Mark 14:22 And as they were eating, He took bread and blessed it, and He broke it and gave it to them, and said, Take; this is My body. 1Cor 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 1Cor 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ? 17 Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.
[Part 1 of 2] We have seen that as the Lord and His disciples were eating, He took bread. blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. and said. "Take; this is My body" (v. 22). The bread of the Lord's table is a symbol signifying the Lord's body broken for us on the cross to release His life that we may participate in it. By participating in this life, we become the mystical Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27), which is also signified by the bread of the table (l Cor. 10:17). Hence, by partaking of this bread, we have the fellowship of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16). The Lord was broken on the cross in order to release His life. The release of the Lord's life is in resurrection. Therefore, breaking is a matter of death, and releasing is a matter of resurrection. Through being broken on the cross, the Lord was able to release the divine life from within Him so that we might participate in this life. By participating in the Lord's divine life, we become the mystical Body of Christ, His enlargement. This means that by enjoying the bread we become Christ's mystical Body. As His enlargement, Christ's mystical Body is also signified by the bread on the table, as indicated in I Corinthians 10:17. Hence, by partaking of this bread we have the fellowship of the Body of Christ. The Lord's blood redeemed us from our fallen condition back to God, back to the inheritance we lost through the fall of Adam, and back to God's full blessing. Concerning the Lord's table (1 Cor. 10:21), the bread signifies our participation in life, and the cup, our enjoyment of God's blessing. Hence, it is called the cup of blessing (1 Cor. 10:16). In this cup are all the blessings of God and even God Himself as our portion (Psa. 16:5). In Adam our portion was the cup of God's wrath (Rev 14:10). Christ has drunk that cup for us (John 18:11), and His blood has constituted the cup of salvation for us (Psa. 116:13), the cup that runs over (Psa. 23:5 ). By partaking of this cup we also have the fellowship of the blood of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16). [Continued tomorrow] (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Mark, pp. 375-376. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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