The Original Meaning Of Communion

The Original Meaning of Communion

Luke 22:14-23

Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

14 And when the hour had come He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 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.” 17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. 21 “aBut behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Me on the table. 22 “For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” 23 And they began to discuss among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to do this thing.

Today Communion has a very place as a sacrament of Christianity. Over the years theologians have added and adjusted the understanding of what it means to us today. We become one with Christ and one with other Christians throughout time. It is one of the two things that all disciples and followers of Jesus Christ have in common. The other item is the sacrament of baptism.

Being a person who came to know and understand the life of Jesus at 35 and never having church experiences, I was one who questioned the meaning of everything. Two years after my baptism, I was called by Jesus to preach the original meaning of the Scripture. I questioned this task because after two years of studying the New Testament, I was not very knowledgeable about Christianity. However, Jesus told me I would learn it. So, I went to Seminary and learned it. I was the one student that teachers in the seminary did not appreciate. I asked questions about everything. Where did this doctrine come from and where did this belief come from?

Not receiving answers did not stop me. After a lot of education classes and degrees, I started the deep search for the original meaning of Scripture. I wanted to know what people thought when Jesus spoke. After 2000 plus years, it is understandable that interpreting Scripture and Jesus’ words has developed. I will say that there is nothing wrong with that movement. One of Judaism’s honored rabbis, who died in 2023, named Rabbi Steinsaltz said that everyone has to develop their own Bible. He said that each of us will develop our own understanding and acceptance of scriptural interpretation.

I am sure that each of you is doing this and that is wonderful. Then there is the understanding of the original meaning. I believe I need to know what that original meaning is in order to see how it the Scripture works for me today. The Bible is a living document and applies in all time frames. I want to know it all started.

Now that I have given the reason for coming to learn the original meaning of the Scripture, let me briefly tell you how I do this. Of course, the first step is read the Bible in its original languages. I will admit that I have software that helps me do that. When we read the Scripture in English, we are reading a three-level commentary of the original language. Quickest way to prove this is to select a passage and read it in several English-based Bibles. You can the read the differences in English for yourself. Anyone who took a foreign language in school understands that translating from language to language creates concerns.

Also, we learned how to read and interpret writings using Hellenistic methods. Let us call it Greek learning. Aristotle, Plato and Socrates created how we learn today. We have learned to read the Bible literally. However, and this is big, Semitic people do not write literally. The authors of the Bible were Semitic people. They wrote in Semitic ways. This includes the use of metaphors, analogies and hyperboles (that means exaggerations). The Bible is full of Hebrew and Aramaic figures of speech, which when transliterated into English, do not come across as figures of speech in our language.

Allow me to give you one example. The Bible says that Herod died because he was full of worms. I have heard church people talk about Herod’s body being eaten by worms. This phrase, “died of worms,” is a figure of speech. It means that Herod died of what we call cancer today. People in Jesus’ day did not know about cancer. What they observed is when they cut into the dead body and saw the black growth over the organs, they believed worms ate the body. Thus, the figure of speech “died of worms.” The Bible contains these figures of speech.