BUGEMA UNIVERSITY

Main campus

SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATICS

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEM

AN ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR

THE COURSE REQUIRED: GREL101 CHRISTIAN BELIEFS

TO:

LECTURER NAME: PR BAGONZA FLORENCE

BY:

AMOIT GLADYS OKWARA

20/BCC/BU/R/0006

DATE: 17:11:2021
 How did you understand the Lord’s Supper?

3 REASONS WE OBSERVE THE LORD’S SUPPER (SESSION 9 – MATTHEW 26:17-30)

TO COMMEMORATE

Jesus said, Do this in remembrance of me (1 Cor. 11:24, 25). He intentionally chose to establish the
Lord’s Supper during the celebration of the Passover (Matt. 26:17). The Passover was instituted by God
to be a memorial of His deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. Jesus instituted the Lord’s
Supper as a memorial of the deliverance from sin He would give to those who trust in Him (Matt. 26:28).
The bread and the cup remind us of the onetime sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. We partake to
remember what He did on our behalf.

TO ANTICIPATE

With the words, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new
with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matt. 26:29), Jesus anticipated a reunion with His disciples in His
Father’s kingdom. Likewise, He instructed them to partake the Lord’s Supper in anticipation: For as often
as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (1 Cor. 11:26).
Therefore, we observe the Lord’s Supper in anticipation of Jesus’ return and the end time
consummation of His kingdom. We are looking forward to that time when we will celebrate with Him at
His great banquet table (see Matt. 22:1-14; Rev. 19:6-9).

TO PARTICIPATE

More than a time of passive and individual reflection, to the observe of the Lord’s Supper is to
participate in a congregational act by which we corporately affirm our faith, celebrate the completed
work of Christ, focus on our unity, and visibly proclaim to the world that Jesus is the only way of
salvation.

In Paul’s discussion of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11, he made the point that the way we
participate matters. In Corinth, the celebration that was supposed to unify the church actually brought
disunity to the church. Paul repeated the phrase “come together” five times in that passage (1 Cor.
11:17-18, 20, 33-34). His intent was for the church to focus on their unity in Christ. By participating
together in the Lord’s Supper, we give visible expression that unity.

Further, the Lord’s Supper is an act of proclamation, giving public testimony to the message of the
gospel (1 Cor. 11:26). By observing it, we announce to those outside the church that Christ is the only
way of salvation. Lastly, participation involves personal examination. Let a person examine himself (1
Cor. 11:28). The call to personal examination before taking the Lord’s Supper is a call to participation.

Why do we observe the Lord’s Supper? We observe to commemorate a past event, to anticipate a
future event, and to participate in the celebration of life between the two.
 From the start, how it came about the first Passover?

The historical origins of Passover are unclear. Though the Hebrew Bible describes the origins of Passover
these texts were likely composed after the 6th century BCE and include evidence for editorial additions
and enrichments, namely expansions of older texts. Therefore, in order to understand the origins and
practices associated with Passover, we must first examine the various texts in the Hebrew Bible which
describe Passover. In doing so, three characteristics will emerge concerning the nature of Passover as
represented in the Hebrew Bible:

 Association with Yahweh, Israel's god

 Shifts in the rituals associated with Passover
 Different assumptions concerning whether or not people should perform Passover.

First, Passover is always associated with Yahweh, though not necessarily Yahweh's leading the Israelites
out of Egypt or passing over the doorposts of their households. In analyzing and proposing a history for
the textual growth of Exodus 12:1-28, Professors Simeon Chavel and Mira Balberg suggest that the
oldest layer of text in Exodus 12 does not feature Israel's liberation through Yahweh's smiting of Egypt
and does not explicitly advance it (Chavel 2018, 299), essentially characterizing it as an ambiguous piece
of folklore about a festival.