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CityViewNC.com | 15 faith More Ancient than You Thought Pre-Christian Foreshadowing of Holy Communion BY BOB HACKENDORF with Abel. In Genesis 4:8, aer Cain has murdered his broth- er, God spoke to him, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!" In Hebrews 12:24, the author draws a connection with Christ, calling Jesus, "You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel." e Passover, of course, offers a clear parallel to the Chris- tian Sacrament. In this celebration, Israel remembers the night when God miraculously rescued the Hebrew nation from slavery in Egypt. On this night, because the Israelites were in a hurry to escape Egypt, they could not wait for their bread to rise before baking it. So, the Passover meal featured unleavened (flat) bread. Several glasses of wine were also shared in this meal. e prominent use of bread and wine is not unlike the Christian Sacrament. Indeed, when Jesus instituted His Supper, he said to his disciples gathered in the Upper Room, "I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins." (Luke 22:15) e overarching theme of redemption from bondage is clearly carried over into the New Testament context of the Holy Communion. So it is no surprise that Paul, when speaking about the Lord's Supper, said "Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us." (I Corinthians 5:7) As soon as the Hebrews were liberated from their Egyptian ser- vitude, they spent 40 years jour- neying in the desert Wilderness of the Negev. During this era, the Lord supernaturally fed His people with manna. Manna was a "mira- cle food" that came down from heaven. Each day, God's people gathered just enough for the day to come—the manna would spoil if hoarded for more than a single day. Incidentally, the King James Version of the Bible describes the manna as being round in shape (Exodus 16:14), which is why com- munion wafers in many churches are round in shape. is daily de- M ost Christians regularly celebrate Holy Communion (called the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist) in their churches. Indeed, Jesus commanded the observance as a memorial to his death and resurrection. Exact customs vary from denomina- tion to denomination: some use wine, others un- fermented grape juice. Some celebrate by coming forward to the front of the church to receive the communion elements, while others are served in the pews. What is common to all churches, however, is the use of bread and the fruit of the vine. But, what many may miss, is that the roots of this ceremony go back long before the time of Christ, into the midst of ancient history. Indeed, bread was long regarded as the "staff of life," a staple food that sustained families, tribes and entire civiliza- tions. Wine was more than a luxury in a world where safe drinking water was oen scarce. Wine represented joy and celebration. Each Sabbath was welcomed with bread and wine to celebrate the blessings of this life in festive songs of thanksgiving. e roots of the Christian cel- ebration of Holy Communion run back to the very beginning of time, to the forbidden fruit in the Gar- den of Eden. e ancient Church Fathers thought of the bread and wine of Communion as the "anti- dote to the poisonous effects of the forbidden fruit." e eating of the forbidden fruit by our first parents brought sin and rebellion against God into the world. e eating commanded by Christ does the opposite. Disobedience brought judgment and death. Obedience brings life. Another early picture of the cup of Holy Communion comes from yet another surprising source: the blood of Abel in Genesis. But Scripture links the blood of Christ Photography by Byron Jones

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