The Great Business Dinner
Content
Introduction: It was a great transformation that took place in my life when I decided to US after living in my native country for fifty five years. It was not that change from a traditionally based life into culture believed life. Culture life changes according to the time, life style and scientific advancement. not difficult for me to change my outward appearance. I was adopted into appearance culture immediately. live in easy to based It was
My battle was next focused on to the inward change. I grew up in a Christian family and this enabled me to follow the Biblical culture and not the land culture that was prevailing in my native Hindu land. My understanding of Biblical culture gave me hopes that it will be very easy for me to adapt to the local church as this is a Christian country. May be this was the mistake I made as my mind was predetermined to expect great things. Yes, every thing is great about this country. The Bible teachings are deep and doctrines taught are good. [Not all of them] Yet, the culture plays a major part in individual life that they are not able to apply what was taught in their personal life. This could be due to no fear or reverence for Word of God. My quest to find a church that will satisfy my spiritual needs took some time. Many days of prayer led me to a place as God had promised in Jeremiah 3:15, “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding”. I started going to that church and later took active part in it. Yet, I did not find reverence while they participated in sacred covenant given to the New Testament Church. I did discuss about this but could not do much there as I left in short time. I am sure that all who read this will agree with me that Bible was written by many authors and all were inspired by Holy Spirit to write about One Person’s Life. We all have one Bible and still we have many divisions. The most peculiar or unique about the Bible is that this is the only book which has many versions. I am not talking about the number of languages but I am mentioning about the number of versions in the English language. The Bible is very clear that we cannot add or take away anything given by God. Scholars and researches are aware of it and above all Satan knows it too well. The different version is the new tool; Satan had used to bring entirely a different Bible all together. Satan is still working with the intellectuals to say these versions are not true translation and there is still more to come. In a couple of years, if Lord tarries, I wonder whether there will be Holy Bible that was given to our forefathers. How sad? Read the grieved statement of Jesus. “... Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” [Luke 18:8] Let us stretch our mind more into the tricks Satan is playing with our generation as he played with Eve. It was just a little twist on words in what God spoke made Eve to believe and fall in his trap. Satan is now playing with the Bible versions in the same way, making us think that it is necessary for every one to understand the Bible as they read it. I am sure that we are not forgotten that Word of God is a mystery. This was why Jesus appointed apostles, evangelists, prophets, preachers and teachers in the church. [Body of Christ] Let us not take away the post created by Jesus in the New Testament church. God will provide a teacher for you to understand the scripture. This is God’s promise. I will bring before you a true story from Acts eighth chapter in which you will understand how God brings people into one’s life. A eunuch of great authority, under the Candace the queen of Ethiopia was returning after worshipping in Jerusalem. He was reading a scripture portion from prophet Isaiah without knowing the meaning while he was travelling in the chariot. God prepares and sends Philip to this needy person. God knows the sincerity of the person. If we are sincere He will provide someone who will teach
us. “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” [Jer 3:15] Let us not be proud but humble ourselves and obey to the teaching. Jesus was just a carpenter when He taught the mysteries of God to a group of uneducated fishermen. There is another phenomenon that has become very popular ‘God does not see the outward but the inward of the man.” These set of people call reverence and sanctification as a hypocrite’s behavior. The church has disregarded the sacredness that is needed when participating in the covenant. The reverence with which, Lord Jesus Christ dealt with the covenant during the Last Supper was sacred. Jesus was anxiously waiting for that moment. He had not shed His blood yet He makes the covenant with His blood. Here is a quote from St. Paul’s letter to Corinthians: “In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” This was the direct revelation received by St. Paul from God. Jesus’ ‘Business Dinner’ had become the pattern for the current CEOs of the modern times. I thank God that Jesus was not a CEO but a CHP [Chief High Priest]. I call this as the “Greatest Business Dinner” conducted by Jesus because He handed over the responsibility of building His kingdom to His disciples till His return to award those who had been His faithful employees. [Servants] The business dinner is the last meeting, a top person [CEO] has with his deputies before he goes on a long absence from work with a promise to come back with rewards. Jesus revealed His plans, gave instructions and guidance. Jesus told them how they can keep in touch with Him. This was not only for those who were in that dinner but to all who become His disciples. Jesus sealed this meeting with a covenant. This sacred covenant was made by Lord Jesus because He was very keen on all Christians being united together. Jesus took one bread from the meal. He blessed it before breaking and gave to His disciples. In the same way he took one cup and blessed it. They all drank from one cup. Christians to be united was, is and will be the will of God. Jesus never took His focus away from unity when He taught the disciples. This sacred covenant was not understood well by early Christians. There was no unity among them. St. Paul was upset with the way this covenant was celebrated. He wanted to differentiate between the Passover meal and the covenant Jesus introduced during the meal. There is going to be no more Passover meal. Jesus mentioned that the covenant He made through bread and wine alone has to be taken as often as possible. St. Paul adds these remarks for those who do not respect and give reverence. “For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.” I am not here to judge any one. I have seen differences in various denominations on procedures they adapt in celebrating Lord’s Supper. [Covenant] In most of the churches there is no clear understanding about who can participate and who cannot. In some churches the decision are left with the parents to decide whether their children can participate or not. There are few churches where they are very particular about people who can participate in Lord’s Supper. We have a clear warning from Bible on this doctrine. John deals with Business Dinner in length as he takes four chapters to write. He goes into every details of the last supper they had with the Lord. We need to be qualified to participate in this covenant with the Lord. This entire article deals with how Jesus instituted this new covenant and who were qualified to participate and what consequences lies when taken in unworthy manner. Every shepherd should understand this because God had given His flock under their control. Before Jesus left this earth He made sure Peter understood that his duty was to feed Lord’s flock with knowledge and
doctrines. Jesus questioned him three times. This literature deals in details what Jesus did before He instituted this covenant. I believe that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” [2 Tim 3:16]. God’s Desire:“Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer”. Jesus like any other human had desires in His heart. Out of those desires the one was the last supper He wanted to have with His disciples eating the Passover meal. The second desire was asking God the Father a special place for His disciples. “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am”. The second desire of Jesus was for us also. The foremost burning desire of Jesus was to have this Passover feast with His disciples. This was the third Passover dinner he had with His disciples during the three and half year’s ministry in this world. We have no clue about the previous ones. Information’s below will speculate, why Jesus had desire to have this Passover Dinner with His closed aides. God found an appropriate time for Jesus to execute the plan He had for this covenant. There were few instructions given by Jesus during the Passover meal. These instructions also highlight how much Jesus desired to have this dinner. The covenant which He desired was not an after thought of Jesus. This covenant existed from the time God created Adam and Eve. God was the first One to demonstrate. The Bible says that Adam and Eve covered themselves with leafs when they saw their nakedness. Bible says God made tunics out of skin, and clothed them. To us it teaches, God sacrificed a lamp for their sin and took the skin for tunic. It was predestined by God that sprinkling of blood alone was required for remission of sin. There was no clue in the Bible to say whether Adam and Eve followed this practice, but Bible says that their children brought their offerings to God. Ultimately I believe that parents must have thought them. The first blood was shed in the Eden garden for Adam and Eve. “Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood.” [Heb 9:18] Blood was sprinkled on the doors of Israelites as a sign for God to pass over when they were slaves in Egypt. Moses sprinkled blood in tabernacle and all the vessels used in it for purification. “According to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” [Heb 9:22]. The blood of Jesus [Our Paschal Lamp] was shed on the cross for remission of our sins. “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”[Heb 13:12] Jesus, with His own blood entered the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, once for all and obtained eternal redemption for all of us. “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” [Heb 9:12] The Bible gives us a good proof for this. “Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.” [John 20:17] Jesus did not enter the temple in heaven with empty hands. Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;” The blood that was shed has to be poured in the temple where God lives. In the New Testament we are the temple of God. The blood has to be pored into us. This was the desire of God. Jesus mentioned about this to His disciples during His
ministry. “Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you disciples could not take this doctrine and many left incident could have disappointed Jesus and brought a
I say to you, unless you eat have no life in you.” The Him except the twelve. This burning desire in Jesus.
Jesus became the last Lamp to be sacrificed for remission of sins. This is why Jesus is the Mediator of the new covenant. Jesus blessed the bread and broke it and gave it to them, but never called it a new covenant. Jesus, likewise, took the cup after the supper and called it as a new covenant in His blood, which was shed for us. Remember that when Jesus did this there was no blood shed. The blood was shed only after the new covenant was made. It was God’s plan from the beginning that His Son Jesus should institute a covenant before His work in the earth was completed. Jesus wanted this Passover dinner to be different one. Jesus knew that this will be the last Passover that was going to be celebrated as a memorial for the first Passover that was celebrated when Israelites came out of Egypt. Jesus knew that He was going to lay down His life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. This was going to be one occasion where Jesus blood was spilled as remission. The traditional Passover [animal sacrifice for blood] celebrated as national festival of Jewish was being abolished and replaced by a new covenant. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:“ Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. [Heb 10:4-6] The communion instituted is an ongoing memorial to the suffering and death of Jesus. God had planned that His Son Jesus will be the Lamb of God. Jesus desired to accomplish His role by obeying God and thereby defeating Satan once for all. Jesus wanted the entire world to know that Satan was and is a judged person. Though the old was replaced by the new yet God wanted a replica of the pattern He had set for the first Passover lamp. Jesus was young and without blemish. John the Baptist called Him the Lamb of God. Like in the olden days how the High Priest laid hands on the head of the lamp which has to be offered as sin offering, John the Baptist [as High Priest during that time] laid his hands on Jesus [Lamp of God] during the Baptism time to shoulder the entire sins of the world. Bible was very clear in telling us that Jesus took His blood and ascended. But the activity of Jesus from His death to resurrection is still remains a mystery. We do have little information here and there for us to study. Let us see couple of Bible quotes and try to learn the power of Jesus blood offered. “Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? [Eph 4:9] “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.” [1 Peter 3:18-20] “Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” [Eph 4:8] This is very tricky and delicate portion in Jesus life. We need to understand the underworld system that existed before the resurrection. There are many English commentators who had written on the underworld activity, based on the Biblical verses referred. Many of them unanimously agree that English do not have enough vocabulary to match the original Hebrew and Greek languages. The underworld before the resurrection Jesus was divided into four portions. [Hades [Paradise-Torments] - Tartarus-Abyss] Paradise and Torment were occupied by men, [Luke 16:19-25] whereas Tartarus [2 Peter 2:4]and Abyss [Luke 8:31] were
occupied by angels . Jesus did visit Paradise and Tartarus. Tartarus is the place where all the fallen angels were jailed and kept. Jesus went there and preached. “by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison” [1 Peter 3:19] Jesus preached gospel to them as these spirits were jailed and did not know that Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for the sins of the entire world. Jesus had the joy of spiritual victory to be announced to these spirits because they were waiting that their leader would cunningly emerge as a victor in the battle to keep Jesus away from the cross. Jesus was in person to tell them that their leader has been defeated. Paradise was one of the places in Hade which accommodated Old Testament saints. The last to enter there was, one of the thieves who hanged with Jesus. We should remember that none can go to heaven into the presence of Father till Jesus enters there as resurrected Man. Jesus sacrifice on the cross must be accepted by the Father. The sign that Father had accepted Jesus sacrifice for sins of the world was seen by many people on the day of Pentecost when one hundred and twenty Jesus’ followers [New Testament] were anointed in the upper room by Holy Spirit. A tongue of fire stood on their head as a symbol. The saints of God in Old Testament waited in Paradise for Jesus after their physical death to be sprinkled by Jesus blood so that they can be purified and accepted into heaven. “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—“ [Rom 3:25]. They were in captive till then. Jesus when He ascended to heaven led them and gave them gift. They were sprinkled with animal blood but that was not enough to go to heaven. The veil in the temple was torn when Jesus died on the cross to say that all of us were accepted in the presence of the Father where Jesus sits on His right. Here is a confirmation from St. Paul that we do not have to wait in Hade but we can go directly to the place where the Lord is. “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” [2 Cor 5:8] Paradise has been eliminated after the visit of Jesus. There are no records or Biblical evidence to say that Jesus in His divine body descended to Torments and Abyss. We do not know whether people in the Torments were able to look at Jesus when He presented Himself to Old Testament saints. “And being in torments in Hades, he [rich man] lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” Luke 16:23] Bible tells us that they were able to communicate to each other. We have clear information that there will be no salvation after we are dead. Abyss is the bottomless pit where rebellious fallen angels are being kept. Even demons were afraid to go that place. “And they [demons] begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.” [Luke 8:31] The demons knew that one day they will be there. “And suddenly they [demon] cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” [Matt 8:29] Jesus preserved Himself without blemish to be the Lamb for sacrifice. Satan was the only creature who knew the importance of Jesus blood. Satan knew that blood of Jesus was precious and priceless. Satan knew that his future lies in that blood. Satan was constantly on the attack to see that Jesus does not go to the cross. Many times from the cradle to the cross God had to protect Jesus. Jesus desire was fulfilled when He gave up His ghost on the cross. His church [kingdom] was established when water and blood poured out from His side right from the heart. His blood was so precious that he had a fervent desire to offer to us for free so that we do not suffer. Preparation for the covenant Jesus chooses two from His inner circle, Peter and John, to prepare the Passover
dinner for them. If you read the Old Testament then we can understand why the preparation was important. I call them special because Peter was the anchor on whom Jesus was going to rely on building His kingdom. He was already renamed from Simon to Peter [Cephas]. Read what Jesus says about Peter: “Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." [Matt 16:17-19] John has been referred as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” five times in the gospel of John. He also had the privilege of being seated next to Jesus in the dinner and rest on His bosom. Passover dinner was a must for all Jews. It was God’s commandment that all Jews must celebrate this festival every year. But this was the last Passover feast where a divine covenant had to take place. We do not have information about other Passover dinners Jesus had with His disciples. We have no information to compare this particular feast with others. Jesus needed special people to prepare this feast. We need to be careful who handles the bread and wine before we partake in the Lord’s Supper. “Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy”. [Leviticus 21:8] We should be diligent in asking appropriated people to carry the ‘ELEMENTS’. In the modern world we buy the bread and wine from unknown places. We always have an excuse that we have large congregation and we have to buy them as ready made material. Sacraments are not ordinary bread and wine we think. I had personally known a church, which had a congregation of more than ten thousand families, making the wine in their own church. The church has dedicated people. They sacrifice their time for making the wine. I have heard many miracles taking place in this church. One of the miracles that took place was noteworthy to be mentioned. The miracle was, Bread turned out to be a flesh in the eye of an unbeliever when he challenged and questioned his believing wife. The entire family and the neighborhood where she lived accepted Jesus as their Savior. Jesus had a special place for this great dinner. Peter and John wanted to know where they should arrange this dinner. So they [Peter and John] said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?” [Luke 22:9] This suggests to us that they could have had other places where they could have had earlier. Jesus had a special place, which the disciples did not know. Jesus had to give them a unique sign [man carrying a pitcher of water] and asked them to follow him. During the time of Jesus it is very unusual for a man to carry a pitcher of water. So it was easier for these two disciples to find the place. In those days carrying water for household purpose was done only by woman. Jesus was aware who the owner was and what purpose that place was used. The master of the house knew Jesus as a teacher. This gives a clue to what type of relationship Jesus had with this house owner. Jesus had determined that he was going to use this place for His covenant. We do not know how many times Jesus had prayed in the upper room either alone or along with the owner. We are aware of Mary’s house in Bethany. Jesus had a great dinner just two days before the Passover there. He had Simon whom He cured from leprosy on one side and Lazarus whom He raised from the grave on the other side when He sat for a dinner there. Jesus did not do anything but He was anointed with costly alabaster oil. Jesus stayed in here whenever He visited Jerusalem. Jesus did great things in that Bethany house. The disciples and Jesus knew the place and persons so well. Yet He preferred the upper room for this dinner more than Mary’s house. Jesus was choosy about the place. I felt that Jesus was conscious about the sanctification of the place where He wanted to execute this covenant.
Jesus was choosing a place for a Passover dinner. Preparation for the Passover festival was a painstaking. The place has to be cleaned. Every Jewish family will have special utensils. The place Jesus selected was fully furnished. Jesus had it well planned so that His disciples will have no problem finding materials to prepare the table. I felt that Jesus wanted some special vessels to serve bread and wine. He wanted unused vessels so that He can sanctify. If you read Hebrews 9:20-22 then you will understand that vessels used for ministry were purified. We need to be careful about the place where we serve this Lord’s Supper. This is a divine Sacrament. We must be careful what kind of containers we use to serve the dinner. The place and vessels had to be sanctified for this purpose. We need to use vessels kept exclusively for this purpose alone. We cannot change this just because it is convenient to serve. In the modern world we do not observe this saying that God looks at your inner condition and not on these superficial things. We have stopped doing many things because we started compromising for convenient sake. How sad the reverence for this covenant is lost. The first lamp was scarified in the twilight of the day and blood was sprinkled on the door post and the lintel of the house where they ate. The Lord passed over it. The blood had always been sprinkled on the altar built by people for sin offering. “And you shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it”. [Ex 29:36] Saints of Old Testament prepared altars and sanctified it before sprinkling the animal blood. Jesus, as Lamp of God, carried His own blood and sprinkled His blood on the altar not made out of man’s hand but in the presence of God. In that blood Jesus made the covenant on that Great Business dinner He had. Jesus prepared eleven disciples for three and half years and sprinkled His blood on the altar He created in them. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are”. [1Cor 3:16-17] Does this not frighten us? Our altar has to be prepared and sanctified if Jesus blood has to be sprinkled in our altar for remission of our sins. God needs a sanctified place to sprinkle Jesus blood. We should be able to sanctify ourselves by tarrying at the feet of the Lord and pouring out our sins. “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” [John 10:3] Jesus shows the relationship between the Shepherd and the flock. Pastors should know his members by name when he serves the Lord’s Supper. You need to have a preparation and a place for serving Lord’s Supper. The last thought for preparing our altar for receiving bread and wine may be a provoking one. We do understand that we are in human flesh. Our souls [altar] have to be consecrated for purity to receive the blood. The only way is to fast and pray. Fasting does not mean staying away from food. See what St. Paul have to say about it. “Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control”. [1 Cor 7:5] Paul did not say this as a new doctrine to Corinthians. In the Old Testament David while fleeing away from Saul, begged Priest Ahimelech for food to be given to his young men. Read what condition priest laid for David men. “And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.” Then David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day. So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.” [1 Samuel 21:4-6] God expects that kind of holiness from us.
“He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous[e] still; he who is holy, let him be holy still”. [Rev 22:11] The Dinner The dinner begins in the evening. Peter and John who were sent to prepare the meal were there. The other disciples arrived in the evening. It was not sure whether they came along with Jesus or arrived as they completed their day’s work. The disciples were there before Jesus came. The room was well furnished and everything was in order. It was a new experience for the fishermen to be in a beautifully furnished room with expensive curtains, lightings and serving vessels of gold and silver. Few of them were engaged in argument about the place where they would be sitting in the table along with Jesus for self interest. There were no tags to indicate who sitting where like the modern business dinners. Two wanted to sit close to Jesus to be proud about the place they had occupied. Judas was interested to sit close for he wanted to find out where Jesus was going after dinner. The struggle was between few disciples. The atmosphere in that room was far from the unity that was needed in that hour. Though the group was small yet they were in different moods in the room. Jesus walks into that kind of tense room. Jesus was disappointed for in His spirit He was troubled. Satan had already begun his work to destroy and confuse His disciples. The unity among them fell apart. Sunday morning service in every modern church has the same scenario. Before I knew Jesus as my savior, this was my view of the Sunday morning service. Church was a club for me to meet my friends and get to know all the gossips of the week. There are many like that even now. They can be classified into many groups. Believers and none believers of Christ come together. How is the Pastor going to decide who have accepted Christ? Some of them could be just visitors who had been invited by friend for the first time. Some of them may be spending their time with friends. Some of them will hang around to see different people coming together. Sunday morning worshipers have different level of spiritual life. Preachers have great difficulty in delivering Sunday message that have to feed all types attendees. The presence of the Holy Spirit alone can satisfy every member who comes. Those who administer Holy Communion should examine himself. Jesus scheduled His dinner and the covenant He made with His disciples on a week day and not on a Sabbath day. Jesus was careful that not every one in synagogue gets the covenant. His followers who cared for [Ref. Luke 23:49] Him were not allowed in the room except for the twelve disciples whom He had selected. I think I should be more specific in mentioning that even women who had helped Peter and John in preparing the Passover meal and the house owner, who had given the place, were not there. This gives a clue that this covenant was not for public. I do not know how many will accept this. The Lord’s Supper is not free for all. It is not for asking. Each individual has to earn this. The disciples spent three and half years to earn a place in that dinner. Judas, the disciple, could not be in the covenant. He had dinner with Jesus but yet he could not participate. Jesus had to clean that group to make every one perfect or worthy of receiving the Lord’s Supper. The disciples’ altar had to be sanctified. Jesus first work in the room was to defuse the atmosphere that was prevailing in the room. There was nothing mentioned about who sat where in the Bible. A careful study will reveal that John was seated on one side. There was no doubt on this as he was seen leaning on Jesus breast. There were few evidence to show that possibly Judas was next to Jesus. Judas was the treasurer in Jesus ministry. He discussed with Jesus about financial status and the plans Jesus had. He was also close to dip bread in the same bowl with Jesus. Nevertheless they seated without any further murmur. The next move of Jesus was the most unexpected one. It caught
every one there with surprise. It was a simple custom in Jews community that host makes arrangement to wash the feet of the guest when they come to the house. [Read what Jesus says in Luke 7:44 “I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet”] Here it was Jesus washing disciples’ feet. It was symbolic yet He told them a spiritual secret. Jesus shows the kind of humbleness that was required when He asks the disciples to follow what He has done. To come to Lord’s Table we should have the server’s character. God hates the proud. Jesus eliminated the spirit of egoism from the room. Jesus now deals with Satan. Satan has already entered into Judas. Satan wants to destroy the purpose of this dinner. Satan had plans to participate in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus was troubled in His spirit. We can imagine the seriousness and the reverence Jesus wanted to maintain in that dinner. Jesus had to eliminate the devil without bringing much confusion. No way can a devil participate in the Lord’s Supper. Devil came to the table in shape of Judas. Judas was the treasurer. Many times in the ministry of Jesus, Judas had close talk with Him on financial matters. He could have rebuked Judas as He did to Peter [Matt 16:23]. That could have disturbed the minds of the disciples. This was exactly what Satan wanted. Jesus eliminated him wisely. Judas left in the middle leaving an impression that he had some other work. Judas did eat the Passover dinner but was not there for the covenant. It’s so surprising that none of them missed Judas during the communion or while they took their walk to the garden. The Pastors not only must know each person but also their inner life to know whom they are serving Lord’s Supper. It is the responsibility of the shepherd to know each flock who is under their care. Lord’s Supper is holy. I had been to few churches were elders of the church were asked not to participate in Lord’s Supper till they had heart to heart talk with pastors. Jesus talks to rest about the unity and how that could be maintained among them. Jesus teaches them to love one another. If there was no love then it would be difficult for others to recognize them to be Jesus disciples. Here is an article I read in a news paper about a blind girl who sold apples in a leading airport. Her small makeshift table was knocked by a group of sales executives who rushed to catch their planes. They did not know she was blind. One of them, as after thought came back to help her re-arrange her stall and paid her couple of dollars as compensation. He was surprised when she called as he was leaving and said ‘Are you Jesus?’ Only then he came to know that she was a blind girl. How true people judge you by your works and not what you are. A person who participates in the Lord’s Supper must be able to love others as he loves himself. This was not a request from Jesus but a commandment. “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world”. [James 1:27] Jesus taught important doctrines to the disciples. These disciples had spent three and half years with Him day and night. If we read in the John gospel Jesus conducts a class to His disciples. Jesus touches various topics. He talked about love, keeping the commandment, creating a place in heaven and further not to leave them as orphans but to send a comforter [Holy Spirit]. Jesus answers questions and clear doubts. Jesus did not tell them in the beginning but He found the right time to tell them. “And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.” [John 16:4] The subjects He spoke about were like syllabus for our modern Christians to know before they could take the communion. I know few of the churches do conduct classes to their members before they allow them to participate in Lord’s Supper. Jesus took care to brief them before He blessed bread and wine that were given as token of his flesh and blood. The person who needs to participate must have this knowledge to understand what this covenant means to him.
Jesus took one bread and one cup to bless during the dinner. Yes this will be something ridicules if I tell you that we have to follow. There is a deep meaning behind this whether you like it or not. In the Old Testament different bloods were used as sin offering. There were pigeons, doves, bull and calf etc. bloods were offered by different people according to their sins and affordability. In the New Testament it was Jesus’ blood that was offered once for all. It was one body and one blood. We need to break bread and have the blood from one wine cup that was blessed. The significant meaning of taking from one cup cannot be denied because of the magnitude of the church. The Lord’s Supper or the covenant Jesus made was holy and done with prayer. The consequences for partaking in the wrongful way are well explained in Paul’s letter to Corinthians. There are many mega churches even now follow this system. The new covenant Jesus introduced was for us to remember the suffering and death of Jesus. Jesus was accused falsely. He was hand cuffed publically. He received thirty nine strips from Roman soldiers. He was crowned with thorns on His head. He was spit on his face. His beard was pulled. He was stripped of his garments. He carried heavy wooden post. He was stoned all the way. He was nailed to the cross. His blood flowed all over from his body. He was pierced on the side. His death gave us the hope of resurrection. This Lord’s Supper reminds us about this. Those who participate in Lord’s Supper must be willing to share the sufferings of Jesus. Paul when he writes to Corinthians he mentions it in a simple way. “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” Jesus makes the covenant with His blood. The dinner ends with a song. Conclusion: Lord’s Supper is now commonly known as ‘Holy Communion’. We have the commandment to participate in Holy Communion as often as possible. This was not understood by Christians who lived in first century. There was no reverence as they were not guided till St. Paul explained to them the meaning and how it should be taken. St. Paul was the first apostle who boldly corrected believers about how they had to prepare themselves before participating. St. Paul got his instructing from God. [‘For I received from the Lord’ (1 Cor. 11:23)] St. Paul explained to them that the dinner on that day was nothing compared to the sacred Holy Communion Jesus instituted. St. Paul warned those who participate in Holy Communion about the consequences they will face if they had not followed with references needed. Holy Communion was not something new in the Biblical culture. Abraham was the first man called by God, to separate himself from the world and his family, to be a chosen man through whom God wanted to build a nation for Him. Abraham also was the first person who received ‘Holy Communion’ from the hand of Melchizedek. [Read this: “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.”] Bread and wine has found a special place in the Bible. Holy Communion was instituted for us to remember the death. The death and resurrection are hopes that make a Christian life. Those who are born in this world have to meet the death at one point or other. Death is inevitable. Only if there is death then there can be resurrection. We, who participate in Holy Communion, accept the death of Christ, and have a hope that one day we will be
resurrected like Him. Accepting the death of Christ starts from the day a person takes his immersed baptism. This is not sprinkling of water when a child is named. I am talking about a baptism, where a person understands Jesus and accepts Him as his Savior, walks in openly accepting death of Jesus, to be immersed symbolically as he is dead to all the fleshly things and raised up as a new creature. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! [Acts 5:17] This is another important act of faith in Christianity to be practiced by all who are ready to participate in Holy Communion. This is a testimony a Christian must do. If we don’t do this now then Jesus in heaven will deny us before God. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” [Matt 10:32-33] The Holy Communion is not a covenant that you take it lightly. Every other commandment in the Bible is teaching. You hear it and believe it. The Holy Communion is precious because it goes into you. It merges with your blood and flesh. It is a part of you. It works wonders in you. It does miracles in believers and at the same time it kills those who misuse them. [Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s] body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. (1Cor 1127-30)] The bottom line is let us not play with the covenant Jesus had left behind for us. “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s Table and of the table of demons.” [1 Cor 10:21] This is not going to end but will continue in Father’s Kingdom. “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” [Matt 26:29]
My battle was next focused on to the inward change. I grew up in a Christian family and this enabled me to follow the Biblical culture and not the land culture that was prevailing in my native Hindu land. My understanding of Biblical culture gave me hopes that it will be very easy for me to adapt to the local church as this is a Christian country. May be this was the mistake I made as my mind was predetermined to expect great things. Yes, every thing is great about this country. The Bible teachings are deep and doctrines taught are good. [Not all of them] Yet, the culture plays a major part in individual life that they are not able to apply what was taught in their personal life. This could be due to no fear or reverence for Word of God. My quest to find a church that will satisfy my spiritual needs took some time. Many days of prayer led me to a place as God had promised in Jeremiah 3:15, “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding”. I started going to that church and later took active part in it. Yet, I did not find reverence while they participated in sacred covenant given to the New Testament Church. I did discuss about this but could not do much there as I left in short time. I am sure that all who read this will agree with me that Bible was written by many authors and all were inspired by Holy Spirit to write about One Person’s Life. We all have one Bible and still we have many divisions. The most peculiar or unique about the Bible is that this is the only book which has many versions. I am not talking about the number of languages but I am mentioning about the number of versions in the English language. The Bible is very clear that we cannot add or take away anything given by God. Scholars and researches are aware of it and above all Satan knows it too well. The different version is the new tool; Satan had used to bring entirely a different Bible all together. Satan is still working with the intellectuals to say these versions are not true translation and there is still more to come. In a couple of years, if Lord tarries, I wonder whether there will be Holy Bible that was given to our forefathers. How sad? Read the grieved statement of Jesus. “... Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” [Luke 18:8] Let us stretch our mind more into the tricks Satan is playing with our generation as he played with Eve. It was just a little twist on words in what God spoke made Eve to believe and fall in his trap. Satan is now playing with the Bible versions in the same way, making us think that it is necessary for every one to understand the Bible as they read it. I am sure that we are not forgotten that Word of God is a mystery. This was why Jesus appointed apostles, evangelists, prophets, preachers and teachers in the church. [Body of Christ] Let us not take away the post created by Jesus in the New Testament church. God will provide a teacher for you to understand the scripture. This is God’s promise. I will bring before you a true story from Acts eighth chapter in which you will understand how God brings people into one’s life. A eunuch of great authority, under the Candace the queen of Ethiopia was returning after worshipping in Jerusalem. He was reading a scripture portion from prophet Isaiah without knowing the meaning while he was travelling in the chariot. God prepares and sends Philip to this needy person. God knows the sincerity of the person. If we are sincere He will provide someone who will teach
us. “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” [Jer 3:15] Let us not be proud but humble ourselves and obey to the teaching. Jesus was just a carpenter when He taught the mysteries of God to a group of uneducated fishermen. There is another phenomenon that has become very popular ‘God does not see the outward but the inward of the man.” These set of people call reverence and sanctification as a hypocrite’s behavior. The church has disregarded the sacredness that is needed when participating in the covenant. The reverence with which, Lord Jesus Christ dealt with the covenant during the Last Supper was sacred. Jesus was anxiously waiting for that moment. He had not shed His blood yet He makes the covenant with His blood. Here is a quote from St. Paul’s letter to Corinthians: “In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” This was the direct revelation received by St. Paul from God. Jesus’ ‘Business Dinner’ had become the pattern for the current CEOs of the modern times. I thank God that Jesus was not a CEO but a CHP [Chief High Priest]. I call this as the “Greatest Business Dinner” conducted by Jesus because He handed over the responsibility of building His kingdom to His disciples till His return to award those who had been His faithful employees. [Servants] The business dinner is the last meeting, a top person [CEO] has with his deputies before he goes on a long absence from work with a promise to come back with rewards. Jesus revealed His plans, gave instructions and guidance. Jesus told them how they can keep in touch with Him. This was not only for those who were in that dinner but to all who become His disciples. Jesus sealed this meeting with a covenant. This sacred covenant was made by Lord Jesus because He was very keen on all Christians being united together. Jesus took one bread from the meal. He blessed it before breaking and gave to His disciples. In the same way he took one cup and blessed it. They all drank from one cup. Christians to be united was, is and will be the will of God. Jesus never took His focus away from unity when He taught the disciples. This sacred covenant was not understood well by early Christians. There was no unity among them. St. Paul was upset with the way this covenant was celebrated. He wanted to differentiate between the Passover meal and the covenant Jesus introduced during the meal. There is going to be no more Passover meal. Jesus mentioned that the covenant He made through bread and wine alone has to be taken as often as possible. St. Paul adds these remarks for those who do not respect and give reverence. “For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.” I am not here to judge any one. I have seen differences in various denominations on procedures they adapt in celebrating Lord’s Supper. [Covenant] In most of the churches there is no clear understanding about who can participate and who cannot. In some churches the decision are left with the parents to decide whether their children can participate or not. There are few churches where they are very particular about people who can participate in Lord’s Supper. We have a clear warning from Bible on this doctrine. John deals with Business Dinner in length as he takes four chapters to write. He goes into every details of the last supper they had with the Lord. We need to be qualified to participate in this covenant with the Lord. This entire article deals with how Jesus instituted this new covenant and who were qualified to participate and what consequences lies when taken in unworthy manner. Every shepherd should understand this because God had given His flock under their control. Before Jesus left this earth He made sure Peter understood that his duty was to feed Lord’s flock with knowledge and
doctrines. Jesus questioned him three times. This literature deals in details what Jesus did before He instituted this covenant. I believe that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” [2 Tim 3:16]. God’s Desire:“Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer”. Jesus like any other human had desires in His heart. Out of those desires the one was the last supper He wanted to have with His disciples eating the Passover meal. The second desire was asking God the Father a special place for His disciples. “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am”. The second desire of Jesus was for us also. The foremost burning desire of Jesus was to have this Passover feast with His disciples. This was the third Passover dinner he had with His disciples during the three and half year’s ministry in this world. We have no clue about the previous ones. Information’s below will speculate, why Jesus had desire to have this Passover Dinner with His closed aides. God found an appropriate time for Jesus to execute the plan He had for this covenant. There were few instructions given by Jesus during the Passover meal. These instructions also highlight how much Jesus desired to have this dinner. The covenant which He desired was not an after thought of Jesus. This covenant existed from the time God created Adam and Eve. God was the first One to demonstrate. The Bible says that Adam and Eve covered themselves with leafs when they saw their nakedness. Bible says God made tunics out of skin, and clothed them. To us it teaches, God sacrificed a lamp for their sin and took the skin for tunic. It was predestined by God that sprinkling of blood alone was required for remission of sin. There was no clue in the Bible to say whether Adam and Eve followed this practice, but Bible says that their children brought their offerings to God. Ultimately I believe that parents must have thought them. The first blood was shed in the Eden garden for Adam and Eve. “Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood.” [Heb 9:18] Blood was sprinkled on the doors of Israelites as a sign for God to pass over when they were slaves in Egypt. Moses sprinkled blood in tabernacle and all the vessels used in it for purification. “According to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” [Heb 9:22]. The blood of Jesus [Our Paschal Lamp] was shed on the cross for remission of our sins. “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”[Heb 13:12] Jesus, with His own blood entered the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, once for all and obtained eternal redemption for all of us. “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” [Heb 9:12] The Bible gives us a good proof for this. “Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.” [John 20:17] Jesus did not enter the temple in heaven with empty hands. Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;” The blood that was shed has to be poured in the temple where God lives. In the New Testament we are the temple of God. The blood has to be pored into us. This was the desire of God. Jesus mentioned about this to His disciples during His
ministry. “Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you disciples could not take this doctrine and many left incident could have disappointed Jesus and brought a
I say to you, unless you eat have no life in you.” The Him except the twelve. This burning desire in Jesus.
Jesus became the last Lamp to be sacrificed for remission of sins. This is why Jesus is the Mediator of the new covenant. Jesus blessed the bread and broke it and gave it to them, but never called it a new covenant. Jesus, likewise, took the cup after the supper and called it as a new covenant in His blood, which was shed for us. Remember that when Jesus did this there was no blood shed. The blood was shed only after the new covenant was made. It was God’s plan from the beginning that His Son Jesus should institute a covenant before His work in the earth was completed. Jesus wanted this Passover dinner to be different one. Jesus knew that this will be the last Passover that was going to be celebrated as a memorial for the first Passover that was celebrated when Israelites came out of Egypt. Jesus knew that He was going to lay down His life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. This was going to be one occasion where Jesus blood was spilled as remission. The traditional Passover [animal sacrifice for blood] celebrated as national festival of Jewish was being abolished and replaced by a new covenant. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:“ Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. [Heb 10:4-6] The communion instituted is an ongoing memorial to the suffering and death of Jesus. God had planned that His Son Jesus will be the Lamb of God. Jesus desired to accomplish His role by obeying God and thereby defeating Satan once for all. Jesus wanted the entire world to know that Satan was and is a judged person. Though the old was replaced by the new yet God wanted a replica of the pattern He had set for the first Passover lamp. Jesus was young and without blemish. John the Baptist called Him the Lamb of God. Like in the olden days how the High Priest laid hands on the head of the lamp which has to be offered as sin offering, John the Baptist [as High Priest during that time] laid his hands on Jesus [Lamp of God] during the Baptism time to shoulder the entire sins of the world. Bible was very clear in telling us that Jesus took His blood and ascended. But the activity of Jesus from His death to resurrection is still remains a mystery. We do have little information here and there for us to study. Let us see couple of Bible quotes and try to learn the power of Jesus blood offered. “Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? [Eph 4:9] “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.” [1 Peter 3:18-20] “Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” [Eph 4:8] This is very tricky and delicate portion in Jesus life. We need to understand the underworld system that existed before the resurrection. There are many English commentators who had written on the underworld activity, based on the Biblical verses referred. Many of them unanimously agree that English do not have enough vocabulary to match the original Hebrew and Greek languages. The underworld before the resurrection Jesus was divided into four portions. [Hades [Paradise-Torments] - Tartarus-Abyss] Paradise and Torment were occupied by men, [Luke 16:19-25] whereas Tartarus [2 Peter 2:4]and Abyss [Luke 8:31] were
occupied by angels . Jesus did visit Paradise and Tartarus. Tartarus is the place where all the fallen angels were jailed and kept. Jesus went there and preached. “by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison” [1 Peter 3:19] Jesus preached gospel to them as these spirits were jailed and did not know that Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for the sins of the entire world. Jesus had the joy of spiritual victory to be announced to these spirits because they were waiting that their leader would cunningly emerge as a victor in the battle to keep Jesus away from the cross. Jesus was in person to tell them that their leader has been defeated. Paradise was one of the places in Hade which accommodated Old Testament saints. The last to enter there was, one of the thieves who hanged with Jesus. We should remember that none can go to heaven into the presence of Father till Jesus enters there as resurrected Man. Jesus sacrifice on the cross must be accepted by the Father. The sign that Father had accepted Jesus sacrifice for sins of the world was seen by many people on the day of Pentecost when one hundred and twenty Jesus’ followers [New Testament] were anointed in the upper room by Holy Spirit. A tongue of fire stood on their head as a symbol. The saints of God in Old Testament waited in Paradise for Jesus after their physical death to be sprinkled by Jesus blood so that they can be purified and accepted into heaven. “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—“ [Rom 3:25]. They were in captive till then. Jesus when He ascended to heaven led them and gave them gift. They were sprinkled with animal blood but that was not enough to go to heaven. The veil in the temple was torn when Jesus died on the cross to say that all of us were accepted in the presence of the Father where Jesus sits on His right. Here is a confirmation from St. Paul that we do not have to wait in Hade but we can go directly to the place where the Lord is. “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” [2 Cor 5:8] Paradise has been eliminated after the visit of Jesus. There are no records or Biblical evidence to say that Jesus in His divine body descended to Torments and Abyss. We do not know whether people in the Torments were able to look at Jesus when He presented Himself to Old Testament saints. “And being in torments in Hades, he [rich man] lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” Luke 16:23] Bible tells us that they were able to communicate to each other. We have clear information that there will be no salvation after we are dead. Abyss is the bottomless pit where rebellious fallen angels are being kept. Even demons were afraid to go that place. “And they [demons] begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.” [Luke 8:31] The demons knew that one day they will be there. “And suddenly they [demon] cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” [Matt 8:29] Jesus preserved Himself without blemish to be the Lamb for sacrifice. Satan was the only creature who knew the importance of Jesus blood. Satan knew that blood of Jesus was precious and priceless. Satan knew that his future lies in that blood. Satan was constantly on the attack to see that Jesus does not go to the cross. Many times from the cradle to the cross God had to protect Jesus. Jesus desire was fulfilled when He gave up His ghost on the cross. His church [kingdom] was established when water and blood poured out from His side right from the heart. His blood was so precious that he had a fervent desire to offer to us for free so that we do not suffer. Preparation for the covenant Jesus chooses two from His inner circle, Peter and John, to prepare the Passover
dinner for them. If you read the Old Testament then we can understand why the preparation was important. I call them special because Peter was the anchor on whom Jesus was going to rely on building His kingdom. He was already renamed from Simon to Peter [Cephas]. Read what Jesus says about Peter: “Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." [Matt 16:17-19] John has been referred as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” five times in the gospel of John. He also had the privilege of being seated next to Jesus in the dinner and rest on His bosom. Passover dinner was a must for all Jews. It was God’s commandment that all Jews must celebrate this festival every year. But this was the last Passover feast where a divine covenant had to take place. We do not have information about other Passover dinners Jesus had with His disciples. We have no information to compare this particular feast with others. Jesus needed special people to prepare this feast. We need to be careful who handles the bread and wine before we partake in the Lord’s Supper. “Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy”. [Leviticus 21:8] We should be diligent in asking appropriated people to carry the ‘ELEMENTS’. In the modern world we buy the bread and wine from unknown places. We always have an excuse that we have large congregation and we have to buy them as ready made material. Sacraments are not ordinary bread and wine we think. I had personally known a church, which had a congregation of more than ten thousand families, making the wine in their own church. The church has dedicated people. They sacrifice their time for making the wine. I have heard many miracles taking place in this church. One of the miracles that took place was noteworthy to be mentioned. The miracle was, Bread turned out to be a flesh in the eye of an unbeliever when he challenged and questioned his believing wife. The entire family and the neighborhood where she lived accepted Jesus as their Savior. Jesus had a special place for this great dinner. Peter and John wanted to know where they should arrange this dinner. So they [Peter and John] said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?” [Luke 22:9] This suggests to us that they could have had other places where they could have had earlier. Jesus had a special place, which the disciples did not know. Jesus had to give them a unique sign [man carrying a pitcher of water] and asked them to follow him. During the time of Jesus it is very unusual for a man to carry a pitcher of water. So it was easier for these two disciples to find the place. In those days carrying water for household purpose was done only by woman. Jesus was aware who the owner was and what purpose that place was used. The master of the house knew Jesus as a teacher. This gives a clue to what type of relationship Jesus had with this house owner. Jesus had determined that he was going to use this place for His covenant. We do not know how many times Jesus had prayed in the upper room either alone or along with the owner. We are aware of Mary’s house in Bethany. Jesus had a great dinner just two days before the Passover there. He had Simon whom He cured from leprosy on one side and Lazarus whom He raised from the grave on the other side when He sat for a dinner there. Jesus did not do anything but He was anointed with costly alabaster oil. Jesus stayed in here whenever He visited Jerusalem. Jesus did great things in that Bethany house. The disciples and Jesus knew the place and persons so well. Yet He preferred the upper room for this dinner more than Mary’s house. Jesus was choosy about the place. I felt that Jesus was conscious about the sanctification of the place where He wanted to execute this covenant.
Jesus was choosing a place for a Passover dinner. Preparation for the Passover festival was a painstaking. The place has to be cleaned. Every Jewish family will have special utensils. The place Jesus selected was fully furnished. Jesus had it well planned so that His disciples will have no problem finding materials to prepare the table. I felt that Jesus wanted some special vessels to serve bread and wine. He wanted unused vessels so that He can sanctify. If you read Hebrews 9:20-22 then you will understand that vessels used for ministry were purified. We need to be careful about the place where we serve this Lord’s Supper. This is a divine Sacrament. We must be careful what kind of containers we use to serve the dinner. The place and vessels had to be sanctified for this purpose. We need to use vessels kept exclusively for this purpose alone. We cannot change this just because it is convenient to serve. In the modern world we do not observe this saying that God looks at your inner condition and not on these superficial things. We have stopped doing many things because we started compromising for convenient sake. How sad the reverence for this covenant is lost. The first lamp was scarified in the twilight of the day and blood was sprinkled on the door post and the lintel of the house where they ate. The Lord passed over it. The blood had always been sprinkled on the altar built by people for sin offering. “And you shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it”. [Ex 29:36] Saints of Old Testament prepared altars and sanctified it before sprinkling the animal blood. Jesus, as Lamp of God, carried His own blood and sprinkled His blood on the altar not made out of man’s hand but in the presence of God. In that blood Jesus made the covenant on that Great Business dinner He had. Jesus prepared eleven disciples for three and half years and sprinkled His blood on the altar He created in them. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are”. [1Cor 3:16-17] Does this not frighten us? Our altar has to be prepared and sanctified if Jesus blood has to be sprinkled in our altar for remission of our sins. God needs a sanctified place to sprinkle Jesus blood. We should be able to sanctify ourselves by tarrying at the feet of the Lord and pouring out our sins. “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” [John 10:3] Jesus shows the relationship between the Shepherd and the flock. Pastors should know his members by name when he serves the Lord’s Supper. You need to have a preparation and a place for serving Lord’s Supper. The last thought for preparing our altar for receiving bread and wine may be a provoking one. We do understand that we are in human flesh. Our souls [altar] have to be consecrated for purity to receive the blood. The only way is to fast and pray. Fasting does not mean staying away from food. See what St. Paul have to say about it. “Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control”. [1 Cor 7:5] Paul did not say this as a new doctrine to Corinthians. In the Old Testament David while fleeing away from Saul, begged Priest Ahimelech for food to be given to his young men. Read what condition priest laid for David men. “And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.” Then David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day. So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.” [1 Samuel 21:4-6] God expects that kind of holiness from us.
“He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous[e] still; he who is holy, let him be holy still”. [Rev 22:11] The Dinner The dinner begins in the evening. Peter and John who were sent to prepare the meal were there. The other disciples arrived in the evening. It was not sure whether they came along with Jesus or arrived as they completed their day’s work. The disciples were there before Jesus came. The room was well furnished and everything was in order. It was a new experience for the fishermen to be in a beautifully furnished room with expensive curtains, lightings and serving vessels of gold and silver. Few of them were engaged in argument about the place where they would be sitting in the table along with Jesus for self interest. There were no tags to indicate who sitting where like the modern business dinners. Two wanted to sit close to Jesus to be proud about the place they had occupied. Judas was interested to sit close for he wanted to find out where Jesus was going after dinner. The struggle was between few disciples. The atmosphere in that room was far from the unity that was needed in that hour. Though the group was small yet they were in different moods in the room. Jesus walks into that kind of tense room. Jesus was disappointed for in His spirit He was troubled. Satan had already begun his work to destroy and confuse His disciples. The unity among them fell apart. Sunday morning service in every modern church has the same scenario. Before I knew Jesus as my savior, this was my view of the Sunday morning service. Church was a club for me to meet my friends and get to know all the gossips of the week. There are many like that even now. They can be classified into many groups. Believers and none believers of Christ come together. How is the Pastor going to decide who have accepted Christ? Some of them could be just visitors who had been invited by friend for the first time. Some of them may be spending their time with friends. Some of them will hang around to see different people coming together. Sunday morning worshipers have different level of spiritual life. Preachers have great difficulty in delivering Sunday message that have to feed all types attendees. The presence of the Holy Spirit alone can satisfy every member who comes. Those who administer Holy Communion should examine himself. Jesus scheduled His dinner and the covenant He made with His disciples on a week day and not on a Sabbath day. Jesus was careful that not every one in synagogue gets the covenant. His followers who cared for [Ref. Luke 23:49] Him were not allowed in the room except for the twelve disciples whom He had selected. I think I should be more specific in mentioning that even women who had helped Peter and John in preparing the Passover meal and the house owner, who had given the place, were not there. This gives a clue that this covenant was not for public. I do not know how many will accept this. The Lord’s Supper is not free for all. It is not for asking. Each individual has to earn this. The disciples spent three and half years to earn a place in that dinner. Judas, the disciple, could not be in the covenant. He had dinner with Jesus but yet he could not participate. Jesus had to clean that group to make every one perfect or worthy of receiving the Lord’s Supper. The disciples’ altar had to be sanctified. Jesus first work in the room was to defuse the atmosphere that was prevailing in the room. There was nothing mentioned about who sat where in the Bible. A careful study will reveal that John was seated on one side. There was no doubt on this as he was seen leaning on Jesus breast. There were few evidence to show that possibly Judas was next to Jesus. Judas was the treasurer in Jesus ministry. He discussed with Jesus about financial status and the plans Jesus had. He was also close to dip bread in the same bowl with Jesus. Nevertheless they seated without any further murmur. The next move of Jesus was the most unexpected one. It caught
every one there with surprise. It was a simple custom in Jews community that host makes arrangement to wash the feet of the guest when they come to the house. [Read what Jesus says in Luke 7:44 “I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet”] Here it was Jesus washing disciples’ feet. It was symbolic yet He told them a spiritual secret. Jesus shows the kind of humbleness that was required when He asks the disciples to follow what He has done. To come to Lord’s Table we should have the server’s character. God hates the proud. Jesus eliminated the spirit of egoism from the room. Jesus now deals with Satan. Satan has already entered into Judas. Satan wants to destroy the purpose of this dinner. Satan had plans to participate in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus was troubled in His spirit. We can imagine the seriousness and the reverence Jesus wanted to maintain in that dinner. Jesus had to eliminate the devil without bringing much confusion. No way can a devil participate in the Lord’s Supper. Devil came to the table in shape of Judas. Judas was the treasurer. Many times in the ministry of Jesus, Judas had close talk with Him on financial matters. He could have rebuked Judas as He did to Peter [Matt 16:23]. That could have disturbed the minds of the disciples. This was exactly what Satan wanted. Jesus eliminated him wisely. Judas left in the middle leaving an impression that he had some other work. Judas did eat the Passover dinner but was not there for the covenant. It’s so surprising that none of them missed Judas during the communion or while they took their walk to the garden. The Pastors not only must know each person but also their inner life to know whom they are serving Lord’s Supper. It is the responsibility of the shepherd to know each flock who is under their care. Lord’s Supper is holy. I had been to few churches were elders of the church were asked not to participate in Lord’s Supper till they had heart to heart talk with pastors. Jesus talks to rest about the unity and how that could be maintained among them. Jesus teaches them to love one another. If there was no love then it would be difficult for others to recognize them to be Jesus disciples. Here is an article I read in a news paper about a blind girl who sold apples in a leading airport. Her small makeshift table was knocked by a group of sales executives who rushed to catch their planes. They did not know she was blind. One of them, as after thought came back to help her re-arrange her stall and paid her couple of dollars as compensation. He was surprised when she called as he was leaving and said ‘Are you Jesus?’ Only then he came to know that she was a blind girl. How true people judge you by your works and not what you are. A person who participates in the Lord’s Supper must be able to love others as he loves himself. This was not a request from Jesus but a commandment. “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world”. [James 1:27] Jesus taught important doctrines to the disciples. These disciples had spent three and half years with Him day and night. If we read in the John gospel Jesus conducts a class to His disciples. Jesus touches various topics. He talked about love, keeping the commandment, creating a place in heaven and further not to leave them as orphans but to send a comforter [Holy Spirit]. Jesus answers questions and clear doubts. Jesus did not tell them in the beginning but He found the right time to tell them. “And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.” [John 16:4] The subjects He spoke about were like syllabus for our modern Christians to know before they could take the communion. I know few of the churches do conduct classes to their members before they allow them to participate in Lord’s Supper. Jesus took care to brief them before He blessed bread and wine that were given as token of his flesh and blood. The person who needs to participate must have this knowledge to understand what this covenant means to him.
Jesus took one bread and one cup to bless during the dinner. Yes this will be something ridicules if I tell you that we have to follow. There is a deep meaning behind this whether you like it or not. In the Old Testament different bloods were used as sin offering. There were pigeons, doves, bull and calf etc. bloods were offered by different people according to their sins and affordability. In the New Testament it was Jesus’ blood that was offered once for all. It was one body and one blood. We need to break bread and have the blood from one wine cup that was blessed. The significant meaning of taking from one cup cannot be denied because of the magnitude of the church. The Lord’s Supper or the covenant Jesus made was holy and done with prayer. The consequences for partaking in the wrongful way are well explained in Paul’s letter to Corinthians. There are many mega churches even now follow this system. The new covenant Jesus introduced was for us to remember the suffering and death of Jesus. Jesus was accused falsely. He was hand cuffed publically. He received thirty nine strips from Roman soldiers. He was crowned with thorns on His head. He was spit on his face. His beard was pulled. He was stripped of his garments. He carried heavy wooden post. He was stoned all the way. He was nailed to the cross. His blood flowed all over from his body. He was pierced on the side. His death gave us the hope of resurrection. This Lord’s Supper reminds us about this. Those who participate in Lord’s Supper must be willing to share the sufferings of Jesus. Paul when he writes to Corinthians he mentions it in a simple way. “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” Jesus makes the covenant with His blood. The dinner ends with a song. Conclusion: Lord’s Supper is now commonly known as ‘Holy Communion’. We have the commandment to participate in Holy Communion as often as possible. This was not understood by Christians who lived in first century. There was no reverence as they were not guided till St. Paul explained to them the meaning and how it should be taken. St. Paul was the first apostle who boldly corrected believers about how they had to prepare themselves before participating. St. Paul got his instructing from God. [‘For I received from the Lord’ (1 Cor. 11:23)] St. Paul explained to them that the dinner on that day was nothing compared to the sacred Holy Communion Jesus instituted. St. Paul warned those who participate in Holy Communion about the consequences they will face if they had not followed with references needed. Holy Communion was not something new in the Biblical culture. Abraham was the first man called by God, to separate himself from the world and his family, to be a chosen man through whom God wanted to build a nation for Him. Abraham also was the first person who received ‘Holy Communion’ from the hand of Melchizedek. [Read this: “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.”] Bread and wine has found a special place in the Bible. Holy Communion was instituted for us to remember the death. The death and resurrection are hopes that make a Christian life. Those who are born in this world have to meet the death at one point or other. Death is inevitable. Only if there is death then there can be resurrection. We, who participate in Holy Communion, accept the death of Christ, and have a hope that one day we will be
resurrected like Him. Accepting the death of Christ starts from the day a person takes his immersed baptism. This is not sprinkling of water when a child is named. I am talking about a baptism, where a person understands Jesus and accepts Him as his Savior, walks in openly accepting death of Jesus, to be immersed symbolically as he is dead to all the fleshly things and raised up as a new creature. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! [Acts 5:17] This is another important act of faith in Christianity to be practiced by all who are ready to participate in Holy Communion. This is a testimony a Christian must do. If we don’t do this now then Jesus in heaven will deny us before God. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” [Matt 10:32-33] The Holy Communion is not a covenant that you take it lightly. Every other commandment in the Bible is teaching. You hear it and believe it. The Holy Communion is precious because it goes into you. It merges with your blood and flesh. It is a part of you. It works wonders in you. It does miracles in believers and at the same time it kills those who misuse them. [Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s] body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. (1Cor 1127-30)] The bottom line is let us not play with the covenant Jesus had left behind for us. “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s Table and of the table of demons.” [1 Cor 10:21] This is not going to end but will continue in Father’s Kingdom. “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” [Matt 26:29]
