There
are those who would try to confuse Christians or those who are
contemplating the Christian faith. They try to make a case trying to
prove that Jesus isn’t the Son of God, because there are
inconsistencies in the Bible, primarily in the wording. My plan is to
use the New King James Version (KKJV) of the Bible to research any
inconsistencies related to The First Communion. Do they
disprove that Jesus gave His Disciples The First Communion, and if
so, are they significant enough to disprove that Jesus Is God’s
Son? Since the Bible will often refer to he and him within the same
sentence, I will note who is being referred to in the Bible, if it
isn’t clear.
First
of all, I have to decide which inconsistencies exist. I have the
portions of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and 1 Corinthians that relate
to The First Communion. I will put my analysis and opinions in
brackets for those who might refer to this on the Biblical
Proof!
Blog
at https://BiblicalProof.blogspot.com/
otherwise,
I will preface my comments on the podcast.
Matthew
26:20-29 says: When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.
Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly,
I say to you, one
of you will betray Me.”
And
they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to
Him, “Lord, is it I?” He answered and said, “He
who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. “The Son of
Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by
whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man
if he had not been born.”
And
as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave
it to the disciples and said, “Take,
eat; this is My body.”
Then
He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink
from it, all of you. “For this is My blood of the new covenant,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins. “But I say to
you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until
that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
Mark
14:17-25 says: In the evening He came with the twelve, Now as they
sat and ate, Jesus said, “Assuredly,
I say to you, one of you, who eats with Me will betray Me.”
And
they began to be sorrowful and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?”
And another said, “Is it I?” He answered and said to them, “It
is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. “The Son of Man
indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom
the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if
he had never been born.”
And
as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave
it to them and said, “Take,
eat; this is My body.”
Then
He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and
they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This
is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. “Assuredly,
I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until
that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Luke
22: 15-22 says: Then He said to them, “With
fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I
suffer; “for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is
fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
Then
He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take
this and divide it among yourselves; “for I say to you, I will not
drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
And
He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying,
“This
is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
Likewise
He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying,
“This
is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
Likewise
He also took the cup after supper, saying,
“This
cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. “But
behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. “And truly
the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by
whom He is betrayed.”
John
13:14-30 says: “If
then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also out to
wash one another’s feet. “For I have given you an example, that
you should do as I have done to you. “Most assuredly, I say to you,
a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent
greater than he who sent him. “If you know these things, blessed
are you if you do them. “I do not speak concerning all of you. I
know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He
who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’ [from
Psalm 41:] “Now
I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may
believe that I am He. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who
receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives
Him who sent Me.”
When
Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified
and said,
“Most
assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”
Then
the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke.
Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom
Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was
of whom He spoke. Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to
Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It
is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.”
And
having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of
Simon. Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him [Judas]. Then
Jesus said to him, “What
you do, do quickly.” But
no one at the table knew for what reason He [Jesus] said that to him
[Judas]. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that
Jesus had said to him, “Buy those things we need for the feast,”
or that he should give something to the poor. Having received the
piece of bread, he [Judas] went out immediately. And
it was night.
The
Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-31 says: For I received from the
Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the
Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread:
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take,
eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance
of Me.” In
the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This
cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink
it, in remembrance of Me.
“ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you
proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats
this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will
be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine
himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For He
who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to
himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many
are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge
ourselves, we would not be judged.
[The
First Communion passages in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and 1
Corinthians all refer to Jesus taking
the bread first
at
The First Communion, but Gospel of Luke says, Then He [Jesus] took
the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take
this and divide it among yourselves; “for I say to you, I will not
drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
And
He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying,
“This
is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
All
three of these are similar with very little variation in wording, so
I don’t think there is anything of significance to disprove that
Jesus gave His disciples The First Communion or to disprove that
Jesus Is the Son of God.]
[
Also, in the Gospel of John, Jesus answers, “It
is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.”
And
having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of
Simon. In my opinion, after rereading these passages several times, I
think that Jesus dipped the bread into the cup He used to share the
fruit of the vine for The First Communion and gave that bread to
Judas Iscariot, the one Jesus knew would betray Him. In that both the
fruit of the vine and the bread were almost shared simultaneously,
doesn’t seem to be significant enough of a inconsistency to
disprove that Jesus gave His Disciples The First Communion, nor does
it disprove that Jesus Is the Son of God.]
What
are some of the other inconsistencies in these passages?
In
the Gospel of John, it says that Jesus had washed His disciples'
feet. John 13:14-17 says: “If
then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also out to
wash one another’s feet. “For I have given you an example, that
you should do as I have done to you. “Most assuredly, I say to you,
a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent
greater than he who sent him. “If you know these things, blessed
are you if you do them.
[Although
these details aren’t shared in Matthew, Mark, Luke and 1
Corinthians, doesn’t prove that it didn’t happen. In doing all
this Biblical research, I find that some disciples tell the events in
a basic way and others elaborate on many of the fine details, and
sometimes leave out others. Regardless, this added information does
not disprove that Jesus gave The First Communion to His Disciples nor
does it disprove that Jesus Is the Son of God.]
Additionally,
1 Corinthians 11:26-31 says, For as often as you eat this bread and
drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in
an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But
let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink
of the cup. For He who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and
drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For
if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
[The
previous passage was Paul was giving additional instruction to
Christians to examine themselves before coming for communion, because
some viewed communion as an opportunity to eat. In 1 Corinthians
11:22, Paul says, “What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink
in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have
nothing? What shall I say to You? Shall I praise you in this? I do
not praise you.” I had included the passage from 1 Corinthians
11:23-31 even though it was recorded some years after Jesus’ death,
Resurrection, and Ascension to Heaven,
because
it is additional proof about Jesus giving the First Communion to His
disciples and that Jesus Is the Son of God.]
Are
there other inconsistencies in these passages that are worth
considering?
The
Gospels of Matthew and Mark say that before Jesus gave the disciple’s
The First Communion, He shared that He would be betrayed. In the
Gospels of Luke and John, it has Jesus giving the disciples The First
Communion before He told them about His going to be betrayed.
[I
didn’t consider 1 Corinthians in this comparison of passages,
because it was written by the Apostle Paul who was not at The First
Communion. In my opinion after reading these passages many times, I
feel there is no major inconsistency to disprove that Jesus gave His
disciples The First Communion or anything anywhere close to
disproving that Jesus Is the Son of God. In fact, it does quite the
opposite! Who else but the Son of God would know in advance that He
would be betrayed and by whom? Who else but the Son of God would give
His life the ransom of many, knowing in advance how He would be
questioned, challenged, humiliated, scourged, spat upon, crucified
and buried to save us from our sins? I don’t know about you, but if
I knew people were going to spit on me, it would have been a
deal-breaker right away, but He went through all of this for us! John
15:12-13 says: “This
is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life
for his friends.”]
[Don’t
let people confuse you into disbelieving the Bible because there are
some inconsistencies. Most aren’t significant and many have to do
with the writing style of the person who recorded it, some with lots
of detail, and some with basic facts. If Jesus, the Son of God, gave
His life for us, we have to withstand all the arguments of those who
try to confuse us into not believing the truth!]
