The Eucharist, though never intended as a mystery, has been mystified,
paganized, and exploited almost since the shift in Christianity from Jewish to
gentile leadership. If these violations had been done only in antiquity this
subject would be no more than an interesting historic sidebar however in the
modern church the communion is still shrouded in superstition and lack of understanding.
If we desire to understand what was truly given by Yeshua to his disciples it
is required that we first suspend our assumptions of traditional understanding.
We must strip back the building of the church to the foundation of Messiah and
ensure that what is built on that foundation will be of a substance that is purified
by fire and not consumed.
The question begs to be asked who am I to challenge almost
two thousand years of church tradition and teachings; what qualifications can I
present making me able to argue with the theologians who have divested that
which the church believes. The answers to these reasonable questions are I am
of no significance or importance and my qualifications are less impressive. I
am simply a believer in the covenant and finished work of YHWH through Yeshua
and as such the same Spirit that lived and resurrected Messiah lives and resurrects
me in Him. It is that same Spirit that places on my heart to speak on these
things and that same Spirit abiding in the brethren will lead and teach if I
fumble forth.
Before we discuss what communion is let us suspend what we
assume it is…
•it is neither physical nor spiritual cannibalism connecting
us to the divine
•it is not a talisman to cure or bless our living
•it is not a curse of woe upon those who do not understand
its purpose
•it is not a means to be delivered or cured
Yeshua is without question a great teacher and as a great teacher his lessons are delivered with an understanding of his audience and their perception of His meaning. It is this reason that should lead us to see that our communion is and always has been a fulfilment of the feast of Passover just as Yeshua is our Passover lamb.
That which is given in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, John
13, and 1 Corinthians 11 if not anchored in Exodus 12 cannot be understood.
Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the
disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for
thee to eat the passover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say
unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy
house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and
they made ready the passover. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the
twelve.
And as they did eat,
he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were
exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it
I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the
same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe
unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man
if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said,
Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.
And as they were
eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the
disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave
thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood
of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I
say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that
day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out
into the mount of Olives. Matthew 26: 17-30
To the gentiles of the first century the communion tradition
of the church seemed similar to the pagan right by which worshipers of false
Gods thought that food, drink, or even animal blood and flesh could be
transformed into the flesh and blood of their gods. It was thought that if this
mystically transformed body and blood was consumed then the spirit of the
individual would be joined to and empowered by the spirit of their god. As the
decades passed and the church became more and more gentile than Jewish the familiarity
of the pagan had influence over the way the communion was taught and received.
The men Yeshua was speaking to on that day were brought up
in the golden age of Judaism. The Maccabean revolt had purged the nemesis of
idol worship and desire to be as other nations from the heart of Israel. The
corrupt nature of Adam did without question keep the nation from ever realizing
a true purity of the teachings given through Moses and yet it was the pinnacle
of what man without the Spirit of God abiding within could accomplish. It was
this fertile separatist desire for pure truth of YHWH’s ways that prepared
Israel for the birth of Yeshua.
All of this I have said is to establish in our mind that the
commencement of communion was not in any way taken from paganism but was instead
established and designed to teach the fulfillment of the truth of Passover. In the Hollywood movie Karate Kid the wise
teacher has his martial arts student wax his car and paint his fence in a very particular
way. The student obeys grudgingly until he just can’t take it anymore and
confronts his teacher; at which time it is revealed that what seemed unrelated
was a preparation for what was desired all along. This comparison is silly when
speaking of YHWH’s revelation but we must have a point of consideration if our
true understanding is to overtake our assumed perception.
Yeshua was teaching us and those with Him that destined
night that it was his death and applied blood that was our deliverance from
death; and moreover that our sustenance must come from a total consuming of who
He is making us who we shall be. The ordinance given through Moses means little
more than a shiny car or a pretty fence without Yeshua. Yeshua separated from
the witness of Moses is little more than a way to solve our own self-indulgent perceived
problems.
It was not very long ago that I witnessed several teachings
encouraging people to take communion every day; with the promise that such a regimen
would bring the blessings of god on your life in various ways. Passover and thereby
the ministry of Messiah is not an incantation or ritual that brings favor but
instead an understanding of faith filled dependence and trust that changes us
at our core being. We are not doing a thing but becoming one with His life and
we shall find that His life brings us into all that is within Him.
