Today being Maundy Thursday, we remember the Last Supper. There is so much going on in the short time before Jesus is betrayed and the long road to Calvary begins.
The Last Supper was the Jewish Seder, which we have a variance in our Eucharist/Communion setup. However, if we take the elements from this original Seder we begin to understand the prophetic significance of this intimate rite in the Church today. The Seder follows a journey undertaken by the new Nation of Israel, through 4 separate wine cups. These punctuate different elements that the children of Israel went through to leave Egypt. They also speak to the New Covenant that Jesus integrates into this Seder.
It is obvious from the various 4 accounts of this Last Supper, that it was interrupted purposely between the 3rd and 4th cup. The reason Jesus gives as He would not drink of the 4th cup until He is in the fullness of the Kingdom, and He sat on His Throne, all creation subject to Him. Paul likens the 3rd cup to the cup of the Communion, the cup of blessing.
The 4 cups of the Seder are these:
1. The Cup of Sanctification: (kos rishon); The first cup is poured and blessed, symbolizing God’s call to Holiness and setting apart the Jewish Nation. The blessing is recited holding the cup.
2. The Cup of Deliverance: kos Sheni; This cup is consumed whilst reciting the Exodus story of the deliverance from Egypt by divinely sent plagues on the nation.
3. The Cup of Redemption; kos Shlishi; This cup is consumed after the meal, and Jesus, the Gospels associate this cup with the one used for the Communion rite of the Church.
4. The Cup of Praise; Kos Revii; This cup is consumed by thanking God for completing His deliverance and prayers for the future.
In knowing these cups and their significance in the Seder, we come to a greater understanding of the desire of Jesus to celebrate this with the Disciples, because the spiritual work of Jesus to weave into the New Covenant, the foundation of the Old as a preparation for the new. The old Collective being the Children of Israel with the New, who is the Church, and believers who confess Jesus to be their Saviour and Lord. It was completely vital that Jesus prepares the Disciples for the times immediately ahead, and the generations of those who would celebrate not only the original deliverance, but the ultimate deliverance that Jesus underwent on Calvary.
Every time we come to this rite, we must understand that like with the Disciples, He desires to prepare us for the sufferings which would come to the Church in many ages, and the ultimate fullness of the Kingdom which is promised. Not understanding the depth of this is to not discern the Lord or His Body. We have 3 elements we must understand and discern: 1)The Lord 2) The Body 3) The Covenant. If we do not recognise these 3 we must not embark on the sharing of the Communion. It would make us unworthy.
I believe that once we acquaint ourselves with the accounts in the Gospels we get immediately the configuration of knowing the Lord, as His first act for the Seder was the wash the feet of the disciples, and show them what true leadership means. Then teach them their love for each other, speak about completing His own mission of Redemption. Then Jesus interrupts the meal between the 3rd and 4th cup. I meditated on this today, wondering why Jesus would do this. He did this to point us to the prophetic nature of this rite, because it points to another Seder, which is the Seder of the Lamb, which will start at the close of time, and when the fullness of the King and the Kingdom is fully manifest.
In this Seder in the eternal realms the 4th cup will praise the Father for the full Sanctification, Deliverance and Redemption completed in this Feast. Only those who have experienced the full Sanctification, Deliverance and Redemption will enter the Seder of the Lamb.
It seems that these three elements, 3 cups represent the imagery of Matthew 25 when the wise virgins, with their prepared Lamps go into the Feast behind a closed door.
Jesus interrupted the meal, between the 3rd and 4th cup, because we need to understand and discern Him fully as Saviour and King, and discern His Body, the Church, and discern His Covenant, through His Blood. This is a long transition and has gone on for the last 2000 years. It is akin as has been taught in other messages concerning His coming. He comes to the Church before He comes For His Church. These are marked and defined transitions. And as this day we celebrate the 2nd Seder, we await the 3rd with anticipation knowing that in waiting in faith, we know fullness will come, there will be mighty sufferings, trials of faith that will come. When we see after the 1st Seder, the Israelites went through desert and passed through the Sea, to roam 40 years in the wilderness. For the 2nd Seder, the disciples fled the scene of betrayal, and the punishment of Jesus by the Sanhedrin and the Romans that culminated on the cross.
Within this series, we see Psalms 24,23,22 walked out by Jesus. Here at the table of Psalm 23, surrounded by enemies, we see what God lays out in terms of our spiritual life. The Table symbolizes the sealing of Covenant. The Table affirms that despite the trials we will face, we will overcome in Him and take our place at the 3rd Seder of the Lamb.
May we meditate on this today.
Maranatha!
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