2025-01-28 2025-01-28
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All Christians are familiar with the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Many theological views of that sacrament exist, but why did Jesus use bread and wine to represent His body and blood at the Last Supper?

Bread

Bread is the basic staple of human life. Every culture and country uses some form of bread as the heart of its diet. It has been that way almost from the beginning. As God evicted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, He said, "By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, because from it you were taken" (Genesis 3:19). Since that time, bread has been a central element of human sustenance.

Bread also reminds us of God's provision. When the Israelites were hungry during the Exodus, God miraculously supplied manna for them (Exodus 16:4). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught his disciples to ask the Father each day for their "daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). Our "daily bread" reminds us of our dependence on God and God's faithfulness to us.

Wine

In the same way, wine was a central element of life in ancient Israel. When Noah left the ark, he planted a vineyard and made wine (Genesis 9:20-21). After Abraham rescued Lot in battle, Melchizedek brought out bread and wine to bless him (Genesis 14:18). The Psalmist also recognized wine as a blessing from God (Psalm 104:15). And in Deuteronomy 7:13, Moses declared that if the Israelites were faithful, God would bless their new wine. For people living in a desert region, water was scarce; wine was an important aspect of their existence.

But there is also an eschatological dimension to God's provision of wine.

"Now the Lord of armies will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine" (Isaiah 25:6).

"You there! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost" (Isaiah 55:1).

Of course, Jesus also supplied wine at the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11) – a reflection of the importance and value of wine as a blessing from God.

Connections to the Passover Meal

Jesus instituted the Last Supper at a Passover meal with His disciples. He sent two of His disciples to prepare the Passover meal for them to celebrate (Mark 14:13). Because bread and wine were both part of the traditional Passover celebration, it makes sense that Jesus used those elements to institute the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

But He also infused those elements with new meaning. The bread was "My body, which is being given for you," while the wine was "the new covenant in My blood," which was "poured out for you" (Luke 22:14-22).

Bread and wine were also integral parts of the sacrificial system which the Jews observed. Grain offerings could take the form of cakes of unleavened bread, and drink offerings consisted of wine poured out on the accompanying sacrifice. And, of course, Jesus makes the connection between the wine of the meal and His blood of His sacrifice, driving home the significance of both what He was going to do and what it meant.

The Bread of Life Discourse (John 6)

Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, John's Gospel does not contain an account of the Last Supper. Instead, Jesus' Bread of Life discourse explains the significance of His body and blood for Christians:

"I am the bread of life" (35)

"The bread which I will give for the life of the world is also My flesh" (51)

Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves" (53)

The connections to the Last Supper are obvious. John's account explains the significance of Jesus' gift of His body and blood; the Synoptic accounts connect His body and blood with the bread and the wine of the sacrament.

Jesus' Life as Fulfillment of Jewish Religious Celebrations

The institution of the Lord's Supper as the fulfillment of the Passover celebration is just another example of Jesus' life and ministry fulfilling various Jewish religious ceremonies. For example, at the Festival of Tabernacles – where water and light were important elements of the observance – Jesus announced Himself as the source of living water (John 7:37-38) and the light of the world (John 8:12). So, regarding Passover, it makes sense that Jesus' body and blood would correspond to the bread and the wine.

That connection culminates in Jesus' sacrificial death for us. His sacrifice fulfilled the entire sacrificial system. "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:11-12).

Bread and wine were important elements of daily life in Jewish culture. Those staples of their diet also reminded the Jews of God's faithful provision. Whether through miraculous provision, as God did with the manna in the wilderness, or through the blessings of rain and abundant harvests, bread and wine blessed the people and symbolized God's provision.

Jesus taught His disciples to ask God each day for their daily bread, so in one sense, every day is a reminder that Jesus' body is broken for us. As bread provides physical food, so Jesus provides spiritual food. "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

John's account of the Bread of Life discourse further illustrates the spiritual dimensions of Jesus' body and blood in the context of the Last Supper.

The bread of life – Jesus' flesh – offers life to the world, just as Jesus' life is the light of the world. And His blood offers atonement for sin: "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). The Lamb of God - the Passover lamb - offers us the bread and wine of the Passover meal to remind us of His sacrifice for us.

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