Communion

Hello, everybody. Today is Tuesday, March the 21st. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm John Galantis. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. If you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for future episodes, send us a text at 252-582-5028, or you can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. That's right, and you guys can help us keep this conversation going by supporting this radio show, sharing it online, leaving us a good review on iTunes, podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasting content from. We're going to leave a couple of links in the description below of the show, so you can do just that.

You can leave us those good reviews. We love to read them. We love to eat them.

Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. We actually print them on edible paper and snack on them in the office. On edible paper. What is edible paper? It's like made out of sugar or something. You can print and write on it. And you can eat the paper? Yeah, it's made out of sugar.

No, I've never seen that. Can you turn it in as an office memo? I wouldn't.

Theoretically, I guess you could, but I wouldn't do it. Read the verse of the day. Is it written on edible paper? Unfortunately, no. It's written on Dead Sea Scrolls.

Rats. The verse of the day today comes from Isaiah 1, verse 17. Learn to do good, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. It's easy to stand up for people that I have an emotional connection to, like friends or family or like our children.

It's easy to stand up when someone does something wrong to them. We're all about fighting injustice when someone I care about has been wronged. But God is reminding us through Isaiah that our worship to him means very little if we don't also stand and protect those who are weak or oppressed or forgotten. It's not just the people in your immediate life that need your help. There are people all over the world who need our help. And so as Christians, you know, it's it's our duty. It's God's command to us to be friends to the ones who have none.

Yeah. Dr. Shaw said it multiple times on the show, but everywhere that Christianity has gone it is elevated. It's not to bring justice, not to bring relief, not to bring mercy. And that's our call as believers.

We are to be the conduits through which God pours out his love on the world. Right. And that's that's kind of what what you're saying there.

It's his love. You know, seek justice. That's not justice as I see it. It's not like eye for an eye.

You did something bad. So I'm going to make sure something bad happens to you. That's not God's definition of justice. God is the one who will deal out justice and vengeance.

Our our goal is to turn people to God. Yeah, he is. He is our perfect. He is our perfect heavenly father. Speaking of speaking of father.

Yes. I have noticed that your youngest is growing way too fast. Faster than my first one did. He I mean just like I feel like we're blinking and just all of a sudden he's just growing up before our eyes. Gavin was I might I might get this wrong. I think Gavin was like four or five months before he rolled over. Really? Yeah.

Holden rolled over for the first time last week. Wow. He's two months old. He's by the he's he's three months old. Yeah.

He's three months old. So still a month or two earlier. Yeah. Yeah. Wow.

Yeah. He's he's he's growing up. He's he's cooing more. He's doing that thing where he's now starting to resemble a baby like like he was a baby, but he never made sound. He just kind of looks around and Bob's his head and it's like, oh, but now he's like, ah, that's what I'm kind of liking where there's like some interactivity where it's having a toddler like Gavin is like speaking in full sentences now and he's like, I want to go do this.

I want this, which is all I want. It's it's or like, hey, what are you doing? Yeah. Uh, I've now got another one who's like, ah, but starting on that like process of communication, you can tell he like recognize that you are an independent being and he has something that he wants to communicate to you. He's trying to tell me something for sure. Yeah.

That's fun. I noticed with, with my kids, the, the further we got in birth order, like they seem to pick up on things a lot faster. And I think a lot of that is having older siblings. Um, you have somebody who is near enough to your age that you're like, man, I want to do what they're doing. Right.

Um, so like by the time we got to Asher, our fifth, he's, he did things much quicker than any of the other four because he had, you know, by the time he was born, the twins were well into elementary school. He could kind of see what they're doing and it's more on his level cause you got these like big omnipotent God like beings walking around just like doing things that make no sense. Yeah.

But then he sees someone who looks more like him doing, he's like, Oh wait, I think I can do something like that. Yeah. You're closer to me and you're doing this. So maybe I can do this.

Yeah. Let me, let me try this walking thing. They like stand up.

Their legs are shaking. It's fun. It's really fun.

I'm, I'm interested to see how he develops. I, you know, I never knew, I never understood really why rolling over was a big milestone. Yeah. I kind of get it now because it's like, Oh wow, he's able to move himself. He's able, it's like the first thing he can do. Right.

And it really doesn't serve much of a function other than I did something. Yeah. So I kind of get it now because at first with Gavin, I was like, Ellie was like, I think he's going to roll over. And I was like, so if he rolls over, we'll have to put him back.

But now I think starting to see now that Gavin can like walk and talk and jump and all this stuff, I am starting to see like when Holden was born, I was like, wow, he is really helpless. We have to do literally everything. And so the rolling over is like, okay, if nothing else, if he's uncomfortable and his back, he can change it now. Right. Yeah. So it's that first like moment of agency that he, yes, yes.

It's like that first act of autonomy where it's like, I don't want to be on my back, so I won't be anymore. And I don't need mommy or daddy to do it for me. Me do it. Yeah. Me do.

Me do it. But I will say it was very frustrating to watch because he would roll over and his arm gets stuck and he's like, oh, I don't like this. And he starts like wailing and I like want to go over and flip him. And Ellie's like, no, let him do it.

Let him do it. I'm like, okay. Cause I know when it's how it's like to have your arms stuck. Yeah.

Like I'm trying to move, but I can't. I'm like, man, that's gotta be torturous. But sweet guy.

It was, it was cute. We've got an exciting episode planned for you guys today. We talked a lot yesterday about baptism, but we're moving on to the second ordinance that John talks about in his gospel, which is communion. Such an important thing that we do as believers in such an important thing we do here at Clearview. We're going to get Dr. Ashan in just a minute, but if you have any questions or suggestions for new episodes, text us at 252-582-5028 or visit us online at cleerviewtodayshow.com.

We'll be right back. Hey everyone, my name's Ellie and I'm David. We want to take a minute and let you know how we can actually serve you as you're listening to Clearview today. The Bible paints an extraordinary picture of who we are as a church body. The mission of Clearview Church is to lead all people into a life changing, ever-growing relationship with Jesus Christ. A huge part of leading people is praying for them. A big reason that Christians have unanswered prayers in their life is because they're not praying.

You know, first John 5, 15 says, and if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. If you're listening to the Clearview today show, we want to know how we can pray for you as well. There's a number of ways that you can get in touch with us at Clearview and share your prayer requests. But the best way is by texting us at 252-582-5028. You can also send us an email at prayer at clearviewbc.org or you can download the Clearview app on iTunes or Google Play.

You know, on that app, there's a dedicated prayer wall that helps us to get to know what's going on in your life, how we can pray for you and how we can take any necessary steps to get you moving in the right direction. Thanks for listening. Now let's get back to the show. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com or if you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, send us a text at 252-582-5028. That's right.

And if you guys are joining us for the first time, we want to let you know who's talking to you today. Dr. Abbadon Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor and the host of today's show. You can find all of his work on his website. That's AbbadonShah.com.

That's right. And if you're not already, make sure you follow along with his Facebook page, AbbadonShah PhD, his public figures Facebook page. You're going to get a lot of content, some that's related to Clear View Today, but also some that is related to like the scholarly realm, helping you grow in your understanding of God's word and helping you apply it to your life. Dr. Shah, welcome to the studio today. It's good to be here. Happy Tuesday. Happy Tuesday. Happy Tuesday.

See everybody around the table. Happy Tuesday. Happy Tuesday.

Spell that. T-O-O-S-D-E-E. Tuesday. Tuesday. It's better than Tuesday.

That's what my mama was saying. There is no C-A in Tuesday. Well, on this Tuesday, what we want to do is we want to continue the conversation that we've been going through, talking about the different ordinances that are in the Gospel of John. You preached a message a while ago. We talked about it yesterday, water, bread, and cup, as we talked about baptism and what that means for the life of the believer. But that's not the only ordinance that John talks about in his Gospel.

That's right. And it's the Lord's Supper or the communion is the other one. Now, once again, for the benefit of our listeners, viewers, you know, John has a way of using what is known as, I'm trying to make sure I get the word right over here, the Greek word.

I'm missing it here. Paroimia. Okay. Paroimia is a word that uses imagery to draw us closer in our love, our fellowship with Jesus Christ. Okay.

So it's Paroimia. So he uses symbols. He uses signs.

He uses special words like water. Keep in mind, Gospel of John came maybe a decade or two after the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. So he does not prescribe baptism. He simply assumes it, that it is already happening in the life of the church.

Right. Because it's not like it says like, and then Jesus came down to John the Baptist and was baptized. So what that means is he was dunked under the water. He just was like, Hey, this is what happened.

I trust that you know what this is. And even if you, you know, it doesn't have the word baptism there, just the idea of water. It had a special meaning for the early church. They knew that water is baptism. It was so prominent for them. For us now, it's become like secondary, tertiary, optional, but not for the early church. Baptism was a very integral part of their lives. That's a good point.

That's a good point. Cause we even say that sometimes that it's a secondary doctrine, it's a tertiary doctrine. It's not one of those required for salvation, therefore it's secondary. Well, we qualify it like, you know, a person's talking about getting saved, like, yeah, and you should be baptized, but you don't have to be. You don't have to be to be saved. No, I mean, the water doesn't save you, but it's, it's expected as an act of obedience. And what does that, I want to guess into another conversation here, but what does that imply about your understanding of salvation? If that's the only thing that makes it a primary doctrine, maybe it's, I just want to go to heaven and that's the only thing that's primary. Everything else is kind of... My sins are forgiven.

You know, my, my debt has been released. Atonement has happened, but it's still going in the water thing. So you see what we've done to baptism, just because there's nothing magical in the water, it doesn't wash our sins away. We don't believe in baptismal regeneration as some denominations do, that you have to be baptized in order to be saved. Just because we don't buy into those false doctrines does not mean that baptism is not important.

It's very important. So also communion. Communion was also a very important part of the church's life. And just like you find water, you know, several times in the Gospel of John. So also you find wine and bread many times mentioned in the Gospel of John.

You know, think about the first miracle in John chapter two, but in it at Cana in Galilee, and that's where Jesus turned water, right? If they had said that in the early church, it was like, oh, like, like baptismal water into wine. Oh, that's communion right there. You know, so they, they, they equated wine and bread with the communion. Then you come across passages like John 15, where Jesus talks about, I'm the true vine. Again, in a sense, a mention of communion. And then John chapter six, where Jesus, you know, takes five loaves, two fish, and feeds 5,000 or 30, 35,000 people, if you add women and children, again, that's a symbol of the bread. And then of course, you know, he talks about wine again and again.

So the whole point is this. Jesus, in the Gospel of John, baptism and communion are very, very, very important. Now, when we come to the end of John's Gospel, John 19, you see both those ordinances coming together in one place.

Albeit baptism and communion are not mentioned, but when the soldier comes and pierces Jesus's side, what comes out? Blood and water, right? So in some ways we can say, oh, that was just to emphasize the fact that he was human.

Yes, true. But if you're a first century church and you're listening to blood and water, you perk up because you know what that means. It's a reference to the communion and the baptism. That's one of the things I love about listening to you preach and teach, Dr. Shaw, is that you, you talk about what's right there at the surface. I mean, it's Jesus being pierced on the side and he's bleeding blood mixed with water. It points to his humanity, but there's such a deeper truth there and you take us into that realm where we might not even know to go. We might not know to dig further, but like we said about John's Gospel, there's so much more. There's always another layer. There's always more meaning that we can glean from that text.

That's right. I think it's also notable that, like you said, it would be really tempting to say, all right, this episode's on baptism, this one's on communion, but the whole point of it is that they go together, you know, they're seen together. It was blood and water, not blood and then water or water and then blood, blood and water came out. And so it kind of encapsulates both of those Christian ordinances.

And again, keep in mind, there's nothing magical in that cup or in that bread. You know, some, some denominations call it sacraments. We don't call it sacraments because sacraments implies something sacred in it, but we call them ordinances. I mean, they have been ordered by Jesus, you know, do this in remembrance of me. Now, again, John and his Gospel doesn't say, do this.

It's assumed that this is happening. It has become a normal part of the church's life. It is so important, so critical for them that just a mention of wine reminds them of communion. Just a mention of blood or bread reminds them of the communion. But unfortunately, very quickly in the life of the church, especially the further they got away from Jerusalem and Israel, I would say, the idea of bread and cup, communion was becoming shallow, starting with the Corinthian church.

Remember Corinth, the Roman colony made up of former slaves, army veterans, business people, laborers. And so they got saved, they got into the church and, you know, it was all kinds of people there, the haves and the have nots, the spirituals and the super spirituals, all kind of people there. But then something began to happen and the something was this in verse 20. This is 1st Corinthians chapter 11, verse 20. Paul says, Therefore, when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others, and one is hungry and other is drunk.

Now, what exactly is happening here? The early church used to have a love feast. We call that the fellowship dinner. Every week, along with the Lord's Supper, what they used to do was they would come into the triclinium. Triclinium is like, the etymology is three couches, but it would be the front room, the better room of the building. And so when you would walk into a Roman building, the formal dining room would be like the triclinium. Some of the Christians would get there early so they can get into the triclinium, claim those couches, claim those nice open comfy seats first. Ain't nothing new under the sun.

2000 years later, we're still doing the same thing. And unfortunately, the late comers, what they got was the atrium, which is like this lobby or this foyer. The little metal folding chairs. Poor guys. I don't care. They're just standing there waiting.

Just standing, standing only in the lobby, while always chilling on a beam. They have to wait their turn? Yeah. One is hungry, another is drunk.

What does that mean? It says in verse 21, for in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others, and one is hungry, another is drunk. So imagine walking into this Roman building, you're coming into the atrium and you see people in the triclinium just taking their time.

Lounging, feet up. Yeah. Eating away. Like just licking the sauce off their fingers and stuff. Yeah. And they're drunk. Instead of like, this cup is a communion, right?

It's for everybody coming in. That's all. Just take as much as you want.

Pour me a little more. Oh man. That took on a whole unintended and horrible life. I mean, if you're supposed to have this love feast, in addition to the Lord's Supper, that's like this solemn observance, like this very meaningful time, then there's people that are just like chilling, having a good time, lounging. Yeah, they've completely lost the meaning. It's like, if you take your family out to eat and you are waiting to be set on a busy night at a restaurant, whatever, it happens, restaurants are busy, but if you see another table that's right there and these people have been done and they're just sitting there just relaxing.

Did you ever see that when you were a waiter? Oh man. Yeah.

Chill out. We'd try to close those tables out quickly. We'd be like, hey, can I get you anything else? Can I get you anything else?

Trying to hint like, it's time for you to get up now. You've been done for half an hour. Nothing else is coming to the table. Can I see a dessert menu? No, you've already had three desserts. There's the door, pal.

We got 35 people that are waiting to sit down. But this is even more so because it's spiritual insignificance. That's right. The Lord's Supper isn't false.

That's crazy. And Paul says to them in 1 Corinthians 11, 22, 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? So, so the, the well-to-do would usually get in and reserve their seats and then the poor would be coming over there standing and waiting where I can cause I didn't have money. They got their little paper plates, little flies buzzing around and stuff.

That's sad. Can I please just have a crumb? And Paul says, what shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this?

I don't praise you. And so that is the context. And so in that context of this, this abuse of communion, Paul says, for our receipt from the Lord, that which I also deliver to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread. Now we read this at all our communion services, but we think it's like Paul sitting down. It's like, I'm going to give you the tradition now. It's usually done in the context of Paul is just so ticked off.

It's like done. But I think it's, I think it's also funny because it shows what kind of leader and what kind of man Paul is where he could have just tell him, Hey, you guys got to grow up. This is, this is not fine.

This is not cool. It said he takes them back to that night where Jesus was betrayed. And he's like, you'll know what guys remember why we're doing this. You know, remember the vision. Remember that we're, we're, this isn't just something that we're doing.

Otherwise I can just tell you, Hey, grow up, stop, knock it off behind it. But yeah, we're doing this for a reason. Let's try to remember what that reason is.

Right. And it's a deep reason because you know, it's about on the same night he was betrayed, took bread. He's talking about the Passover bread and you know, the Hebrews, the people of Israel, the Jewish people celebrated the Passover and the Passover Haggadah says in every generation, a man must so regard himself as if he came forth himself out of Egypt. So the Passover was supposed to be done in a sense that you were there that night. Well, I wasn't there. That's like 500 years ago or that was like 2000 years ago. No, when you take, take the Passover with your family, you have to visualize yourself as if you were there on that fateful night when Moses went before Pharaoh and say, let my people go.

And he didn't listen. Now comes the death of the first born and you have to leave, but make sure you put the blood of the, the lamb on the doorposts and the lentils of your house and you, you eat that unleavened bread and you're ready to go. Remember that feeling?

Remember that dark night? That's how, so also when you take the communion, you have to visualize yourself as if you were in that upper room. You're sitting with Jesus. It's very somber. Judas has just, you know, been exposed. And how do you feel? Sense of fear, doubt, anxiety, you know, confusion. So much, so many emotions are running through your head. You have to go back to that night, not hanging out in the triclinium.

Pour me some more, man. That's not what we're remembering. When they make more money, they can come in and do the same thing too. And it's, it's interesting that you say that. And I think it's, it's just speaks to a very deep truth because of all the times I've taken communion in my life, there is that air of somberness and that air of light.

And, but never until very recently when we've been talking about it like this, have I thought about, yeah, that's by design. We want you to go back and remember, or just try to remember what it must have been like for those disciples. Like, yeah, they would have been stressed.

They're somber, they're sad, there's doubt and there's anxiety in the air. And I think what we do as Christian churches is we try so hard to eliminate that. We want flashy lights. We want cool music. We want everyone to feel welcome.

We got the t-shirts, we got the hair, the denim jackets with the fuzz. We're doing everything we can to eliminate anxiety and doubt without remembering that it was there for a reason. And that those emotions can be very helpful. Yeah.

Just, just camping that for a minute because they're powerful. It's a powerful reminder of where, what the disciples were going through, what Jesus was going through that time, like why we're remembering this. And that's something, you know, that's very intentional in how we do things here in creating that moment of just kind of a somber time of reflection.

Not like morose, not just sad and you know, we're going to beat ourselves up in shame, but just that, that weight, that heaviness is, is good to camp there. Right. That's right. And, and then it says, this is first Corinthians 11, 24, when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take ye, this is my body, which is broken for you. And then he says in verse 25, in this same manner, he also took the cup after supper saying this cup is a new covenant in my blood. So again, going back to the Passover imagery, the cup of blessing came at the end of the meal and Jesus recast it and called it the new covenant. And Paul was telling the Corinthians that under the new covenant, when God sets aside his rights and was willing to pour his blood for us, Jesus, right, was willing to do that.

If they claim Christ, they were part of a whole new community where personal rights and free choice to treat people any way you want to are also laid aside. This is a new covenant. And then, you know, Paul says, this do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. You know, there's that, that covenant is in the blood. And I kind of want to speak to that for a second, because this is a way of thinking that I've adopted ever since, you know, learning under you, Dr. Shaw, because I fell into the camp and I don't know if it's actually a camp, but my way of thinking was nothing symbolizes or holds more weight, symbolizes power and authority and holds more weight than the empty tomb.

That's how we used to be. The empty tomb is the culmination of everything. That resurrection, that's what everything is leading towards. And it wasn't that I was like out there as like a, like a flag holder for it.

That's just what my thinking was. And over the years with you, it's not that, Hey, it's not that the empty tomb is bad, but the cross is that, is that culmination. There's nothing more life changering, life changing or like altering than the cross where the blood happened. That's, that's where Jesus said it's finished. He didn't say it's finished after rising. The, it was, and I think this is the way you told it to me, but the cross was the culmination. Empty tomb was always going to happen.

There was, it was never going to not happen. Right. That's a good way to say that. And that's why communion is so important, so vital because that those are the elements symbolizing the work of the cross, you know, and, and then Paul goes on to tell the Corinthians, he says in verse 26, where as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's debt 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. So that's a tough passage. Yeah.

Especially, especially cause we don't know, or I don't know if he, does he, does he specify what it means to take it in an unworthy manner? Well, I mean, they were like, one is hungry and others drunk. You know, they were, they were fooling around in the triclinium. Got it. Yeah. Being, being almost flippant with it.

Like, whatever. Like this is my meal. This is my meal.

I'm going to gorge myself and then prevent other people from being part of it. And here's a judgment in verse 29. 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 asleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world.

So, you know, very simple. Deal with sin in your life. God won't have to do it. If you don't do it, God will do it. So when it comes to the communion, if you straighten up and really visualize what you're doing and why it's important, God won't have to kill some of you.

But you're sick. That's a great point. And for those of you who work in churches or in a ministry setting, use that time of communion as an opportunity for reflection, for kind of somber, quiet, looking back on who Christ is and what he's done for you. So important. If you guys enjoyed today's topic or you have suggestions for future topics, let us know by sending us a text at 252-582-5028. Or you can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com. And don't forget, you can support us financially on that same website. Be obedient to how God has called you to give. Partner with us as we team up together with you, our listeners and viewers and impact the world for the gospel.

Yeah, that's right. We've been seeing so many people commenting to us in person and texting into that number about how much this show is changing their lives. And we use that phraseology a lot. But when someone actually comes to you with a changed life, like think about that for a second, a changed life, I think differently now because of this show. I understand Christ better because of this show. I know the three of us sitting around this table and the two of us behind the desk are very grateful that God has given us this platform. I'm grateful to you two guys because without this show, I think a lot of people would still be kind of grasping out at straws because everyone wants to know how to think and how to feel towards Jesus and understand him better.

I think this show is helping a lot of people. Thank you for listening. And like Brian was saying, thank you for donating. Absolutely.

You got it. Well, I was just going to say, we have a quote to end on that kind of goes along with what you were saying. This is a quote that says, I'll read it and then I'll tell you who it's by. The greatest legacy one can pass onto one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith. That was by Billy Graham.

Wow. I thought you said my Billy Graham. My Billy Graham.

My personal, my Billy Graham. No, but I mean, that's kind of what we've been talking about. It's about investing. It's about this family feel. We were talking about the Lord's Supper.

Those words are going to come out in the right order in a second. But it's this family investment. It's teaching our kids and our grandkids the importance of the Lord's Supper, the importance of things of faith. And that was a big part of Billy Graham's life. That's something that we prioritize here as well, investing in and training our kids and younger generations to take the mantle and spread the gospel. We love you guys. We'll see you next time on Clearview today.