1-2-2018

Focus Scriptures Connected To Lord's Supper
John6,63: "The Spirit gives life [and also consecration by faith];

the flesh counts for nothing [the folks who ate manna in desert died but you won't- if you eat Jesus' Spiritual bread].

1Corinthians15,39: "All flesh is not the same... 40 There are also heavenly bodies [Spriritual flesh, the only flesh Jesus has now] and there are earthly bodies..."

Luke22,19: Aramaic Bible in Plain English: "He took bread and he gave thanks, he broke and he gave to them and he said, 'This is my body, which shall be given for the sake of your persons. You shall be doing this to commemorate me.' " [in the future]

Luke22,19: "And he took bread, gave thanks [thanksgiving at the table post resurrection includes a concrete blessing of the physical objects bread and wine, as Paul did in pagan Corinth, 1Corinthians10,16, 'the cup of blessing which we bless.', to distance Christians from fellowshipping with demons 1Corinthians10,20, and to distinquish table of Lord with unclean Corinthian altar-tables as in new covenant supper so extra blessing of physical contents of cup in a pagan place. A blessing by faith is a consecration!].

and broke it [cultic act of sacrifice, just as Abraham, Gn15,17 split animals of His covenantal sacrifice, for God's presence to accept, ie pass through upon acceptance. We break the bread at the table, remembering His Calvary body but not eating His Calvary body, ie we split our Spiritual sacrifice, 1Pt2,5, for God's Spritual presence to pass upon it and into it, to accept it],

and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you [this represents Jesus' physical body soon to be given on Calvary and also more revealingly prophesies His future Spiritual body, which will soon rise. Jesus here at 'last supper' is teaching about the future supper, not physically communicating himself under forms of bread and wine- no need for that yet because he was still living- ie right there with them]:

do this [spiritual sacrifice, 1Peter2,5, the Lord's Supper, in the future, after I rise from the dead] in rememberance of me. In the Hebrew-Aramaic the present tense is also the future tense, a prophetic tense here."

Isaiah52,15: So will he [future tense, messiah of all nations, Jesus, great and last highpriest, after death and resurrection]

"sprinkle [with Spiritual blood! ie cleanse-purify all mankind, and consecrate, complete the blessing, as ordained priests were sprinkled with physical blood in Hebrew ordination, Ex29,21, and were thus actually consecrated, as were cultic temple utensils, sprinkled with oil, ie actually consecrated, Lv8,11 and 30]

many nations..." [there are no limits to the efficacy of faith that calls down the sprinkling-consecration of His Spirit].

Before we synthesize these focus scriptures, please know that Br. Tobin is available to demonstrate this biblical based Lord's Supper, still biblically listing from Roman clerical decrees and the reductionism of Protestant neglect and the distracted, and perhaps sectarian based, conclusion that the bread and wine are mere symbols.

This table of the Lord Meditation turns on the following source which helps reveal what Jesus was doing at the last supper and what Luke22,19 means:

"The Prophetic Perfect: The Implications Of Hebrews lack of a future tense for the interpretation of Prophecy" (http//www.circumcizedheart.info/Prophetic%20perfect.pdf) (Pastor Aubrey Burt and Pastor Paul Herring: Circumcized Heart Biblical Articles based on a Hebraic Mindset).

Most Relevant Excerpt From Pastors Burt and Herring P. 2:

"The Hebrew language almost always presents events as past or present, even when those events are clearly still to occur and even predicted to occur in a long time in the future. This is strikingly clear and unequivocal when these 'events' are divinely inspired prophetic utterances.

Add to this fact that, as Hebrew is such an 'action language', the writer would always translate himself to the time of the event he was describing as if he were there and it was occurring as he/she witnessed it. [footnote 4 quoting Bullinger, 'Figures of Speech" 518 in relevent part reads "This [past tense for future tense] is very common in the divine prophetic utterances where, though the sense is literally future it is regarded and spoken of as though it were already accomplished in the Divine purpose and determination. The figure is to show the absolute certainty of the things spoken of."    

....

Thus great care was sometimes needed to determine if the literal, present tense description of an event [boldness and brackets by ZPM because this is the situation of the last supper] meant that it was either:
1. occurring at the time the writer spoke it or in the very recent past to their making a record of it; or 
2. that it had occurred some day, years or generations in the past, or was to occur some days, years or thousands of years in the future [again brackets and boldness added by ZPM because this is the situation of the last supper].

(See this same analysis of Hebrew language having no future tense and thus using the prophetic perfect, a past tense, or present tense to express prophetic utterances that would surely come true in the future- "Plainer Words Prophecy: Past Or Present Tense" Tom L. Ballinger also quoting Dr. E.W. Bullinger for 27 times in his work "Figures of Speech in the Bible " when the present tense is used for the future. He also explains Robert Young, translator of Young's Literal Bible for the fact that we must know this about the Hebrew language or will will not be able to understand a given prophetic scripture.  http://www.plainerwords.com/artman2/publish/2007/Prophecy_Past_Or_Present_Tense.shtml)

Meditation-Synthesis

Aware that treatment of our beloved Lord's supper sometimes merely reviews denominational chesnuts, here we go with Table of the Lord Meditation n. 42, applying actual faith to the actual WORD regarding the supper in pursuit of a biblical based Lord's Supper celebration.

Jesus was, and still is, the Hebrew prophet par excellence. At the last supper our prophet-new-covenant messiah for all nations is revealing Himself as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and revealing the future covenantal faith act of all His people. (cf israelrevealed.com 'Passover and Easter: When did Wine And Bread Become Bread And Wine." This article helps with the understanding that Jesus is revealing himself at the supper) The Lord's supper was to take place in the future, after he died and rose. This future-ongoing aspect of the supper is ably rendered by the Aramaic Bible in Plain English at Luke22,19: "You shall be doing this to commemorate me." ie you shall be doing a Spiritually sacrificial memorial, not any less important, and likely more important than the all the physical sacrifices, since this one is new and updates them. 

In orther words, His apostles would be carrying out Jesus' command for the supper in the future, in some days, after he died and rose! This has great meaning for our Christian biblical understanding of the Lord's Supper and its biblical revival.

As a Hebrew prophet Jesus spoke at the supper in the prophetic present about the prophetic future. So when he said "This is my body" he wasn't just referring to the bread being his body at that moment, or only to His physical body, soon to be sacrificially given for the many on Calvary, again a prophetic future event, but also His future risen body, with Spiritual blood still in it, the one we all could eat in the future at our Lord's table!

How can we eat his resurrected body at the supper? First off, we can eat his resurrected body much more easily than we ever could eat His physical body and blood which do not exist anymore. That body died once and for all. No denominationalist theology, no repetition of words can recreate, re-present, or in any way bring that physical body, and its physical blood, back to life. That physical body is gone. That blood is gone, the blood that still flows is His Spiritual or risen blood (John19,34 is a vision of his everflowing washing "blood" and everflowing washing Spirit). We read the bible with the bible. At His resurrection He was changed in an instant. 1Co.15,52

Yet His risen body still exists- His post incarnational resurrected body. This body sounds awfully similar to His heavenly pre-incarnational 'lamb slain before the foundation of the world' "body" that existed at a minimum in His-God's saving mind, per Revelation13,8. So if the immolated lambs "Body" and "Blood" was in heaven before his incarnation why can't it be there in risen form in the bread and wine upon the blessing of his universal priesthood which calls it down by their blessing? 

The lamb slain before the foundation of the world in heaven must have had some Spiritual form of "body" and "blood" because in the biblical mindset a lamb iws primarily about a body to sacrifice, and then Passover, and secondarily blood to sprinkle-cleanse-consecrate, and after Jesus rose bodily, blood even one day to drink, ie the cup of salvation (Psalm116,13), after the risen messiah appears to his people!

If our pre-incarnate heavenly lamb Jesus had a Spiritual lamb, Spiritual body-heavenly existance before having a physical human body and physical blood in His incarnation, what's so strange about eating his risen body and risen blood after he sprinkles down his Spirit on the bread and wine of the supper after we invoke this very same blessing from Him as part of our thanksgiving for the supernatural salvation given to us?

This Will Be My Risen Body For You To Eat

Yes His Spiritual body, which has Spiritual blood, still exists as His more than the physical Jesus encounter with the two disciples on their walk to Emmaus. Luke24,36 and 45. At table "He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures." This is the only body and blood that can still be in any way eaten without breaking any bible laws. This was prophesied by Jesus in the prophetic present tense (ancient Hebrew not a having a future tense) regarding the future faith certainty of this prophecy coming true at future Lord's suppers- wherein his risen body would be eaten and his risen blood in that body would be imbibed.

Some followers of the earthly Jesus in John 6, and some early church followers, fell away from Jesus' seemingly physicalistic teaching of the Lord's Supper because as good Jews they were stuck there, as are many good Christians today, stuck on the apparent command to eat his physical body and drink his physical blood. But we know that  the Word  prohibits eating physical meat with physical blood still in it, Genesis9,4 and Leviticus19,26.

John6,63 clears up the stumbling block of eating Jesus' physical body and exposes this old manna thinking, "the Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing." (It is this old manna thinking that still splits up the church today!) We all can eat Jesus' risen flesh, and drink the risen blood within it.

At The Supper We Lift Up The Risen Jesus, Drawing All To Jesus 

John12,32 also adds something to our present meditation on the supper: "If I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself." (John12,32) This is not just about Jesus being nailed to and hoisted on Calvary's cross, not just about evangelistically bringing folks to faithful repentance at the foot of the cross.

It's also about us as His faithful flock,  raising up the good news of Jesus' resurrected and ascended Spiritual body, which reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, raising up the one and only heavenly-Spiritual body that he has at present, 1Cor.15,41,  at the Lord's Supper.

What better place than to lift up the risen body of Jesus in faith than when we lift up the blessed bread and cup- at the supper. Again ancient Hebrew has no future tense, so when Jesus said "This is my body." He also means "this is my future body," His blood bought faith eternal body, the body prepared for Him Hebrews10,5 (God not wanting further blood sacrifices), His ever living ever Spiritual bread-body that still has Spiritual blood in it.

Is this too difficult to imagine- certainly not more difficult than the risen Jesus-lamb slain from foundation of the world- standing at the center of the heavenly throne, Revelation5,6.

Not too difficult because risen lambs have risen food to offer! 

A Blessing Is A Blessing Is A Blessing And A Consecration Too

So if you are new to these meditations you might be asking: what makes the bread and wine his risen body and blood?

Not any repetition of any human or written words.

The bread and wine are His risen body and blood by the responsive blessings of the Resurrected One, His blessings called upon by our blessings of the bread and wine, when the heavenly Jesus, the risen lamb, sprinkles His heavenly consecration-sprinkling upon the bread and wine (cf Ex.29,21; Lv8,11 and 30).

As Jesus' New Testament priesthood, ordained by the baptism in the Holy Spirit, by personal faith, we extend our hands over someone for the Spirit to baptize them, so our extension of our hands, part of our thanksgiving at the supper, calls down his consecration of the bread and wine. 

All True Christians Can Extend Their Hands In Blessing AT His Supper

No New Testament leader ever said in the bible "Oh I have to get back to Corinth or Ephesus or Thessalonica or somewhere else because only some one of my official stature can bless the bread and cup." But we do know that Paul said that the entire Corinthian congregation blessed the cup of salvation: "the cup of blessing which we bless." 1Cor.10,16. 

This priestly extension of our hands is part of our "giving thanks" at the supper. Some bibles do avoid the word "blessing" or anything of the sort, even at 1Corinthians10,16 (such as very popular NIV) which is clearly referring to the blessing of the contents of the cup. Jesus blesses the bread at Matthew26,26.

Luke9,16 speaks of Jesus blessing both the loaves and fishes, which plausibly makes our blessings of wine and bread at the table- if done with personal faith- if not "miraculous", at least consecratory, unto communion with the risen Jesus himself, ie the risen blood-Spirit of Jesus Himself and risen bread-body of Jesus (1Corinthians10,16).

Mark8,7 also speaks of the fish being actually blessed (see Strong's 2127 And Thayer's Greek English Concordance) 

Apparently, and undestandably, given the totally unbiblical Greek philosophical notion of transubstantiation, many reformist and Protestant Christians want to avoid any appearance of a Roman liturgy or theology. But any such appearance is avoided, by merely biblical reckoning with biblical reason itself- as soon as we realize and agree that the supper is a "spiritual sacrifice" (1Peter2,5) the idea that any such blessing language (1Corinthians10,16 the latest word of the supper) is too cultic or too physicalistic needs to fall by the wayside. Yes fall by the wayside, as an understandable historical over-reaction against Romanism and its ongoing counter reform dogmas when in fact 1Peter2,5 and 9 says we are all priests!  And as New Testament priests, as he was, Jesus commanded us to celebrate the Lord's Supper (sounds sort of Spiritually priestly-cultic to me) ie "Do this in memory of me." ie Do this Spiritually sacrificial memorial to him, as our priestly Spiritual sacrificial service just as Paul's priestly(!) Spiritually sacrificial service was to preach the gospel to the gentiles." (Acts15,16)

This thanksgiving, these outstretched hands actually blessing, is done by all those in His Temple, His house (2Corinthians6,16), His new priesthood, all the faithful.

We also offer the bread and wine to the risen Jesus, in His Temple, lifting it up in His house, and then we extend our hands over the bread and wine, asking Him to bless the risen food that we "share" with Him. But it is more accurate to say He shares with us, at His table, in His temple, his house, his community.

Amen, praise His Holy Name.

Our Spiritual blessing meets his Spiritual blessing, our blessing meets his Spiritual consecration and thus they mere bread and wine are now real food real drink from His table(1Cor.10,3).

If you would like this biblically based understanding of the Lord's supper taught and demonstrated and celebrated at your church, please free to contact us today at 2032009177.