The practice of taking the Lord's supper is one of few rituals found in the Christian church. Although generally agreed upon by the many denominations, there are still two basic forms in which it can take. In most protestant denominations the bread and wine are served separately. The bread tends to be a salt free cracker about the size of a small green pee, and the 'wine' is actually just grape juice. Some churches use red grape juice, others fear the stains that can leave in the carpets so they use white grape juice instead. These two basic elements are served as Jesus did, separately. The bread you can pick up with you fingers, and the juice is poured into thimble sized cups.
Other churches, such as the Catholics have found a more convenient method. They eliminate the need for hundreds of tiny cups by having the saints dip the bread into a cup of 'wine' and eat the two together. Personally I have reservations about performing or taking the communion this way. Here is why.
Leviticus 17:10-14 "And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, I will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the alter to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, 'No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.' Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust; for it is the life of all flesh, its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, 'You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.'
Also see Deut. 12:16, 15:23 and I Sam. 14:32-35.
I think we have forgotten this principle, about the blood representing the life of the creature. Certainly, when our Lord represented his flesh and his blood separately, he was clearly illustrating that he must die. His blood had to be spilt to make atonement for us all, and by having a cup of juice, we are asked to reflect upon this fact. Then we see the bread, which represents his body. Jesus broke the bread to represent how his own body would be broken for us so that we might receive healing.
The Israelites were very clear on this point. You did not eat meat that still had the blood in it. God forbade that practice. So why do some churches dip the bread into the wine? Isn't that like putting the blood back into the flesh and then eating it? Isn't that what these things symbolize? What would that mean? If Jesus did not shed his blood, then he did not atone for our sins and can not save us from the penalty of sin. Or are we making him alive again by putting his life force back into his body and eating the Christ like some sort of cannibal? Either way, isn't this something like blasphemy? Think about it! Pray about it!
Perhaps dealing with a lot of tiny cups isn't such a bad thing.
-Dan.
1 comment:
I can honestly see your point; I too have reservations about certain practices of the Catholic church - as I suspect do many thousands of poeple, what with all of those protestant churches.. ^_~
The ritual is secondary to the Spirit, that said, the ritual IS still important. What is going on in the hearts of those in attendance? I can pray on that..
It has been some time since I participated in communion; and years have passed since my last confession, my second baptism notwithstanding - that was a confession and an uplifting one, my soul was made lighter.
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