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A Mandate with Jesus

© John L. Hoh, Jr.

On Maundy Thursday we again celebrate the "new command" or "new mandate" from our Lord - to remember his death and resurrection in his body and blood. What, exactly, do we receive when we eat the bread and drink the wine?

First, we can be sure that we are receiving Jesus' own body and blood. For Jesus himself said, "This is my body." "This is my blood." Coming on the eve of his death, this is not the time for Jesus' to be using picture language. The time for parables is past. Now, Jesus is telling his disciples those things that are important; and of supreme importance is his death on the cross - his body given into death, his blood shed for the remission of sins.

Impossible, you say? Not any more impossible than Jesus feeding 5000 men (plus who knows how many women and children!) with only five loaves and two fish - and having twelve baskets of scraps left over! Certainly if Jesus can do this, is it then impossible for him to give to each believer his body and blood?

What happens to the bread and wine? When does it change into body and blood? Scripture doesn't tell us that it turns into body and blood; it tells us we receive the body and blood, as the Lutheran Confessors proclaimed, "in, with, and under the bread and wine." Pauls first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, illustrates this truth.

What of the elements? Must it be unleavened bread and wine? Scripture only states "fruit of the vine" and "bread." Traditionally Christians have used unleavened bread and grape wine because that's what was used in the Passover meal. Grape juice also would be sour if not fermented at the time of the Passover, since there would be no fresh harvest of grapes in Palestine at that time of year. So, while grape juice and soda crackers are fine, cherry wine would not be acceptable. Obviously God gives us Christian freedom to a certain degree - freedom not to offend a recovering alcoholic, someone with an allergic reaction to wine, someone undergoing medical procedures where the wine would have an adverse effect.

To understand how Passover and Communion come into play, I recommend that you watch a presentation of the Passover on video hosted by Zola Levitt. Zola is a Messianic Jew who demonstrates how Christ is portrayed in the Passover meal.

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