The Lord's Supper - A Feast of Charity

The Lord's Supper

A Feast of Charity

 

Introduction

Knowledge of the observance, beliefs, and terminology of the Passover Seder, provides an integral foundational piece of understanding in the establishment of the Lord's supper. This lesson incorporates that knowledge along with understanding gained from other previous lessons in these Fulfillment Studies. Furthermore, light will be shed on the historical accounts that defined and shaped the observance of the Lord's supper in the first century.

The Transfer of Partakers

Recall from "Times and Seasons", how the feasts and holy called out assemblies were the Lord's and were only considered not to be the Lord's when the people held them their own way; in sin.

Leviticus 23:2 KJV - "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts."

Followers of Judaism continue to observe the ordinances of the Feast of Passover without recognizing Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the post meal unleavened bread and third cup.

Isaiah 1:14 KJV - "Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them."

As they wait for a messiah to come, their lack of faith has led them to continue observing this feast of the Lord in their own way; without understanding that it has since ceased to be accepted by God. 

​After Jesus shed his blood on the cross, died and rose, everyone who had faith in him was called and permitted to partake in his fellowship feast. Jesus took the entire middle section of the Passover Seder and gave it to those who would observe it according to its fulfilled symbolic meaning and purpose.

1 Corinthians 1:9 KJV - "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord."

1 Corinthians 5:8 KJV - "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

In order for strangers and sojourners to partake in the Feast of Passover males were required to first be circumcised. 

Exodus 12:48 KJV - "And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. "

The physical requirement to become a partaker of the Lord’s feasts through circumcision of the flesh was spiritually fulfilled by having a circumcised heart. Circumcision of the heart comes by having the same faith as Abraham: who believed in God's redemptive plan, his own need for a saviour, and a desire for God's grace to lead him. 

​Romans 4:11-12 KJV - "11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: 12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised."

Having faith in Jesus Christ gives believers a circumcised heart that permits them to participate.

Romans 2:28-29 KJV - "28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."​

Philippians 3:3 KJV - "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."

Colossians 2:11 KJV - "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:"

The Transfer of the Meal

During Christ’s last supper, Jesus told his disciples to continue this fellowship meal with the breaking of bread, and the drinking of the cup of blessing in remembrance of his atoning death on the cross.

1 Corinthians 11:24-25 KJV - "24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." (See also: Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20)

The meal, unleavened bread, and cup of blessing from the Feast of Passover (the Lord's feast) are referred to in the New Testament as the feast and the Lord's supper.

The word "feast" in 1st Corinthians 5:8 is defined as follows:

• Strong's Greek 1858 - ἑορτάζω hĕŏrtazō; from 1859; to observe a festival:—keep the feast

The word "supper" is defined as follows:

• Strong's Greek 1173 - δεῖπνον děipnǒn; from the same as 1160; dinner, i.e. the chief meal (usually in the evening):—feast, supper

1 Corinthians 5:8 KJV - "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

(feast G1858)

1 Corinthians 11:20 KJV - "When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper."

(supper G1173)

Paul encourages faithful believers to keep the feast; describing to the church that the supper (feast) consists of a communal meal, unleavened bread, and cup of blessing.

1 Corinthians 10:16 KJV - "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?"

1 Corinthians 11:25 KJV - "After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."

1 Corinthians 11:21, 33 KJV - "21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. ... 33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another."

​

A Feast of Charity

The Lord's supper was also known as a feast of charity.

Feasts of charity have been historically called agape feasts and love feasts. Since food was not permitted in the temples, these feasts took place from house to house.

Acts 2:46 KJV - "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,"

The expression, "feasts of charity", was more commonly used once the church became public and had commercial facilities to use. The feasts of charity were intended to honor and glorify God, remember Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice, and to embrace unity through a loving fellowship meal.

Jude 1:12 KJV - "These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;"

Thayer's Greek Lexicon (agapē): "agapae, love-feasts, feasts expressing and fostering mutual love which used to be held by Christians before the celebration of the Lord's supper, and at which the poorer Christians mingled with the wealthier and partook in common with the rest of food provided at the expense of the wealthy: Jude 12”

Spots in the Feast

Followers of the Passover feast were not alone in giving God a reason to call them "your feasts". Paul and Jude both rebuked the fellowship meals that were infused with sin.

Jude 1:12 KJV - "These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;"

The church at Corinth was supposed to be partaking in the Lord’s supper, though they were not observing it the way God ordained. People were arriving and not waiting for others. They had homes of their own in which they could have done just that. The poor were not getting food and many were becoming sick and dying. He tells them to wait for one another when they come together to eat and if they are hungry, that is famished (G3983), they needed to eat at home before coming together. It is better to nibble at the Lord's supper with charity than to gorge in sin.

Strong's Geek 3983 - πεινάω pĕinaō; from the same as 3993 (through the idea of pinching toil; "pine"); to famish (absolutely or comparatively); figuratively, to crave

1 Corinthians 11:20-22 KJV - "20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. 21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not."

1 Corinthians 11:33-34 KJV - "33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. 34 And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come."

The church of Corinth was reminded of the supper's purpose and the consequences for not observing it's symbolisms with the right spirit.

1 Corinthians 11:26-27 KJV - "26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord."

Believers were instructed to first ensure they were partaking of the Lord's supper with a genuine clean conscience.

They were to "examine" (G1381) themselves.

"examine" is equivalent to "search" (H2713) and "try" (H974) in

Psalm 139:23-24.

• Strong's Hebrew 2713 - חָקַר châqar; a primitive root; properly, to penetrate; hence, to examine intimately

• Strong's Hebrew 974 - בָּחַן bâchan; a primitive root; to test (especially metals); generally and figuratively, to investigate:—examine, prove, tempt, try (trial)

1 Corinthians 11:28 KJV - "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup."

Thayer's Greek Lexicon (dŏkimazō): "to test, examine, prove, scrutinize (to see whether a thing be genuine or not), as metals"

Psalm 139:23-24 KJV - "23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

This was not to come together to spend a length of time in mourning, as if it were a weekly scheduled funeral service; confessing all ones sins and making declarations to do better. The apostles taught a daily confessed and yielded life of continual prayer. 

Romans 12:12 KJV - "Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;"

Ephesians 6:18 KJV - "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"

Colossians 4:2 KJV - "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;"

1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV - "Pray without ceasing."

The apostles themselves held to three scheduled times of prayer daily; at the third, sixth, and ninth hour of the day. This allowed for plenty of opportunities for people to cleanse their conscience.

Acts 1:14, 2:15 KJV - "1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren...2:15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day."

Acts 10:9 KJV - "On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:"

Acts 3:1 KJV - "Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour." (see also Acts 10:30)

Historically, before partaking in the Lord’s supper, one would test the spirit they had in that moment and seek, through humble self-examination, whether they had any unknown, forgotten, or disregard of sin before God.

Those who kept Passover humbly recalled the sorrowful slavery and rejoiced with praise and much gladness for their redemption.  In the same manner, the Lord’s supper was a bitter sweet remembrance of Christ’s death on the cross, along with a celebratory rejoicing in God for redemption from the slavery of sin; and typically concluded with songs of praise and thanksgiving.

Fellowship & Unity

Communion was originally not something that was taken, but rather an action and mindset that unified things that were individual.

1 Corinthians 10:16 KJV - "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?"

1 Corinthians 1:9 KJV - "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord."

Both "communion" in 1st Corinthians 10:16 and "fellowship" in 1st Corinthians 1:9 are the same Greek word "koinonia".

Strong's Greek 2842 - κοινωνία kŏinōnia; from 2844; partnership, i.e. (literally) participation, or (social) intercourse, or (pecuniary) benefaction

Thayer's Greek Lexicon (kŏinōnia) - " fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse; in the N. T. as in classical Greek 1. the share which one has in anything, participation; with the genitive of the thing in which he shares”

When Paul uses the words, "the communion", he is saying, is not this the partnership of the blood/body of Christ? A genuine partaker has the mind of Christ; whereas someone who is disingenuous has the mind of devils.

1 Corinthians 10:21 KJV - "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils."

Matthew 18:20 KJV - "For where two or three are gathered together in my name (ŏnōma), there am I in the midst of them."

Thayer's Greek Lexicon (ŏnōma) – “is used of those who come together to deliberate concerning any matter relating to Christ’s cause…with the mind directed unto, having regard unto, his name, [Matthew 18:20]”

God's people are to always partake in exemplifying the death of Christ in their own lives that they may make manifest the Spirit and life of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:10 KJV - "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body."

Understanding the purpose of the feasts, as well as, the history and relationship between convocation and church, will also help in understanding that the Lord's supper may be observed with as little as two people who come together in Christ's name.

Following a shared meal, partaking of the one bread and one cup demonstrated unity and strengthened the bond between believers and God.

1 Corinthians 10:17 KJV - "For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread."

Romans 12:5 KJV - "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another."

1 Corinthians 12:12 KJV - "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ."

View Additional Scriptural Note

Psalm 133:1 KJV - "[A Song of degrees of David.] Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"

Ephesians 4:3 KJV - "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Extinction

Further abuse of this practice caused the feast to be divided into two separately held observances; the meal and the "eucharist" or "communion". Eventually the feast's meal faded out altogether.