We have learned that the clearest title given
to this celebration event in the Church is The Lord's Table. And the casual observer would see very
clearly that there are a couple of things that gain prominence at this event:
bread and wine. What does the Bible say
about these things we call elements?
Matthew's account reads this way: “Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and
after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat;
this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to
them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not
drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with
you in my Father’s kingdom.”” (Matthew 26:26–29, ESV)
These two clear symbols are identified by Paul: “For as often as you eat this bread
and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:26, ESV)
The Bread
The
order, except as recorded in 1 Corinthians 10:16f is the Bread and then the Cup. The original language provides no assistance
in ascertaining what type of bread was used by Jesus. The Greek word used to
identify the bread distributed by Christ at the Last Supper is artos (Matthew
26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24), which is the
general word for any kind of
bread. The only way to even try to
affirm whether the bread was ordinary bread or unleavened bread is to somehow
identify exactly what day Jesus ate this meal we call The Last Supper.
The Gospel of John explicitly identified the day of
preparation as the day of Jesus' execution (John 19:14 ,John
19:14,19:31 ,John 19:31,19:42 ) and placed the Last Supper before
Passover (John 13:1 ). The Synoptic Gospels, however, dated the Last
Supper on the day of Passover (Matthew 26:1 : 17; Mark
14:12; Luke 22:7 ). Now, this controversy is evident throughout theological papers. I am
attempting to write this article on the assumption that we only have the Bible
as our source. Two presumptions that are
essential to understanding Scripture are: (a) All Scripture is unified and
harmonious; and (b) the plain understanding of Scripture serves the reader
best.
If these presumptions are true, the body of evidence
suggests that the meal Jesus ate with His disciples in the Upper Room was the
Passover. Paul certainly thought Jesus’
death referred to the Jewish Passover (“Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are
unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7, ESV)). [1]
Andreas
J. Köstenberger has produced a scholarly work in order to support the
reality that the Last Supper was the Passover meal. But the weight of Biblical evidence also supports this reality. Thus the position
I take is to affirm that this was the Passover and therefore the bread would
have been unleavened. “And on the fifteenth day of the same
month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord;
for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have
a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. But you shall present a
food offering to the Lord for
seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any
ordinary work.”” (Leviticus
23:6–8, ESV; cf also: Exodus 13:3ff)
When the Bible uses “leaven” in a negative way it is referring to a lack of corruption (Matthew
16:6). Paul twice says that “a little leaven leavens the whole batch of
dough” (1 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9). Unleavened bread then would imply
sinlessness. Even as the Paschal lamb
was necessarily without spot, so too the bread represents sinlessness, which
can only point to One Person.
So, in conclusion,
the bread was very probably unleavened bread, served in the Passover meal,
representing purity before God.
Previous Blogs:
[1] “In Jewish reckoning, a new day began at nightfall, so
Wednesday nightfall to Thursday nightfall (Nisan 14) was the day of preparation
for the Passover meal. The Passover meal itself— including roasted lamb, bitter
herbs, unleavened bread, fruit sauce, and four cups of wine— would have been
shared after sundown that evening, Nisan 15 (Thursday nightfall to Friday
nightfall). 1 In the original Passover, the blood of the lambs had been applied
to the homes of the Israelites in Egypt to protect them from the outpouring of
God’s judgment upon the Egyptians (Ex. 12: 7, 12– 13, 22– 28).” - Köstenberger,
Andreas J.; Taylor, Justin (2014-01-31). The Final Days of Jesus: The Most
Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived (Kindle Locations 631-636).
Crossway. Kindle Edition.
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