Newsletter - 4th July 2021
Symbolism in the Lord’s Supper
When Jesus instituted the meal of remembrance, he spoke of surrendering his life and sacrificing his blood and his body.
There is a deep connection between the events of that last supper- eating the sacrificial lamb, eating the bread, and drinking the wine- and Jesus’ proclamation of forgiveness, unity, and the future kingdom. These all belong together.
Jesus used the sacrifice of the lamb to explain to those gathered with him at the table what the sacrifice death. (1 Cor 5:7, Acts 8: 32-33). So for us as for the first Christians, everything we eat becomes a thanksgiving for a sacrifice. Every meal together in a communal lovemeal, a thank-offering, a meal of remembrance. We should give great thanks to God each time we gather for a meal. What we give thanks for is not that our own appetites, our own interests, are satisfied. We give thanks for the sacrifice of the plants and animals God gives us so that may live for unity, which is God’s will; so that our lives are sustained and we can go on witnessing to God’s kingdom by living in the communal church. (September 1934)
Eberhard Arnold, God’s Revolution, The Plough Publishing House 1997, p 74.
Eberhard Arnold (1883-1935) a german protestant theologian and writer, with his wife Emmy founder of the Bruderhof Community (1920).