The Truth in Print Vol. 24 Issue 9, Oct. 2018
A Publication of the Valley church of Christ,
2375 W. 8th Street, Yuma, AZ 85364 (928-782-5058)
Website
Address ~ http://yumavalleychurchofchrist.com
The “One Cup” Belief
There are things young people need to be
warned about, and especially before leaving home. The last two months I’ve
warned about the “No Located Preacher” and “No Bible Class” beliefs. I said
concerning the “No Located Preacher” belief that their doctrine is error rather
than as I have heard said, “You know they are very conservative.” They aren’t
any such thing!
While I’ve yet to meet all of these
personally, warnings have rang out through the years concerning such beliefs as
No Located Preacher, A Local Church Cannot Own Their Own Building, No Bible
Classes Because They Divide The Assembly, One Cup Only For The Lord’s Supper A
Necessity, and Women’s Head Covering A Necessity.
There may be a combination of these in a
single church. One inquiry stated that
a couple were looking for a Church of Christ in Yuma and did I know of a One
Cup and No Bible Class church. I replied that I do not recommend churches when
I do not know what they are teaching. Adding that it is a dangerous thing today
to just go here or there because a church calls itself a church of Christ. Thus
they were welcome to visit with us. This was not in accord with their request
and they let me know that I’d answer to God on the Judgment day for they
thought Jesus blessed just “one cup” i.e. one container and that’s all that is
allowed.
What Did Jesus Do In Luke’s Account?
Luk 22:14 When the hour had come, He sat down,
and the twelve apostles with Him.
Luk 22:15 Then He said to them, "With fervent
desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;
Luk 22:16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat
of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
Luk 22:17 Then He took the cup, and gave
thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves;
Luk 22:18 for I say to you, I will not drink of
the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
Luk 22:19 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."
Luk 22:20 Likewise He also took the cup
after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood,
which is shed for you.
From Luke 22:17 using “divide” it is pure assumption
that it meant they all put their lips on the same cup at the Passover. He told
them to divide it among themselves before they partook of the cup of the Lord’s
Supper; He did not specify “how” they were to divide it among themselves. Some
say He illustrated multiple cups before they partook when He said divide it
among yourselves. I think it even better to say that He authorized the use of
multiple cups when He said divide it among yourselves (“it” is an
interpolation). It is often pointed out if you start with “the cup” and then
“divide” the contents into several then those who drink have still drunk “from
it” (Matt. 26:27). And from there you have to prove Paul’s instruction to the
church at Corinth teaches all must do that. And you can’t get that from Paul’s
instructions on the Lord’s Supper.
What Did Jesus Do? (Matthew’s Account, NASB)
Mat
26:26 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."
Mat
26:27 Then He
took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink
from it, all of you.
Mat
26:28 For this
is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of
sins.
Mat
26:29 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.”
A cup is mentioned because the fruit of the
vine is a liquid and must have a container. Verse 27 and 28 go tightly together
and we aren’t told the literal cup represents anything! Could we set a Welch's
bottle of the fruit of vine on the table if need be? He gave thanks for the
contents (v. 27) i.e. “the fruit of the vine” (v. 29) that represents His blood
(v. 28). Jesus gives the reason He gave thanks for bread (Matt. 26:26; Lk.
22:19) and likewise the reason for thanks for the fruit of the vine (Matt.
26:28). He did not give thanks for the literal cup any more than He would have
for the basket, assuming such, the bread might have been in. Or make it the
table, assuming such, the bread might have been laid on. To say He gave special significance and
emphasis to one literal cup, and gave thanks for a single literal container is
seeing something that is just not there.
What Did The Disciples Do?
Mat
26:27 Then He
took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from
it, all of you.
“From” (G1537, EK) means out of or from.
Again it is an assumption that they all put their lips “on” the same drinking
vessel. They haven’t the faintest idea how many — one or more might have been
used.
What Did Jesus Do?
Luk 22:19 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."
Luk 22:20 Likewise He also took the cup after
supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is
shed for you.
Luk 22:20 (NASB) 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.
The
cup represents His blood.
Compare:
Mat
26:27 Then He
took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink
from it, all of you.
Mat
26:28 For this
is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission
of sins.
“Shed” – Vines: 2. ekchuno,
or ekchunno (G1632) -- is used of the voluntary
giving up of His life by Christ through the "shedding" of His blood
in crucifixion as an atoning sacrifice, Mat_26:28; Mar_14:24; Luk_22:20, KJV,
"is shed," RV, "is poured out";
Obviously “poured out” (NASB) means the same
as “shed” (NKJV). This makes it clear that the “cup” here is not the literal
container but the contents representing the Blood. Beware of someone or some
group who would ADD an item to His Blood and Body.
Failing To Recognize Metonymy
“Cup” [G4221 potērion]
Thayer Definition: a cup, a drinking vessel; … by meton.
of the container for the contained, the contents of
the cup, what is offered to be drunk, Lk. 22:20b; I Cor. 11:25 sq.
Failing to recognize metonymy they claim the
literal cup is an emblem or symbol representing the New Covenant.
1Cor. 10:16 (NKJV) “The cup of blessing which
we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we
break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”
1Co 10:16 (NAS) “Is not the cup of blessing which we
bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a
sharing in the body of Christ?” The communion is “of” what? There is no
communion with a literal container whatever it may look like or be made out of.
“Cup” is metonymy for the content and the
content connects to the Blood. The “communion of the blood” is not a reference
to a literal cup!
Paul’s Instruction To The
Church At Corinth In I Cor. 11
“Cup” [G4221 potērion]
Thayer Definition: a cup, a drinking vessel; … by meton.
of the container for the contained, the contents of
the cup, what is offered to be drunk, Lk. 22:20b; I Cor. 11:25 sq.
1Co
11:23 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;
1Co
11:24 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."
1Co
11:25 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."
1Co
11:26 For as
often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death
till He comes.
There Are Only Two Elements
There are only two elements: (1) the bread;
(2) the fruit of the vine (Matt. 26:29; I Cor. 10:16 “a sharing in the blood of
Christ”). There is no third symbolic item.
Read I Cor.
11:23-29. Paul never enjoined “one literal cup” only on the Lord’s Supper.
There Are Only Two Actions In
Paul’s Instructions
Only two actions: (1) eat; (2) drink. You
don’t drink (lit. “to imbibe”) a literal cup! Paul’s
application was when you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim His
death until He comes (I Cor. 11:26).
You don’t imbibe a literal cup any more than
you eat that tray the bread is passed to you on each Lord’s Day’s partaking!
(Some entertainers will take a glass and bite it and eat it.) Paul gave Corinth
all that was necessary as regards the emblems and partaking of them. There is
no third “item” symbolic of something else.
There Is No Example From
Pentecost (Acts 2) Onwards Where A Local Church
Only Used “One” Cup
The population of the church in Jerusalem is
said to be about five thousand men alone in Acts 4:4. And in Acts 5:14 the
numbers were multiplying (Acts 6:1). Take the membership of the Jerusalem church
in mind – that’s a pretty “big cup” to provide for that number and to pass
around. Do you think that they lined up and passed by and each got a sip like
drinking out of a pond? If you have to use “another” or “others” to fill, or
refill, the one passed around you’ve used more than one for the whole
process.
It’s kind of like the crackers being broken.
Some brethren say you have to break them first before it is passed. I recall a
situation where a couple returned back from a trip to the “Holy Land.” They had
taken the Lord’s Supper on a boat up the Jordan River one Sunday with a group.
He came back with the idea that we needed to break the crackers before serving
them. Then you had to consider to what degree he’d be satisfied with. What did
Paul say about that in I Cor. 11? He gave Corinth all that was necessary as
regards the emblems and partaking of them. He said what is necessary is that
you eat the bread and drink the cup in a worthy manner. It would have been a
pretty big loaf if Jerusalem church had to get it there in one piece.
If members are sick, coughing or contagious
and a church wants to use just one cup that contains what represents His blood
they can. Someone told me once about a church not quite that inclined that had
a cup passed for each of two rows of seats. One cup for one side and another
(different) for the other. As a teenager
I and others visited and worshipped with a One Cup church near a lake in New
Mexico one Lord’s Day. It was my first experience with such, and based on
physical observations I admit the above thought of drinking after someone who
might be contagious did pass through my mind.
Valley Church of Christ
2375 W. 8th Street, Yuma, AZ 85364
(928) 782-5058 ~
http://yumavalleychurchofchrist.com
Sunday Services – Classes ~10:00;
Assembly 10:50 am; Evening: 6:00 pm.
Wednesday evening – 7:00 pm
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