Prefigurements of Holy Communion in the Old Testament
Genesis 14:18-- "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine:
and he was the priest of the most high God." The symbolic nature of this
verse is clear. "Melchizedek" in Hebrew means King of Righteousness. "Salem"
in Hebrew means Peace. This "King of Righteousness" and "King of Peace" who
also happened to be "the priest of the most high God" brings bread and wine,
the very things that Christ (Whom Melchizedek prefigures) consecrated at the
Last Supper. He brings these items to Abraham, with whose seed (Christ), God
promised to make an everlasting covenant. When Christ commands His Apostles
to drink of the cup, He says it contains His blood of the New Covenant.
Isaiah 6:6-7-- "Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal
in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:And he laid
it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity
is taken away, and thy sin purged." According to Hebrews 10:4, "it is
not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." So
what was this coal that the angel gave Isaiah that was able to purge his sins?
According to Hebrews 10:10, "we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all" and Christ said that His sacrifice was
for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28). We can also look at the way Orthodox
Christians receive Communion to see clearly what is prefigured in Isaiah. In
the passage from Isaiah we have the coal, which is a prefigurement of the Body
of Christ, which is taken off of the heavenly altar and with tongs is placed
on the mouth of Isaiah. During the Divine Liturgy, when it becomes time for
the priest to administer the Eucharist, he takes the cup containing the Body
and Blood of Christ off of the altar and with a long spoon carefully takes a
square piece of the Eucharist and places it on the mouth of the Christian. You
will even find that in most Orthodox prayer books, one of the prayers to say
immediately after receiving Communion are the very words of the angel,
"Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin
purged."
The Institution by Christ of Holy Communion
Matthew 26:26-28-- "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed
it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this
is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying,
Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which
is shed for many for the remission of sins."
Mark 14:22-24-- "And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and
brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And
he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they
all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for many."
Luke 22:19-20-- "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave
unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in
remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the
new testament in my blood, which is shed for you."
The above three Gospel passages record the Institution of the Holy Eucharist
by Christ Himself at the Last Supper. Take note that He does not say "This resembles
my body" or "This is symbolic of my body". He says "This is my body."
His words in the passage below from the Gospel of John confirm this.
John 6:53-58-- "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life
in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and
I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood
is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in
me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father:
so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came
down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth
of this bread shall live for ever."
The Celebration of Holy Communion by the Apostles
Acts 2:42 and 46-- "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine
and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." "And they, continuing
daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house,
did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart." One of the
synonyms for Holy Communion is The Breaking of the Bread. This comes from the
Gospel passages where it says that Christ took bread and broke it before He
changed it into His Body. One of the things that Christ commands is that the
Church do this in remembrance of Him. The above passages from Acts illustrate
how the Apostles carried this out daily.
Acts 20:7-- "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came
together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on
the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight."
The Teaching of the Apostles on Holy Communion
1 Corinthians 10:16-- "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the
communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not
the communion of the body of Christ?"Could the Bible speak more
clearly than this about Holy Communion? It comes right out and says that the
bread and the cup are not symbolic, but are the communion of the Body and Blood
of Christ!
1 Corinthians 11:23-29-- "For I have received of the Lord that which also
I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed
took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat:
this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After
the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is
the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance
of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the
Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink
this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the
Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink
of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh
damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." St. Paul goes
so far as to say that what he received from Christ Himself, was that
anyone who eats of the Body and drinks of the Blood of Christ unworthily, eats
and drinks damnation to himself because he has not discerned that it is truly
the Body and truly the Blood of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion!
