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NASB | 1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant [ratified and established] in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in [affectionate] remembrance of Me." |
Subject: Weekly Communion? |
Bible Note: A friend and brother in Christ of mine has written a treatise on the Lord's Supper and the elements thereof. He gave me a copy to read and progress is extremely slow. This is a tome of over 500 pages and explores not only the New Testament words involved but also goes into detailed research of Old Testament law relating to Passover (since this was the feast that the Lord's supper was instituted at). Further he has looked at everything he could get his hands on relating to Jewish traditions surrounding the Passover -- specifically the Babylonian Talmud and the Mishna. He concludes that the very phrase Jesus used in reference to the cup in Matthew, "this the fruit of the vine", is a term with very specific connotation to the Jewish reader of the day and specifically to the apostles eating that supper with him. This phrase comes from the Jewish blessing reserved solely for fermented grape juice (wine) that had been fermenting for a minimum of 40 days and was not more than 3 years old. I have debated this to some extent with my father who did his thesis on the use of wine in the New Testament. He disagrees with this view saying that this may be nit picking. My own research continues but one thing that concerns me is "whose example should we follow?" I have been partaking of the Lord's Supper with a group that uses alcoholic wine and unleavened bread (baked according to Old Testament formulas) because of my uncertainty on this matter. Since there was no way to preserve grape juice in those days, and the grape harvest was long past, the liquid element in the cup of Christ was clearly an alcoholic wine. If I know that this was the example of my Saviour I am not sure I want to take a chance on anything else. To argue that grape-juice and wine are both fruit of the vine and therefore the same is also suspect. The difference is not just in the alcohol content. There is another transformation that takes place in the fermentation of wine. The life and death of the yeast cells involved in the fermentation makes wine extremely rich in protien. It has a high number of the amino acids essential to life to the extent that a person could live a healthy life on bread and wine alone! Does this add new significance to the elements of the Lord's supper? I don't know for sure but for now that is the way I am going to go. In Christ Tim Sheasby |