Session 4

                                       

Today, we will discuss the passage of the Last Supper.  Dr. Nagy, the Bible says in chapter 14 and verse 22, and as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, “This is My body.”  Covenant, which is shed for many.”  My question is why did Jesus call the bread his own flesh and what was the substance in the cup that He called his own blood?

Truly this passage where the Lord gave the cup and the bread for the disciples to eat is one of the most controversial passages for Christians and for the non-Christians.  Some people even claimed that Christians in churches eat the flesh and drink the blood of dead people, and they referred to these scriptures as a proof. But the Bible states clearly that the Lord Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”   And the substance in the cup was fruit of vine.  So it was the grape juice called at that time ”wine”, and He said, ”This is my blood, drink from the fruit of the vine as a symbol of my blood and eat of the bread as a symbol of my flesh.”

If the wine and the bread were just symbols, why did the Lord Jesus tell the disciples to eat them as His own flesh and blood?
This bread and wine had great spiritual significance in the Bible and, Jesus, all Glory belongs to Him, said about the word that it is the true bread coming from heaven that it is the true source of fulfillment for every one who knows Him. And the Bible is full of these comparisons and symbols and examples that verify this truth. We read about the words of the prophet who said, “Your words were found, and I ate them” (Jeremiah 15:16) He does not speak about material things or subjects, but he meant that the knowledge of God’s words fulfilled him as if he ate the word of God. This applies to the grape juice that symbolizes the blood of Christ known by the blood of Jesus. The blood symbolizes life that is in man, and when the Lord Jesus said to the disciples ”drink from My blood “ he meant, “I am giving you My life”.  This is what took place on the cross in the death of Jesus.  His body was broken.  It is written, ”Reproach has broken my heart.” (Psalms 69:20)  His blood was shed, and this is how He gave His life for us.  But the Bible never meant that Christians would eat the body of Jesus and drink His blood in the literal sense.
Dr. Nagy, what is the meaning of the statement” This is My body” and “This is My blood of the new covenant which is shed for many.” What is meant by the “ New covenant?”

The word New Testament here means what comes after the Old Testament.

The Old Testament is what comes before the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament blood and animal sacrifices were offered, and their blood was shed on the altar to cover men’s sins.  But Jesus wanted to communicate to the disciples that He was going to offer His body and shed His own blood in the same way as the Old Testament blood that was to be shed on the altar.  He wanted them to understand that after offering His body as a sacrifice, the New Testament will begin where men will no longer need to offer animal sacrifices but they will enter into the new covenant where Jesus offered Himself once and for all and He found eternal redemption.
After the occurrence of Peter’s denial, in chapter 14 verse 27 from the book of Mark, the Bible states that Jesus said to His disciples,” All of you will stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. My question here is why did the Lord Jesus say this to the disciples? I do not see the reason why He had to say this?
The events of the cross were very painful for the disciples to go through.  They would not understand the cross, and the Lord Jesus was keen to tell them all what was going to happen ahead in full details.  He knew the fear and the doubt they were going to face, (the word doubt came in some translations as to fall apart, to scatter or go away) and this is what happened literally when the Lord Jesus was arrested.  All the disciples without exception left him and were afraid. Peter, who said, ”Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be”, disowned Him before a servant.  Here we see another attribute of God Almighty, blessed be His name, which is the ability to know the unseen. Jesus knew that His disciples were going to leave Him.  He knew that He was going to die and was going to rise from the dead. This is mentioned in verse 28 when He said to the disciples, “ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”  He foretold the disciples that He was going to go to Galilee before them, and He told Peter that He was going to disown Him before the rooster crows.
Dr. Nagy, truly I cannot understand the reaction of the disciple fleeing and leaving Jesus behind in time of crisis?
This is not strange at all for human beings; man is the same.  However he states or promises as Peter did when he said to the Lord Jesus,” If I have to die with you, I will not deny you!”  They all ran away and left Him, and none of them tried to earn eternity by dying on His behalf as some people think or claim.
What do you mean by last statement, and how can we fit it in today’s discussion?

Some people tried to claim and prove that the Lord Jesus was never crucified nor killed only a likeness of that was shown to them.  Some people claimed that when the soldiers came to arrest Him, He said to His disciples, ”Who will buy the paradise?”  And one of them said, ”I will”. So Christ cast His own resemblance on the disciple.  Then the soldiers came and arrested the disciple instead of Jesus. The true story in fact is just the opposite. The disciples never thought that He was really going to be killed by transgressors, and they kept affirming their loyalty and they would defend Him unto death. But Jesus insisted that He was going to be handed over to the Jews.  Some people even went further on claiming that God cast the resemblance of Christ on Judas, and he was the one arrested by the soldiers. Other claimed that Jesus was indeed arrested by the Jews, but He never died on the cross.  He was just unconscious.  As we see so far that Jesus, Blessed is His name, was fully ready to die. He prophesied that He was going to die and rise again to the disciples.

Dr. Nagy in verse 32 the Bible says, “then they came to place, which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”  And He took Peter, James and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch.”  If Jesus was God coming in the flesh and knew that He was going to die on the cross, and that He came for this purpose, why did He go through all this time of sorrow and grief?

There is a difference between the divine nature of God (or His nature as God coming in the flesh) and His human nature.  And the fact that He took human flesh it was this human flesh that was grieving. The process of the cross was not a play or a drama that the Lord Jesus had to act out.  It entailed true suffering and bitter pain that the body of Jesus had to go through.  His body was as any other human body except it was without sin. Consequently, He had to grieve for what He was about to experience of pain. And this explains the verse that is following where the Bible says that Jesus prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. He was telling the Father, “Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

Dr. Nagy, don’t you find this puzzling.  We say that Christ is the One coming in the flesh, and in the same time He is praying to God almighty in heaven. He came to be crucified, but in the same time He is praying, ”Take this cup away from me.”

Again I tell you that, if we understand the fact that the Lord Jesus was like any other human being praying to God, and expressing His emotional pain and grief for what is about to happen on the cross.  According to His divine nature, He knew that He had to die. That is why He prayed for the will of God to be fulfilled. In many occasions the Lord Jesus confirmed that He came to do the will of the Father.  On one time He says, “I delight to do Your will, O my God.” (Psalms 40:8) Another time He says, ”The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; fir whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner (John 5:17).  So it is crucially important to differentiate between the nature of Jesus as a human and His divine nature as God coming in the flesh.  If someone understands this truth through the help of the Holy Spirit, this would be a key for him to understand many issues.