A question on the emblems used at the Lord’s table
Brethren;I appreciate your courage and love of the truth.
I am a member of a multi-cup congregation. I have always wondered why you make such a distinction concerning the number
of cups. Is it not the content, not the container, that the Lord commanded to “drink ye all of it”? Also, I have never heard of
anyone being quite so careful with the bread as you are of the cup - but does not the scripture indicate that the loaf was singular
by the word “it”? (Mt.26:26)(Mk.14:22)(Lk.22:19)and (I Cor.12:24) I would hope that you would be as concerned for the
number of loaf(ves) used as you are for the number of cups. I would appreciate your reply.
As always, in search of TRUTH,
Thank you so much for your questions and for your desire to search for the truth!
There are two questions and I’ll answer them in the order asked and hopefully will adequately cover them both. The
first is ” Is it not the content, not the container, that the Lord commanded to “drink ye all of it”?”
Yes, it is the contents that we are commanded to drink, as no one can swallow the physical cup. This does not
mean, however, that there was no significance given to the cup when Jesus was first presenting these simple
emblems to the apostles. Jesus didn’t just tell them, “here, eat this bread,” He made the bread significant by
saying, “take, eat; this is My body” (Matthew 26:26, emphasis mine). Likewise, he didn’t just say, “here, drink
some of this,” He made the ‘fruit of the vine’ significant by saying, “This is My blood of the new covenant…” (Mark
14:24, emphasis mine). And finally, he didn’t just say, “here’s a cup to drink out of,” He gave the cup significance,
just as He did with the loaf and the fruit of the vine, by saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood” (1
Corinthians 11:25, emphasis mine). These are parallel statements. If we believe the Lord when he tells us what the
loaf and the fruit of the vine stand for, then we must believe him when he tells us what the cup stands for, that is, the
new testament, ratified by his shed blood.The second question is, “Also, I have never heard of anyone being quite so careful with the bread as you are of the
cup - but does not the scripture indicate that the loaf was singular by the word “it”?
(Mt.26:26)(Mk.14:22)(Lk.22:19)and (I Cor.12:24) I would hope that you would be as concerned for the number of
loaf(ves) used as you are for the number of cups.”
Mindy, you very simply yet quite adequately show that, indeed, on loaf must be used on the Lord’s table. The very
fact that Jesus used one loaf, as shown by the use of the singular word ‘it’ as you pointed out (which is also the
same singular word used to reference the cup) and then simply saying “do this” or “do likewise,” should be enough
to convince us that the use of one loaf and one cup is how we should ‘do’ communion.
Obviously, there are those out there who place more emphasis on the use of one cup than the use of one loaf or
you would not have asked the question, however, I can not answer you as to why this is because I and the
congregation I attend do not place importance on one above the other. I will paste in an excerpt from another article
on our site where the case for one loaf (and one cup) is laid out (the full article can be found HERE):THE LOAFWe know that ONE loaf should be used as Jesus had (has) but one body, both symbolically, physically and
spiritually speaking. I don’t believe a specific verse is needed to prove that Jesus had just one physical body, as I
have never heard anyone argue otherwise . But we can look at a verse or two that explain the one symbolic body
and one spiritual body.
Symbolically, Christ was represented by one paschal lamb during the passover. 1 Cor. 5:7 tells us that “Christ is our
passover.” John says, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) It was
commanded that when preparing the passover, no bones of the lamb should be broken (Exo. 12:46). We read of
Jesus’ crucifixion, “…when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs”
(John 19:33), “these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled” (John 19:36). The paschal lamb was to
be “without blemish” (Exo. 12:5) Jesus “committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22) Just as
there was one lamb per house (Exo. 12:3) during the Passover, we have one loaf representing Christ (our sacrificial
lamb, Acts 8:32, 1 Peter 1:19, Rev 5:12) in each assembly of the saints that meets to worship God on the first day of
the week (acts 20:7).
One lamb per house (Israel) = one loaf per congregation (NT church)
Spiritually, Christ has one body as well. Eph 4:4 tells us “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in
one hope of your calling” [emphasis mine]. This one body equates to the new testament church. (see Colossians
1:18; Eph 1:22-23) There is to be no ’schism’ (1 Cor. 12:25) and no “division” (1 Cor. 1:10) in that one body.
Perhaps the most compelling passage that leads us to use just one loaf during the communion comes from Paul in 1
Cor. 10:16,17 -…The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread
and one body; for we all partake of that one bread…Some may percieve that there is more emphasis placed on the cup because this is the subject that we are more
often asked or challenged about. In fact, it was contention about dividing the cup (i.e. using individual cups) that
caused the unfortunate split between ‘our’ brethren and ‘your’ brethren. The sad, yet true fact of the matter is that
the contention came about over concerns about sanitation, not concerns about the truth. I would be happy to send
you some tracts with more information about the history of the individual cups debate if you would be interested.
Again, thanks for the questions, the fact that you took time to ask shows that you have a desire to study these
matters, so please prayerfully consider what the Bible says about these matters. Communing is an immeasurably
important part of our worship to the Lord and we must make certain that we are observing it in the way that He
desires.
Keep on studying, and we’ll do the same! Please contact us with any more subjects you’d like our input on.
This answer has been prepared by Justin Murdock, a member of the Garrett’s Creek Church of Christ, on behalf of
thegospelfortoday.com
