Introduction:
A The first shadow we see of Communion is found in Genesis 14.18, Melchizedek (King of Salem) offering Abraham And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. Gen 14:18 (NASB)
1 Jesus was declared to be in the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7.17) which meant He operates as our High Priest and our Sovereign King.
a Our priest & king has brought the bread and wine for us.
b 15 And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."
Luke 22:15-16 (NASB)
aa “desired” means longing, coveting, lusting/lustful in certain contexts.
bb I believe Jesus waited with baited breath in great anticipation of when the time would be right for Him to gift the gift that He was about to give His followers, friends, disciples, church.
2 Some Churches, Christians, Denominations have all but done away with a meal that Jesus couldn’t hardly wait to share with friends. (Some churches have made it nearly impossible to partake in the Lord’s Supper when it is offered.)
B
1 Imagine feed 2 million people living in tents everyday in a desolate wilderness for 40 years.
a There were no running trains, OTR Drivers, delivery trucks: no local bakeries, No Rough House Pizza.
aa Each morning God provided nourishment and sustained the Hebrews during their journey in the wilderness.
bb 7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. 8 The people would go about and gather it and grind it between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of cakes baked with oil. 9 When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it. Num 11:7-9 (NASB)
b From Sunday to Friday, after the dew had evaporated, small white droplets fell from heaven onto the ground and they were collected early each morning.
aa 14 When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground. 15 When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, " What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, " It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. Ex 16:13-15 (NASB)
bb Ex. 16.14 KJV “ . . . as the hoar frost on the ground.”
c We know what frost on the ground is but the hoar frost is different, unique. (Hb. Kephower: akin to Kippur)
aa Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement when blood was poured out on the Mercy Seat for the sins of Israel.
bb The process of covering the mercy seat and appeasing God is KEPHOWER.
cc It is as if God was looking ahead in time when the true bread of heaven, Jesus Christ, would come down and spill His blood on the ground to atone for our sins.
2 Israel had never seen anything like this so that said, “Manna”, the root being mah, which simply means “what.”
a Manna is a kind of bread from heaven, called angel’s food (Ps. 78.24- 25)
He rained down manna upon them to eat And gave them food from heaven. 25 Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance .Psalms 78:24-25 (NASB)
b The Bible does give a detailed description of the manna: (Ex. 16.31; Num11.7)
aa Looked like a coriander seed: the outer shell has “stripes” on it. (Today, coriander is used as a spice)
bb Manna had a taste like honey, texture of a wafer, fell during the night, color of pearly white, manna fell for six days and a double portion fell on Friday.
c John 6.32 “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
aa This was the first time God had sent His people bread from heaven but it would not be the last.
bb John 6.33-35
d Like the manna in the wilderness, Jesus was sent from the Father in heaven to Earth for God’s people, Israel.
aa Just as He sent the manna in the wilderness to give them bread to live, God sent us the bread of life so we too may live (John 10.10)
bb Manna was something Israel had never seen, and Christ was someone mankind had never seen before on earth.
cc When Israel saw manna in the wilderness they said, “What is it?”, and when the people of Israel saw Christ, they wondered, “Who is He?”
dd Manna was white, a color that represents righteousness in the Bible (Rev. 19.8).
C The manna was gathered on every morning except Saturday (Jewish Sabbath), God sent a double portion on Friday morning. (It wouldn’t keep, moldy, wormy, nasty! Application: You disobey God you’ll bring the displeasure of God in your life.)
1 There was one jar of manna that did keep, that didn’t decay and that’s because Moses said “put it in the Ark.” Heb. 9.4-5
a 4 having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron's rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail. Heb 9:4-5 (NASB)
b Each item in the ark represented a blessing from God.
aa Manna represents salvation since Jesus is the bread of life and salvation brings eternal life.
bb The ten commandments represent sanctification, a blessing that separates you from the power of sin controlling your life.
cc Aaron’s rod was used to produce miracles, which is a picture of the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit.
c The manna in the jar, in the ark didn’t rot because the tangible presence of God rested continually on ark of the covenant; there it was impossible for the manna to spoil as long as it remained in the ark.
2 Acts 2.27, tells us that when Jesus’ body was laid on that rectangular slab of stone for three days His body didn’t experience decay.
a At the resurrection, the disciples saw two angels sitting on the slab (one @ the top the other @ the bottom)
aa The imagery is the picture of the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant.
bb The ark had a rectangular lid with two angles facing each other. The Tomb is a picture of the Mercy Seat of the Ark.
b Just as the manna did not corrupt in the ark in Moses’ time, the body of Christ did not corrupt in the tomb!
D The Manna & the Body of Christ
1 Jesus often broke bread with His disciples, the early church broke bread from house to house, the Lord’s Supper He took bread and said, “This is my body” (Mark 14.22).
a During communion the bread is a picture of body of Christ.
aa Isa. 53.5 “Wounded for our transgressions & bruised for our iniquities”
bb These wounds/bruises were physical marks He endured through a violent beating with a cat-o’-nine tails (Short handled whip w/ 9 long, leather straps, embedded with bone, pieces of metal, glass)
cc These wounds provided our healing!
b Other wounds were caused by the piercing nails in His hands and feet, cut in His side by the spear of the centurion. He took a beating for you and me.
2 Before the manna was eaten, it was beatin’. Num. 11.8
a The manna was beaten, then backed in pans and eaten.
b Jesus’ flesh was cut into bloody ribbons to provide healing for mankind.
3 The manna was then put in the hot oven to bake.
a Matt. 12.40; Eph. 4.8-10, Upon Jesus death on the cross, His spirit descended into the lower parts of the earth!
b When we take the Lord’s Supper, we remember the Lord’s body when the take the bread! Bread of Heaven!
E One more thing to share with you about the cup.
1 Matt. 26.29; Mark 14.25; Luke 22.18) Jesus held up a cup & called it the “fruit of the vine.”
a Grapes are called fruit of the vine.
b Jewish tradition tells us that at the Passover meal, the fermented wine was watered down w/ three parts water. (Every cup of wine, 3 cups of water was added: Mixture of wine & water was used in the Jewish Sedar/Passover).
2 You and I know that the cup of grape juice represents the blood of Jesus that covers our sin.
a As Jesus hung between heaven & earth, after giving up the ghost, a Roman soldier plunged his spear deep into the side of Jesus and water & blood poured out (John 19.34.)
b IL. Cup/Blood.
3 In John 15.1, Christ said He was the true vine and John 6.32-35, He said He was the true bread from heaven.
a The fruit of the vine only became the fruit of the vine after the grapes were crushed; The bread is only made after the wheat has been crushed . . .
b Just as Christ had to be wounded, bruised, and crucified to bring forth a covenant of eternal life.
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