Communion and fellowship come from the same Greek word, koinonia. This Greek word means;
1) Sharing which one has in anything, participation.
2) A gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution, as exhibiting an embodiment and proof of fellowship.
Take notice, in 2 Corinthians 6:14 how the word Fellowship and communion are used in the same way.
Most Christians today believe that the communion ritual was introduced by Jesus when He was eating the Passover with his disciples.
18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
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. (Do what?)
20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you.
The Passover celebration before the cross was a shadow of something better to come. Every carnal element of the Passover has a spiritual meaning in the New Testament teaching. Jesus is the Lamb, Hyssop is our faith, etc. The bread and wine also have spiritual significance after the cross.
What is the spiritual significance of the Bread and Wine?
The bread represents His Body and the wine represents His Blood.
Colossians 1:18 “And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.
24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His bodies sake, which is the church:”
Corinthians 10:16 “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (fellowship) of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body (fellowship of the church) of Christ?
17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that One Bread.”
1 Peter 1:18 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers:
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
The Lord’s Supper
What did the words “Lord’s Supper” mean when they were spoken by Christians in the first century church? Let’s take a look.
1 Corinthians 11:20 “When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.
21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
22 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.”
I believe the words Lord’s Supper were used in the first century church in reference to a fellowship meal. Today we might call it a potluck dinner.
Romans 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
John 6:53 “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.
54 Who so eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me.
58 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.
59 These things said he in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum.
60 Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can hear it?’
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, ‘Doth this offend you?’
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before?
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
Where did the communion ritual come from?
Dionysus
Dionysus was an ancient god of wine. He was responsible for the intoxicating effects as well as the social and beneficial influenced. He is viewed as the promoter of civilization, a lawgiver, and lover of peace---as well as the patron deity of agriculture and the theatre. He was known as the liberator, freeing one from one’s normal self, by madness, ecstasy, or wine.
The divine mission of Dionysus was to mingle the music of the flute and to bring an end to care and worry. There is also an aspect of Dionysus on his relationship to the “cult of the soul” and the scholar Xavier Riu writes that Dionysus presided over communication between the living and the dead.
Within Greek mythology Dionysus is made to be the son of Zeus and Semele: other versions of the story contend that he is the son of Zeus and Persephone. He is described as being womanly or man-womanish.
The modern scholar Barry Powell also argues that Christian notions of eating and drinking the flesh and blood of Jesus were influenced by the cult of Dionysus. Perhaps even cannibalism was involved.
Beyond this almost all barbarian nations had their own versions of Dionysus under many names. There is a simple explanation; Dionysus, Bromius, Sabazius, Attis, Adonis, Zalmoxis, Corybas, and Orpheus himself are replicas of the grand prototype Osiris; and the variations which appear among them resulted from the transplantation of the God from one country to another, and reflect simply the specific needs of his multifarious worshipers.
According to the Catholic encyclopedia the communion ritual was introduced into Christianity by the Pope in the year 349. When he made this ritual an official Christian practice, he said the ritual was borrowed from the Mystery Religion of Rome (Plain ole’ paganism).
The Passover was instituted by God Himself as a memorial feast to bring us to the Cross. Like many other things, the Passover was a shadow of better things to come. Jesus is the perfect and FINAL Lamb of God. We do not continue carnal rituals. Do we keep the feast?
1 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.”
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