Communion is amazing to me that Jesus would institute it for us to share with others and Him. The last meal Jesus shared with His disciples was the Passover. Jesus was Jewish and Passover was a very important time in the life of Jews. They still celebrate Passover and they understand the importance of this meal together. Us, on the other hand, were given communion, by Jesus, because He wanted to institute it so that we would remember what He did for us. It should be a Holy time for us and never taken unworthily.
Jesus instituted communion when He spend His last meal upon this earth with His disciples in the upper room. Jesus knew exactly what would happen to Him and He chose to share that meal with His disciples. He also knew that this meal would one day also come to us to partake in. Every time we take Communion we are to remember exactly what it cost Him (the cross), and we are to remember the cross, and what it means to take communion.
But at the Passover meal, they did not just take communion. It was a meal that represented what the Jews went through and came through.
There are four cups traditionally consumed at Passover, these include:
- The Cup of Sanctification
- The Cup of Plagues
- The Cup of Redemption (used for us to take communion)
- The Cup of Praise
Of the four cups, we take “The Cup of Redemption” for our communion cup.
People would get ready and set up the Passover meal. They would set four cups in place and each had a purpose. We, as Christians of faith, take the 3rd cup in remembrance of all that the Lord Jesus did for us. We don’t have to just drink from this cup once a year during Passover, but we can take it numerous times and each time we do we are to remember what Jesus did for us. However, to the Jewish people they also had things to remember as well. There is/and was a reason for the presence of all four cups at the Passover table, just as there is a reason for Passover.
The First Cup was the Cup of Santification
The cup of Sanctification and what it means: To sanctify someone or something is to set that person or thing apart for the use intended by its designer. God is our designer. It represents that God says they are cleansed, forgiven, and made holy to Him. When one is sanctified they enter into God’s grace for that year until the next Passover is given. It was not forgiving like we have today because, for one thing, they did not know Jesus and because they did not know Jesus personally, they did not have Him as their Lord and Savior. God dearly loved and loves the Jewish people so God, the Father, instituted this meal for them to remember from where they were freed. It is much more than this. God meant for them to be a light unto the world, and God wants us, who know Jesus, to be a light for the kingdom of God also. Our relationship with the Lord should never stop growing.
The second cup is known as the cup of plagues
So what does this cup represent? The deliverance from the plagues of Egypt. They were kept from the plagues, the sicknesses, and the diseases that the Egyptians went through. It represented healing as well. As God healed His people and brought them out of Egypt and their slavery they would find a peace for their soul. They walked in health, and God Almighty provided for their needs.
The third cup was called the Cup of Redemption
This is the cup Jesus was holding at the Passover table just prior to His death and resurrection when He said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20). This is the cup that Jesus instituted for us to take communion, what it stood for, and we are, as Christians, to take this cup regularly in remembrance of Him. This third cup that was used at the Passover meal was given to us, as Christians, to regularly celebrate exactly what Jesus did for each and everyone of us. The cup we use for communion, as Christians, we take usually very somber because it reminds us of the crucifixion of our Lord, but at the same time it is also a memory that should be joyous because of what it proclaims for every Christian. The hope, the love, and because of it we will see our Lord again. It not only is a somber occasion, but a celebration for all that Jesus has done for us. Our communion gives us great hope. For that part it is a celebration as well. Our redemption comes through Jesus and His sacrifice for us, but now Jesus is in heaven seated with God, the Father, and so when we take communion…we can have hope that we will spend eternity with Him. We don’t mourn Him because He is not dead. He is alive and we, as Christians, will see Him again. Jesus gave us freedom through Him. He took away the curse and offers us eternal life.
The forth cup is the cup of Praise
Out of the four cups of Passover, it does not say, at the last supper, that Jesus partook of it. Possibly because Jesus is saving this cup for when we get to heaven and we take it with Him. Is this cup our wedding cup (kiddush cup)? Will He say to his bride when He takes that cup, “Well done, good and faithful servants)? It is important to understand that in a Jewish wedding, the groom extends this cup to the bride, and she drinks from it as a sign of her acceptance of the covenant being offered. Her acceptance of the cup seals the marriage.” Will that be what happens for each of us on that day? As a result, many at Passover will leave the fourth cup unemptied; learning from it, but not partaking of it. Praising God and celebrating with joy all that He has done and is doing, and all that we will one day know of Him. One day that Praise will be in His presence and with all of heaven there to praise our wonderful Savior together for each and everything He has done for us, His bride!There is something wonderful going to happen to each of us when we share that meal with our Lord in Heaven…and here on earth we remember what He did, what He does, and what will one day be. Do you look up each day ready to meet Jesus and all that He has in store for each of us in heaven? We need to be ready, for we do not know the day or hour of His return…so get ready, be ready, and look up!
We, as Christians, don’t usually partake in the Passover meal because we are not Jewish, however, we are Christians and we need to partake in Communion on a regular basis and understand what it means. Jesus is our lifeline while on this earth. Honor Him and thank Him for all He has done for you.