianity insist on a physical birth (Virgin Birth- meaning he was the Son of God), physical suffering, and a resurrection of the physical body? Because God said so. The resurrection of the physical body was the one thing that christianity is dependant upon. Without it Paul says we are to be pitied. Jesus was the first fruits of many. Jesus is alive and He lives forever. If Jesus's body hadn't been resurrected then He is still dead and I don't have any hope. God says faith comes by hearing, hearing the word of God. Jesus said He came to show us the Father. I can only assume that without Jesus coming and showing us the Father in His earthly ministry, we would not have the ability to receive salvation by faith. Remeber, you can only please the Father through faith.

Can I explain sin-bearing? I think not! I take some things by faith. We do need to start talking about faith at some point in this study. I choose to do so now. God the Father said He had to be born of a woman, under the law, live a sinless life and then obey Him even to the point of death, even death on the cross. The things that were the hardest for Jesus to do, He obediently did, that is what pleased the Father! It takes faith for me to understand all this. Transfering of sin, that is a God thing and I know that He bore my sin in His physical body on the cross, but how is not as important to me as the fact that He is my Redemer, and I know He lives, because He lives in me. So long as I am in Christ and He is in me, the wrath of a Holy and Just God, again a sinner such a myself, is satisfied.

If you are asking if I shared in the sacrifice of the cross, I would have to say yes. I contributed my sins to Jesus as He hung there nailed and bleeding to the tree. How does that affect me? It makes me realize that He did it for me. It is because He was God. How does it change my understanding of the Lord's Supper? The Lord's Supper is a constant reminder of how sinful and how far from God that I was.

I think we have to remember that the Old Testament is a picture of what is to come in the New Testament. It makes sense when you think about it. The sacrifices speek of Jesus Christ. When the Priest ate the sacrifice, he was taking Jesus into himself. It was a picture of the filling of the believer with the Holy Spirit. Becoming one with God. In Colossians 1:27 it speeks of the mystery "Christ in you, the hope of Glory". How do believers participate with Christ's sacrifice? What used to be looked forward to by the nation of Isreal in the Old Testament, we now looked back onto in the Lord's Supper. That sacrifice that gives us the meaning and assurance "Christ in you, the hope of Glory". John 14:20 "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." We are right in the middle of the Father and Jesus. Isn't that something! Tucked in safe and sound. There is now complete unity. That is what the cross brought about. That is what we now share. Complete peace with God. We must always remember the price that was paid for this wonderful gift.

What does koinonia mean? I would think that how it is used here is probably the same way that Jesus uses the the words in Rev 3:20. "If anyone hears my voice and ipens the door, I will come in and eat with hime, and he with me." It wasn't the food per say, but the intimate relationships and the representation of the food, that is important. Mealtime in old testament and new testament times was very meaningful. Not like our drive thru society. Mealtime was where they built relationships. Jesus is wanting us to share this ONE cup of His blood with our brothers and sisters. In doing so it units us to one another, to God the Father through His gift, to Jesus through His Suffering. What does it mean to "share" in the blood of Christ? This is something that every christian must do as God wills it. It is not my life but Christ who lives in me. If I suffer for Christ's sake then it is God's will and I have "shared" in the blood of Christ for real! If I take the Cup of the Lord's Supper and realize that I am willing to "share" in His suffering, then I am offering my body as a sacrifice to God, for Him to use as He wills it.

Satan is behind all pagan worship, which explains why Paul called it the cup of demons. When the pagans worshiped they would eat and drink to their gods. The Corinthian Church had alot of pagan converts. Some of the church members were probably taking part in The Lord's Supper while also eating and drinking with the pagans that they knew (ie family and friends), during thier pagan worship. Without instrustion, the Corinthians may not have seen any harm in what they were doing. The danger to them ways that over time they could have been pulled back into their former way of life. It is very easy for Satan to temp new Christians. He likes to use things that are familar to them, like friends and family. I would like to say that a true christian cannot fall into temptation like this, but that is not the case. What is true is that when it does happen, a true Christian will not stay there.

Yes, as Christians, we are making a statement when we accept the Lord's Supper. To whom is the proclamation made? To God the Father, for the gift of His only Son, as our Redemer. Why is this important? This was the ultimate gift, worthy of recognition till Jesus comes to take us to Heaven and present us, without blemish or spot, before the Father. What happens to the church when its proclamation shifts to a different central theme? The gift looses its value. The church becomes weak. The spirit of the church can die.

The Church, as a whole must alway have Jesus as the center of it's being. Thier first love. Jesus also gives us two examples to follow. One is baptizim. The second is the Lord's Supper. The first identifies us with the body of Christ, the second keeps us unified with the body. Jesus knew that His followers would struggle with unity, that is why I believe it is so important that we remember the high price He paid for us. We are not our own, we are bought at a price. We are now slaves of Jesus Christ and He asks us to remember His death when the church body is together. He didn't tell us how often, that is up to us to decide in faith. But remember it we do. If the Church misuses the Lord's Supper, it suffers. Fights, divisions, people leaving, you name it. Unity will always suffer. Personally I remember He death often. I don't write in my bible much, but I have underlined one scripture in Isaiah 53:11 After the suffer of His soul... We remember the suffer of His body in the Lord's Supper, but He also suffered in His soul. That is something is am not able to comprehend. If I did not remember the Lord's death, I would drift. Church would not be a priority. God would not be my main focus. Praying would not be important. The world would look very inviting again!

The original Passover Meal was a picture of Christ's Death. The lamb was slain, the blood was put on the door post, and the lamb was eaten. It was a pre Lord's Supper. It was to be repeated so that every Jew would remember thier deliverance from Egypt. What was to be remembered was that God, through the death of a lamb, had passed over thier houses that had blood on the door posts. In alot of ways I think the Passover Meal had just become a ritual to most jews. When the real lamb of God came they did not know Him!

We used to take the Lord's Supper every week in the Church that I grew up in. Then it was just one more item on a list of things that you did in worship service. Now in the Church that I attend, it is only served twice a year. This may seem disrespectfull to some, but when I do take the Lord's Supper, it is the focus of our intire worship service. We also come with that same deep desire to share the Supper that Jesus said He had. I think we should always have that hunger for the Supper in our spirit for the bread and the wine, before be partake of the spiritual food, otherwise it is only a ritual.

That Jesus gave His disciples the bread and the wine, just as He gave His body and His blood. It could never be taken. It was given. When I receive the bread and the wine, I remember not only the sacrifice, but also how He freely gave it.

I use the NIV translation. In Matthew 26:28, it says "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Poured and forgiveness are the action verbs and they both refer to the blood. Only with the shedding of blood is there forgiveness of sins, hence the atonement.

I don't think Jesus intended for us to take the symbols literally in themselves, but I do think He wanted us to have a strong link between the symbols and His suffering. When I take the Bread, I visualize Him broken for me personally. When I take the cup, I visualize the blood shed on the cross for me. It is very personal. This is a rememberence evoked by the symbols. Symbols represents real things. If we see only symbols and don't make the connections, we miss the purpose of the Lord's Supper.