The Lord's Supper
Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:15-20
This sacred ordinance was instituted by Christ as a memorial of his sacrificial death:
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and break 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. (Matthew 26:26-29)
J. Dwight Pentecost, writing on the Lord's Supper, states:
Bread and wine were significant parts of the Passover meal. Bread was used throughout the Old Testament as a symbol of God's provision for His people. Wine was used throughout the Old Testament as a symbol of the joy that would be the experience of those in Messiah's kingdom... It came as no surprise to the disciples that Christ used bread in the observance of the meal and that He passed the cup from which all drank. But now Christ departed from the normal use of these elements at the Passover feast. He gave a new significance to the bread and wine.
That new significance was his body and blood which he was to give for the life of the world. This had to be perfectly fulfilled according to the scriptural principles laid down in the feast of the Passover, which was a type of the Lord's Supper.
Although in the Old Testament accounts of the Passover nothing is mentioned concerning wine, we know that Jesus' attachment of something new and special to this traditional practice had to be Scripturally based.
When we examine the Old Testament references of the Passover, we learn that it was impossible that the wine used by Jesus at the Lord's Supper could have been fermented or alcoholic. The events of the Passover are mainly covered in Exodus Chapter 12-13, so we will only quote the text that are relevant to our study. Concerning the feast of the Passover, we read
Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. Exodus 13:6-7
This text is very interesting and important, because the translation does not fully bring out the meaning of the text. The Hebrew word translated " leavened" in verse 7, (written chomits, chamets, Hamets, or khahmats in the Hebrew) conveys the idea of fermentation. Young's Analytical Concordance renders this word, "anything leavened or fermented." Young's Literal Translation of the above text reads:
Seven days thou dost eat unleavened things, and in the seventh day is a feast to Jehovah; unleavened things are eaten the seven days, and anything fermented is not seen with thee; yea, leaven is not seen with thee in all thy border. (Exodus 13:6, 7)
Today's Dictionary of the Bible, also gives an excellent translation of Exodus 13:7:
In Exodus 13:7, the proper rendering would be, "unfermented things [Hebrew matstsoth] shall be consumed during the seven days; and there shall not be seen with thee fermented things [hamets], and there shall not be seen with thee leavened mass [seor] in all thy boarders."
The punishment for disobeying this commandment was severe:
And this day has become to you a memorial, and ye have kept it a feast to Jehovah to your generations;-a statute age-during: ye keep it a feast. Seven days ye eat unleavened things; only-in the first day ye cause the leavened to cease out of your houses; for anyone eating anything fermented from the first day till the seventh day, even that person has been cut off from Israel. (Exodus 12:14, 15, Young's Literal Translation)
What we learn here is that not only was leavened bread prohibited at the Passover, but any other thing, which was fermented. Since God permitted no fermented things at the Passover, the wine drank at the feast could not have been alcoholic. In respect to the command that in all offerings to God, no leaven was permitted among the Jews, and to the Hebrew word often translated ”leaven” (chomits, chamets, hamets or, khahmats), Professor Moses Stuart states:
The great mass of the Jews have ever understood this prohibition as extending to fermented wine, or strong drink, as well as bread. The word is essentially the same which designates the fermentation of bread and that of liquors.
The Jews did indeed understand very well this fact the Rev. B. Parsons explains:
As for the wine drunk at the Passover, we have the best proof that it was not fermented. The word chomits, in Hebrew, signifies "leavened," "vinegar," and every kind of fermentation. It refers alike to the panary, the vinous, and acetous fermentation, and where it stands for an evil doer, designated "vir corruptus," or a corrupt man, stands for the putrefactive fermentation. Now, the Jews at the Passover were commanded to have no leaven in their houses; and they, from that day to this, understood the term to refer just as much to fermented liquors as to fermented bread, and therefore at the Passover were exceedingly careful that no fermented wines should be among them.
If we now turn our attention to looking more fully at the symbols attached to the Lord's Supper, we will gain a greater understanding of the purpose of the Passover, and also of the Holiness and Purity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God.
The Passover Lamb was a type of Christ, which Jesus perfected by giving his body and shedding his innocent blood for the sins of the world. In the Passover account we read of the instructions concerning the Lamb that a segment of the most significant requirements regarding it:
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Exodus 12:5-8
Jesus Christ therefore was the Lamb without blemish:
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29
The unleavened bread was a symbol of Christ's body which did not undergo corruption:
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Psalms 16:10
This truth is also repeated by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2: 27, 31 and the apostle Paul in Acts 13:34-36.
The wine was a symbol of Christ's life-giving blood which cleanses from sin:
Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
In the book of Corinthians the apostle Paul links the symbolic meaning of the Passover to Christ:
1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 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.
This text is loaded with symbolic truths. The command to the Jews in the Old Testament to remove all leaven or fermented things from their houses was symbolic of evil, which the believer should remove from his life. Also, eating the unleavened bread and drinking the unfermented wine represented the absolute sinlessness and Purity of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul makes it clear that everything about Passover found its total fulfillment in Christ, by stating that Christ is our Passover.
Concerning the unleavened bread that the children of Israel were to eat with the roasted lamb on the Passover night, as recorded in Exodus 12:8, Keil and Delitzsch’s Old Testament Commentary explains the significance:
They were to eat... pure loaves, not fermented with leaven; for leaven which sets the dough in fermentation, and so produces impurity, was a natural symbol of moral corruption, and was excluded from the sacrifices therefore as defiling.
Just as the bread had to be unleavened (free from fermentation or corruption), so did the wine have to be unfermented (free from contamination), in order to correctly fit the Biblical picture or symbol of the memorial of the Spotless Son of God
Concerning this, Wilhelm Gesenius, who was a professor of Theology at the University of Halle (1786-1842), an expert in the Hebrew language and customs, wrote:
Leaven applied to the wine as really to the bread.
The Rev. B. Parsons again explains how the Jews prepared their wine for the Passover. He states:
At the present day, the Jews are especially careful in preparing their wine for the Passover, and make it by pouring water upon dry grapes or raisins, much in the same manner that Columella prescribes for making the wine which the Romans called "Passum," and which, Polybius says, females were allowed to drink because it would not intoxicate, and was used to quench thirst.
When Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, he merely gave a new meaning to the Passover:
Luke 22:15-18 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Jesus did not depart from the Old Testament principles of this ordinance, and therefore did not use alcoholic wine. RB Green God explains call
It was in fact, the feast of the Passover that our Lord and his disciples were then in the act of celebrating; and Jesus knowing that this Jewish ceremony having in its typical and only real use, accomplished in the shedding of his own blood, but this opportunity of instituting his own Eucharistical Festival in its stead; and it is certain, we have no account of any other kind of wine being introduced, than what was usually drunk at the celebration of the Passover.
Patton quotes the Rev. A. P. Peabody, D.D., writing on the Lord's Supper, as stating:
The writer has satisfied himself, by careful research, that in our Savior’s time the Jews, at least the high ritualists among them, extended the prohibition of leaven to the principle of fermentation in every form; and that it was customary, at the Passover Festival, for the master of the household to press the contents of ‘the cup’ from clusters of grapes preserved for the special purpose.
The principle of pressing the grapes into the cup is also noted by Josephus, Jewish historian (cf. Jos. Antiq. ii. 5,2); and is also noted in the Bible, way back in the Old Testament:
Genesis 40:10-11 And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes: And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
Adam Clark's Bible Commentary on this text reads:
From this we find that wine anciently was the mere express juice of the grape, without fermentation. The saky, or cup-bearer, to the bunch, pressed the Juice into the cup, and instantly delivered it into the hand of his master. This was anciently the yayin of the Hebrews, the oinos of the Greeks, and the mustum of the ancient Latins.
This proves without doubt that fresh group juice (the fruit of the vine) was trying as well as the fermented type, from the earliest times. Dr. William Patton quotes the doctor asked him Isaac's, and in it Jewish rabbi as repeatedly and emphatically saying:
The Jews do not, in their feast for sacred purposes, including the marriage feast, ever use any kind of fermented grapes. And their oblations and libations, both private and public, they employ the fruit of the vine-that is, fresh grapes-unfermented grape-juice, and raisins, as the symbol of benediction. Fermentation is to them always a symbol of corruption, as in nature and science it is itself decay, rottenness.
Jesus, when referring to the wine or fruit of the vine, in his institution of the Lord's Supper, said:
For this is my blood of the New Testament (covenant), which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:28)
What Jesus was actually saying was "this is my life":
For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for yourselves: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)
Here we can see that just as the blood was life-giving, so must the wine use that the Lord's Supper beheld giving, to make the perfect symbol. Symbolically, the wine could not have been alcoholic or fermented, a rotten substance which is disruptive to the body, which is a perfect picture of death. The apostle Peter was well aware of the important significance of the blood of Christ when he wrote:
1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
How could the precious blood of Christ which the inspired apostle states was not "corruptible," be symbolized by alcoholic wine, a substance which itself is the embodiment of rottenness, and corruption?!
When we read the Old Testament, we see how God is meticulous and exact regarding his instructions relating to symbols of whose substance and meaning are later revealed in the New Testament. How foolish then it is to suggest that the precious blood of Christ which was shed on the cross for the remission of sins. The blood which the writer of Hebrews in Chapter 9:12, speaking of Christ says, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. The blood which the Saints overcame the devil by, along with the word of their testimony (Revelation 12:11), be eternally symbolized by a wine whose character does not properly represent the exceedingly high virtue and pleasantness of that blood. The symbol of Christ’s blood had to be the fruit of the vine, that is, pure fresh grape juice, which did not undergo fermentation (corruption). This indeed was a perfect symbol of our Lord's life giving blood.
Let us note carefully how in Matthew 26:29, Jesus when referring to the contents of the cup, uses the term "fruit of the vine" so that there could not be any kind of doubt that He was referring to an unfermented juice. The Word Jesus uses for "fruit" in this verse is very specific. The original Greek word is genema, which means to "to be born," or "to beget," and "to be produced." It comes from the root word genomai, meaning, "to come into being." That's what Jesus here mentioned the fruit of the vine, he was referring to that, which was produced by the vine in its natural state, that is, pure grape juice.
Vine’s Expository Dictionary, says of this word:
As the produce of the earth, e.g., the vine.
Robinsons Lexicon of the New Testament:
What is born or produced, i.e... spoken of trees, etc fruit produce, Matthew 26:29. Mark 14:25. Luke 22:18.
Thayer’s Lexicon of the New Testament:
That which has been begotten or born;... the fruit of the earth, products of agriculture.
Concerning the full-time "fruit of the vine," Today's Dictionary of the Bible states:
The fruit of the vine, "vintage fruit" (Hebrew tirosh); grapes, whether moist or dried.
Here we see very clearly that when Jesus referred to the fruit of the vine, he meant exactly that; i.e. the juice whose constituents was essentially the same as that of the grape. That is, an unfermented juice. Grindrod explains:
One general practice was to preserve the juice of the grape... in this state it was variously termed, must, new wine, or fruit of the vine. The latter appellation was appropriate, because thus preserved, it possessed all the central properties of the grape.
So we can see very clearly that in partaking of the Lord's supper, the correct emblem of our Lord's blood that must be used, according to the Scriptures and the example of Jesus, is unfermented grape juice. Regarding this the Rev. Parsons states:
Hence those Christians who use unfermented wine at the Lord's table, have the countenance of history, and the example of the Blessed Redeemed in support of this practice, and certainly partake of drink which much more resembling ancient wines than port, sherry, or tent, or any other liquor polluted with alcohol.
Those Christians who use fermented wine at the Lord supper, whether they are aware of it or not, are spoiling the beautiful symbolic picture of Christ's Holiness that God has intended them to see through this ordinance, and should cease from doing such on the authority of scripture. Adam Clark forcefully condemns this unscriptural practice by stating:
This is the most wicked and awful perversion of our Lord's ordinance. The matters made use by Jesus Christ on this solemn occasion, were unleavened bread, and the produce of the vine, i.e. pure wine. To depart in the least from this institution, while it is in our power to follow it literally, would be extremely culpable.
If we look again at Jesus words in Matthew 26:29, we learn something very interesting:
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.
Vincent's comments on this text states:
In our Lord's expression, "drink it new," the idea of quality is dominant. All the elements of festivity in the heavenly kingdom will be of a new and higher quality.
The translation from the Amplified Bible of Matthew 26:29, states:
I say to you, I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it with you do you and of superior quality in my Father’s kingdom.
Why superior quality? It may be yet. The question is because the wine will not be man-made, but will be the same time as that produced by Christ at the marriage feasting Cana of Galilee, and John Chapter two. Some say that this is only figurative and not literal, but there is no evidence in the Bible to suggest this.
After Christ's glorious resurrection, He ate and drank real food:
Luke 24:40-43 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.
1 John 3:2 reads:
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
The glorified bodies of the saints will be like Jesus' and we will eat and drank literal food. This superior wine will no doubt be present at the marriage supper of the Lamb recorded in Revelation 19:7-9. There is no doubt that the saints will have the fruit of the vine with them throughout all eternity as a memorial of Christ's precious redeeming blood. This cannot be an alcoholic beverage because the corruption which the earth was subjected to because of man's sin will be removed. The following passages make this clear:
For the creation (nature) was subjected to frailty-to the futility, condemned to frustration-not because of some intentional fault on its part, but by the will of Him who subjected it. That nature (creation) itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption [and gain an entrance] into the glorious freedom of God's children. (Romans 8:20, 21, Amplified Bible)
Unlike the fruit of the vine which was the produce of God’s original creation which He described as "very good" (Genesis 1:31). Fermented wine which has caused so much suffering to man will be removed from God’s new creation forever,... for the former things are passed away (Revelation 21:4). That is, sorrow, pain, death, and decay etc.; because God said, behold, I make all things new. (Revelation 21:5)
Scripture is again very consistent with the symbols. In the Bible fruit usually refers to something of arduous quality. We have the fruit of the womb (Luke 1:42), the fruit of the loins (Acts 2:30), the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), the frut of the lips (Hebrews 13:15), the fruit of righteousness (Jame's 3:18), the fruit of the earth (James 5:7), the fruits of the tree of life (Revelation 22:2), and in Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; the 22:18, the fruit of the vine!
Wine at Christ's Crucifixion
Mark 15:23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
Matthew 27:34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
John 19:28-30 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Here we have before us the necessary information relating to the offering of wine to Jesus at His crucifixion. In the first two accounts above, there appears to be a conflict. Mark states that Jesus was given wine mingled with myrrh, while Matthew states that it was vinegar mingled with gall.
Some believe that this refers to two different incidents, while others understand it to be two different descriptions of the same incident, because vinegar was merely sour wine, and gall described anything bitter, without actually specifying what it was.
Although the real reason for Jesus initially refusing to sour wine or vinegar was because it was bugged and hands designed to alleviate his suffering, the scripture also makes it very clear that our Lord found the drinking of such substances as repulsive. The messianic reference and Psalm 69: 21 reads:
Psalms 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Luke 23:36 states:
Luke 23:36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,
Here we can see from this unique and important account, how the Roman soldiers, knowing the character of our Lord, sought to compound His humiliation through further ridicule, by coming and offering him vinegar (sour wine). This was their common drink, of which they knew Jesus hated. Later however, just before Jesus gave up his Spirit, he thirsted and was given vinegar to drank, which he received. Thus we can hear Jesus agonizingly crying through Psalm 69:21,... in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
It was no doubt the will of the father that the Spotless Son of God, in His dying agony, should drink the bitter drink of sinners, just as how spiritually He drank the bitter cup of sin which every sinner deserved.
Excerpt from 'Wine In The Bibe and the Scriptural Case for Total Abstinence' by Leighton Campbell
[ March 30, 2006, 06:30 PM: Message edited by: standingfirminChrist ]
