How Oft Is Oft

1 Cor 11:25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

Over the years, I have seen some confusion over how often oft is. Some churches practice this monthly, quarterly, yearly and some weekly.

In the context of the timing of Jesus' instructions it would be once a year on Passover, not Easter. After all, it was instituted at the Last Supper during Passover by the Passover Lamb. It is how the Disciples would have understood it being they were Jews.

Sadly, because of men like Constantine, Chrysostom. Luther and many others the Jews have been cut off from their Messiah when the Gospel is still for them. It is a lack of our understanding that is often rewriting things to fit Gentiles rather than exegesis from a Jewish context.

Indeed, we are not Jews, but you cannot run from the Jewishness of the Scriptures and the Gospel as all of it came from the Jews as Jesus said salvation is of the Jews.

Most of us say we support Israel and that the Abrahamic covenant is still in effect, but we have not addressed some basic issues in the Church that stem from the extreme antisemitism of the Roman Catholic Church that the Reformers did not leave behind. Indeed, that bias may be the cause of the Catholic hierarchy siding with the church fathers over the Scripture if there is a disagreement.

Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles was a most zealous and highly trained Jew. He frequently rebuked those who tried to mix Law and Grace, but was still a Jew and told us that all Scripture was inspired by God and good for us to know and learn from and they were written by Jews.

Indeed, the Body is to be one. There are not two Bodies of Christ. A Jew and a Gentile who are saved belong to the Church and are part of the Bride of Christ.

Now, that can be difficult as the cultures are so different. We see that in Romans where issues came up that show a mixture of Jews and Gentiles in the Church. Chapters 14 and 15 are not talking about gray areas as Paul clearly delineates each issue and showing what the strong believe versus the weak in the faith, which would be Jewish believers struggling to reconcile the Law being fulfilled and a new covenant, or rather one prophesied, has come to pass.

Indeed, while the Jews struggle so do the Gentiles who cannot understand a system of faith they were never raised in. So, they are not to take their pulled pork sandwich and shove it into the face of another person or tell them they need to grow up. Indeed, if necessary for the sake of the weaker brother they were to give up their liberty.

So, if we are to win Jews and serve as one Body made of Jews and Gentiles we need to at least celebrate something in it is historical context. We need not do it everyday as some suggest. It is not a mysterious sacrament. Indeed, that would be sacrilege. It is a memorial and a statement of His return.

Can you imagine celebrating Independence Day on August 1st? If you are married September 7th, you do not celebrate it on October 15. Even if we have liberty to celebrate it more than once a year, it ought to be done at least during the time it was instituted. Just sayin'.

Easter was created to get away from the Jewish context. It offends the Jews as they see it as pagan and it has pagan elements and a root in antisemitism because of the the prejudices of people claiming to love the Jewish Messiah while hating His people. Not a wise concept.

How oft is oft? In context, once a year during Passover. I think it would have more meaning especially if we did it at a church supper and not just the short version of this age. Doing it too often makes it a ritual or habit that requires little thought to the meaning. Just sayin'.

We also need a Second Reformation where we remove things that the Reformers should have done.