Jesus Christ established the memorial ceremony of drinking the wine and eating the bread as a reminder to all Christians that He was going to shed His blood and give His body for the remission of our sins or forgiveness.

(Luke 22:19) "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me."

To do something in remembrance of somebody is to establish a memorial which reminds us of a special event. When a couple celebrates a wedding anniversary, it is a memorial to the time when the marriage ceremony took place. Again, many people celebrate the date of their births each year as a memorial to the time they were born. For something to be a memorial and maintain its special place in our lives, it must not be a ceremony that is repeated many times during the year. For a memorial to have the full impact of its significance, it must be a special time that is only celebrated or recognized on an annual basis. The Catholic mass is highlighted each week with the Eucharist ceremony which is the taking of the wine and eating the unleavened bread. Several Protestant denominations follow by drinking some form of wine or grape juice and eating unleavened bread every Sunday. Other Protestant denominations conduct what is referred to as communion on a quarterly or monthly basis. The frequent taking of the wine and the bread has had the effect of deluding the importance of this New Testament ceremony established at the last meal Jesus Christ ate before His murder.

Actually, by taking of the bread and wine so frequently, it has numbed the so-called Christian community so they are not able to really discern the importance and the true meaning of the bread and the wine.

IS THE LORD'S SUPPER A FESTIVE MEAL?

Paul warned the Corinthians against turning this solemn ceremony into a light festive Passover meal and thereby failing to properly understand the significance of the memorial Christ established.

(I Corinthians 11:20-22) "When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not." (Verses 33-34) "Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come."

If it were not for these statements by Paul, one could logically conclude that the proper sequence of events would be to follow the example Christ set forth in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and John 13. All of these accounts show that Jesus Christ sat down for a complete meal and, depending on which account you choose, Christ gave us a NEW CEREMONY of unleavened bread, wine and of foot washing. If we did not have Paul's admonition against coming together to eat a festive Passover meal, along with the taking of the bread, wine and foot washing, — then our natural response would be to follow the example of Jesus Christ and have a large Passover meal followed by the new ceremony.

However, Paul clearly shows in I Corinthians 11:20-23; 33-34 that this very somber ceremony is not to be taken with a complete meal as was traditionally served on Passover. Paul clearly shows that, on the same evening Christ was betraayed, which would again prove that this was an annual memorial rather than a weekly, monthly or quarterly memorial — that Christ did take wine and bread, passing it among the disciples, showing them that the bread and wine symbolized the very body of Jesus Christ. He also goes on to say that we are to continue this ceremony to show the Lord's death until He comes.

(I Corinthians 11:26) "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come."

EIGHT DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD?

Many have been confused as to why, at the beginning of the fourteenth, we have a ceremony of eating unleavened bread, drinking wine, and foot washing (The Lord's Supper) and yet, on the following day, we are able to go out and eat leavened bread until the following evening which is the beginning of the 15th day of the first month, the FIRST DAY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD. Some people have even kept eight days of Unleavened Bread, misunderstanding the TRUE MEANING of the ceremony of the Lord's Supper taken at the BEGINNING OF THE 14th DAY as a memorial to the death of Jesus Christ.

Has God extended the Days of Unleavened Bread by one day? Should we begin the Days of Unleavened Bread with the ceremony of taking the Bread and the Wine on the beginning of the 14th, rather than beginning the Days of Unleavened Bread at the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th ?

Leviticus 23:4-7 plainly tells us how many days we should eat unleavened bread.

"These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein."

God said, in verse 6, SEVEN DAYS. Notice that God said, in verse 6, that we are to eat unleavened bread seven days, not eight days. Also, notice that we are commanded to EAT unleavened bread. It does not say that we are to just abstain from eating LEAVENED bread. There is a very good reason why God insists on us actually EATING UNLEAVENED BREAD for seven days.

UNLEAVENED BREAD INSTITUTED

The first instruction concerning the eating of unleavened bread for the children of Israel appears in Exodus 12:15, "Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel."

So that we do not misunderstand what God is saying about eating unleavened bread, He repeats this statement in Exodus 12:18-19,

"In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. [the end of the day] Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land."

Notice that He says you will begin eating unleavened bread in the first month at the END OF THE 14th DAY, which takes you into the 15th ; and you will eat unleavened bread UNTIL THE 21st DAY of that same month. If we were to begin eating unleavened bread at the beginning of the fourteenth, by simple addition, to and including the twenty-first day, you would have 8 days of unleavened bread! To make sure that we understand His instruction, God repeated in verse 19 that 7 days would be the length of time unleavened bread was to be eaten.

(Exodus 13:6-7) "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land."

Once again, God repeats that we are to eat unleavened bread seven days in Exodus 23:15,

"In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land."

I think you get the point that the Days of Unleavened Bread are for only SEVEN DAYS, not eight days. This brings up a legitimate question. Then, why do we eat a small piece of unleavened bread and drink the wine before the Days of Unleavened Bread begin?

DISCERNING THE LORD'S BODY

Paul was concerned that the Corinthian church may have been falling into a form of heresy by making this memorial of eating unleavened bread and drinking wine just before the Days of Unleavened Bread a festive event, complete with a meal, drunkenness and frivolity. This accounts for Paul's statement in I Corinthians 11:19,

"For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you."

He chides the people for coming together and having a festival of food and drink, while including the new memorial ceremony of taking a small piece of unleavened bread and wine representing the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Paul was so concerned with their misuse of the ceremony and their failure to clearly understand what it was all about that he rebuked them with strong words.

(Verses 27-39), "Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep."

He points out that, because of taking the bread and the wine unworthily, some people would be sick and even die in the following year.

Since Paul made such a strong point about clearly understanding and discerning Christ's body before taking the bread and wine, it certainly behooves us to stop and clearly understand the symbolism and the importance of discerning the body of Christ. Order our booklett The Lord's Supper and the New Testament Passover.

Christ first introduced the concept of eating His body in John 6:47-52

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

Notice, the Jews were outraged over Christ claiming that He was exactly like the manna which fell from heaven, giving sustenance to the children of Israel in the desert. Then, Jesus introduced the next concept concerning His blood, which further upset the Jews.

(Verses 53-58) "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever."

From that time forward, many of His disciples deserted him because they could not handle this new concept of the body of Christ being the "bread of life" and His blood being the "blood of life."

(Verse 66) "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him."

SYMBOLS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER

Even today, people fail to comprehend the true meaning of taking the bread and the wine as a MEMORIAL to the death of JESUS CHRIST. The taking of the bread and the wine, more than once in a year as a memorial to that one-time event, has the effect of destroying the whole concept of Christ becoming our Passover. Because some have failed to understand that Jesus Christ actually replaced the FOUR-LEGGED PASSOVER LAMB, they have replaced the Passover ceremony with the pagan, idolatrous EASTER ceremony. (If you have not read our booklet, The Origin of Easter, please send for it.)

Christ plainly pointed out the bread He gave the disciples at His last supper represented His body and the wine they drank represented His blood. Notice that this tiny piece of bread represented the Body of Jesus Christ, His sinless, unleavened body.

The bread of the Lord's Supper clearly has a different meaning than the bread eaten during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

THE LORD'S SUPPER

The taking of the bread and the wine at the BEGINNING of the 14th Day of the FIRST MONTH is NOT the beginning of the Days of Unleavened Bread. It is a MEMORIAL to the DEATH of Jesus Christ. Since He took on the role of the Passover Lamb, He obviously had to partake of this last meal early to introduce a NEW CEREMONY. Without His death and SACRIFICE, then the bread that we would be eating during the Days of Unleavened Bread would be a bread of "affliction," as mentioned in Deuteronomy 16:3, rather than unleavened bread which pictures us "purging sin out of our lives." This, of course, brings us to the promise of the New Covenant, which was to GRANT US ETERNAL LIFE and a role as a King and a Priest in the Kingdom of God. The ancient Israelites were not given this promise and, therefore, their unleavened bread, during the Days of Unleavened Bread, was for them to REFLECT on their days of affliction and enslavement in the land of Egypt.

For us, the Days of Unleavened Bread point to the time when we BECOME TOTALLY UNLEAVENED at the time we are BORN AGAIN into the Kingdom of God.

This year, as you take the bread and the wine for the Lord's Supper, at the beginning of the 14th of Abib, it should be a somber occasion where you think back on the greatest sacrifice of all time which has opened the door for each of us to be forgiven and born into the Kingdom of God. The Lord's Supper is not a time of frivolity, drunkenness, and feasting. It is a time of SOBER REFLECTION upon how great a SACRIFICE our Savior became on our behalf. He gave His blood and His life in your stead.

Too many people in the religious community speak these words without really discerning the blood and body of the True Lamb of God, Jesus Christ our Passover Lamb.

THE DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

At the end of the FOURTEENTH, 24 hours after the Lord's Supper, God commands His people to have a celebration of a Night to be Much Remembered and Observed. This is the NIGHT TIME PORTION OF THE 15th DAY, when the scripture clearly shows God PASSED OVER the Israelites as He went through the land of Egypt. — IT IS THE PASSOVER, a festive time to remember how God saved our forefathers and NOW, THROUGH THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST, the Lamb of God, we too have been PASSED OVER BY THE DEATH ANGEL, having been saved by the BLOOD OF JESUS.

This celebration for SEVEN DAYS is to commemorate our SALVATION and to remind us that WE ARE TO BECOME OVERCOMERS UNTIL THE END. — We must look for SIN in our lives and PURGE it out. LEAVENING IN BREAD is like sin in the life of a Christian, which will PUFF us with VANITY, JEALOUSY, LUST and GREED. Paul points out (I Corinthians 5:7) that we are to EAT UNLEAVENED BREAD during the Days of Unleavened Bread as a SYMBOLIC gesture of PURGING SIN OUT OF OUR LIVES.

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened: For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us."

During the Days of Unleavened Bread, the Bible says nothing about drinking wine with the unleavened bread. By going back to the original meaning for the Days of Unleavened Bread, God called this the Bread of Affliction.

"Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life." (Deuteronomy 16:1-3)

Unleavened bread, which the Israelites ate, was to help them understand how they had been enslaved in the land of Egypt (Egypt in the Bible pictures a type of sin) and how God through His Passover, saved the children of Israel out of the land of BONDAGE — just as the SACRIFICE OF CHRIST has saved and delivered the Christian from the BONDAGE OF SIN.

The Days of Unleavened Bread, mentioned in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, are seven days set aside in which we are to EAT UNLEAVENED BREAD each DAY to REMIND US that WE MUST BE STRIVING to PURGE SIN OUT OF OUR LIVES and continue the REPENTING PROCESS until Christ comes. This is exactly what Paul was talking about in I Corinthians 5:8, "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."