Lord's Supper and Passover

koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Kyungbook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

2 April 2010

Despite what Faulstich, the new designer of biblical chronology says about the Jewish New Year, it did not start in Nisan as the Babylonians but in Tishri. Tishri is supported by Siegfried Horn and Edwin Thiele and others. The Lunar New Year of Buddhists and other religions in Nisan, is in accordance with the same habit in Babylonian religion in Ancient times.

Nisan falls about the end of March beginning of April and may vary from year to year in dating. Christians celebrate the Crucifixion of Christ or think of the Crucifixion week in their daily Bible readings. They talk about Thursday night with the Passover and Lord Supper, Friday morning with the court cases and whippings, Friday afternoon at 3 o clock when Jesus died, Friday at sunset before the Seventh Day Sabbath when His body was removed, the Sabbath when His body rest in the grave to give us eternal rest in Him if we accept Him as the book of Hebrews explains, Sunday morning of His resurrection when He was no longer in the grave, His appearance to several individuals and to His twelve disciples. 

Pope Ratzinger gave a sermon on Thursday night in Rome on the Lord's Supper on Thursday night. The Seventh Day Adventist church is not a liturgical church like the Catholics. This means that they do not have the sacraments in the church. They have Holy days through the year with names given to it but in the Seventh Day Adventist church, they do not follow this practice. They are contempt with Sabbath as the Holy Day of the Lord and here and there they have a day of prayer allocated or prayer for rain and so forth.

The pope's sermon on Thursday night about the Lord's Supper was typical Catholic. In that sermon one can see one of the greatest reasons why Seventh Day Adventists cannot follow the theological guidance of the Catholic church. His sermon beautifully strung together a number of events under the umbrella of 'God with us', but unfortunately, the last item confused the whole pattern. The 'God with us' events or incarnation started early in the time of Moses when he met God in the burning bush. Then God created a Temple for Him to meet His people and be 'God with us' to them. Then He incarnated through Christ as the person Jesus to be in flesh 'God with us'. But then Pope Ratzinger wanted to extend this 'God with us' theme by adding the Eucharist as another way in which 'God become with us'. The pope reiterate the non-biblical doctrine that the Lord's Supper, in their language, the Eucharist, is the way in which through the wine and bread, changing really into the real body of Christ and His blood, come into human hands of the clergy and only if you take that cup from the clergyman and drink 'Christ' are you saved. This is the greatest mistake of the Catholic church. This is what Seventh Day Adventists call, this monopoly on human salvation by a church official, claiming to be Christ's representative, the vicarius filii dei function, the identification of the Antichrist or someone who tries to take the salvivic space of Christ. Not only is the error superstition to claim that wine and bread is the real body of Christ or become so, it is also an error to claim that our hands are taking Christ and giving Him to others to eat and drink so that He incarnate into their bodies. Pure superstition. Totally non-biblical.

The Thursday night of the Lord's Supper, there were three meals. First it was the Supper time on Thursday night and it was the time to prepare the Passover meal, celebrating their rescue out of Egypt and then it was also the Lord's Supper that Jesus instituted. The Lord's Supper is sandwiched between the normal evening meal and the Passover since Judas left and the disciples thought that he is going to buy things for the Passover feast. 

Many people think that the Lord's Supper is only grabbing a piece of bread and drink some wine from a cup and that is it. Also non-biblical.

The Bible considers yeast and fermentation as a result of sin and Christ's body could not be tainted with sin and thus also with wine or fermentation. Christ was not a wine drinker, similar to the Nazarenes of the Old Testament who also did not drink wine. That is why the wine that Christ used in the Lord's Supper was grape juice and non-alcoholic.

A further point of the Lord's Supper is this. There is in South Korea on National Television an advertisement of Baeksok University, a Christian University. In the television advertisement you can see someone kneeling in front of someone else and washing her feet. Every time you see this action of the footwashing, you must tell yourself, this is the biblical way of celebrating the Lord's Supper.

Before the Lord's Supper, Jesus washed his disciples feet. Peter said: No stop. I do not like the idea.

Jesus said: If I do not wash your feet, you have no part in my salvivic acts on behalf of you.

Peter changed his tune and said: In that case, wash my feet and hands and head. He knew he needs salvation very much. Peter's desire is all of us also.

Jesus said: No, if you have been baptized or washed already, then you do not need to be washed all over, just your feet. The reason for the footwashing was not that their feet were dirty, but that He was demonstrating to them a lesson of humility. But, most important, He was saying, "I the Creator and King of the Universe, bows in front of you all the way from heaven to give My life to rescue your soul through the incarnation or 'God with us' event.

Seventh Day Adventists keep reminding the other denominations including the Catholic church that Jesus said in John 13:14-15 about the footwashing:

"If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet, for I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you".

These are very important words that cannot be taken figurative speaking only. He could have said or done this a long time ago, three and a half years before already, but it is incorporated into the Thursday night event of the Lord's Supper. Before the Lord's Supper. Seventh Day Adventists holds that before the Lord's Supper, we wash the feet of each other following the instruction in John 13 above. Yes, there are cultural Adventists who comes to church just for the Adventist culture of vegetarianism and healthful living. They like to socialize within this group, but when it is the Lord's Supper and footwashing will be administered that day, they disappear or are absent. Shy, embarrassed about an action Christ did before us for us and as an example for us to follow. Adventists washed each other's feet, then stand in a circle holding hands and pray. They then wash their hands and sit down in church waiting for the non-yeast bread and non-alcoholic grape juice to be given to them, as a symbol figuratively only, of Christ's body and blood on our behalf.

Normally the Lord's Supper celebration in the Adventist Church is a very passionate and moving experience. The Bible says that Jesus was not sad but laughed during the occasion. Christ could laugh and the joy of salvation may make a Christian here or there express praise for Christ but mostly Adventists are found meditating on their self, that needs repair, reform, renovation, healing, restoration and peace.

Dear God

restore me fully and heal my soul and give within my heart a new Spirit and a steadfast faith. Wash me also completely and thanks for Your salvation unto death on my behalf.

Amen