11 ‘Now this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which shall be presented to the Lord. 12 If he offers it by way of thanksgiving, then along with the sacrifice of thanksgiving he shall offer unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of well stirred fine flour mixed with oil. 13 With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving, he shall present his offering with cakes of leavened bread. 14 Of this he shall present one of every offering as a contribution to the Lord; it shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings.
15 ‘Now as for the flesh of the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offerings, it shall be eaten on the day of his offering; he shall not leave any of it over until morning.
Message: The Lord's Supper and Fellowship
Time: There is sufficient evidence that Moses penned Exodus and Leviticus including references to Leviticus by New Testament authors. Its name means "pertaining to the Levites" and its purpose was to instruct the Israelites on right living and proper worship. The most likely time for this is 1446 BC. The book communicates that receiving God’s forgiveness and acceptance should be followed by holy living and spiritual growth.
What the Lord is Saying: There has been disagreement among Roman Catholics and Protestants about the Lord's Supper. Some in the Roman Catholic church believe that the Lord's Supper is a propitiatory offering. But there is no support for this in scripture and instead one has to then say that this is an extra-biblical teaching. Propitiatory offering means:
The mass is said to be something more than a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. It is properly a “propitiatory sacrifice” - that is, a sacrifice offered “for sins.” “The Sacrifice of the Mass is offered to God…to appease Him, make Him due satisfaction for our sins, and to help the souls in Purgatory, and hence it is called Propitiatory” (Catechism of St Pius X).
The Old Testament sacrifices are varied -- a few examples are peace offerings, thanksgiving offerings, burnt offerings. The Burnt offering is mentioned in Leviticus 1 "that he may be accepted before the Lord" (v. 2) and "to make atonement on his behalf (v. 4)". Thus, a propitiatory offering that foreshadowed the final wrath-satisfying atonement of Christ. In this offering the entire animal is offered to the Lord and none of the animal was eaten.
Peace offerings however included eating of the animal. And the peace offering could also be a thanksgiving offering. This would bring a parallel then between the New Testament Lord's Supper and these offerings as in the Lord's Supper today we feed on the body and blood of Christ.
Thus, like the peace offering and thanksgiving offering we are remembering the goodness of God for our redemption and offering up praise to Him of thanksgiving and worship. We eat of the animal or eat of unleavened cakes and wafers as today's passage mentions. And eat of the body and blood of Christ in today's Lord's Supper, and thus the parallel. Thus our fellowship with Christ is confirmed.
Summary: The Lord's Supper is an offering to the Lord of thanksgiving, peace, and fellowship whereby we partake of the body and blood of Christ in remembrance of his goodness and redeeming us.
Promise: From Tabletalk: We do not fellowship over food with our enemies but typically only with our friends and family. Christ invites all who believe in Him to His table. If we have faith in Him alone for salvation, then the eating and drinking signifies that we are at peace with Him and impresses the reality of this peace and fellowship on our souls.
Prayer: O Lord, thank you for the goodness of Your Word and the parallels between the Old and New Covenants and weaving it all together. May I be a person that continually remembers You and the Goodness of Your Sacrifice for me. Thank you for dying for me and granting me new and forever life in You. Help me to continue to celebrate and remember You as I engage in the Lord's Supper, thanking you for the union I have with You in Christ. Thank you for making the Lord's Supper distinct and special.
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