It was this very evening, two millennia ago, according to The Scriptural Method of time reckoning, that Messiah Yahusha instituted the “entry rite” into His marriage covenant, The New Covenant.
On the evening of the 13th Day of the 1st Month, the day before the crucifixion of Messiah Yahusha, He presented the Bread and Cup to His disciples formally betrothing them to His marriage covenant.
The eating of the bread and the drinking of the cup are the two components which make up what is commonly known as The Lord’s Supper or The Last Supper, I prefer to call it THE MASTER’S TABLE! It is the only “entry rite“ into The New Covenant and there is no other way to covenant with Messiah Yahusha in marriage!
But why does He require of us to eat the bread and drink the cup? What are their relevance within the context of THE MASTER’S TABLE which enters into The New Covenant? Let’s talk about that…
Let’s deal with the bread first…
In Matthew 26:26 we’re told…
“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.“
What would any self-respecting Jew have thought about such a statement?
During the ministry of Messiah Yahusha the followers were warned…
Joh 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
Joh 6:59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
Again, what would any self-respecting Jew have thought of such an unyielding demand?
Joh 6:60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
Joh 6:61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
Joh 6:62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Joh 6:64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Joh 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Joh 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Joh 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
Of course those words offended them! Every Jew on the planet understood that human flesh was unclean and none of them would ever consider eating human flesh, so why would Messiah Yahusha ever require such a thing to enable a relationship with Him?
Notice Messiah Yahusha said of His words, “they are spirit and they are life’.
In Matthew 13:34 we’re told…
“All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them.”
Parables are made up of metaphors, words that on face value mean one thing but have an underlying, alternate meaning that give the parable its true message which is hidden from the multitudes. Parable speak only to the few who were meant to understand them.
Such is the case with the bread of The New Covenant. Messiah Yahusha said it was His body, is that what He meant? Well, yes and no!
In the verses from John quoted above Messiah Yahusha claims He is “the bread of life”, which is interesting but we need to extrapolate that further.