"When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."" Luke 22:14-16
"And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, "Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes."" Luke 22:17-18
The word translated as "until" in both of these passages is heos hetou (ἕως ὅτου). It is informing us when. There is a future element here.
"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." 1 Corinthians 11:26
The word translated as "until in this passage is achri hou (ἄχρι οὗ). It denotes an objective, a goal. It is informing us why. In other words, "You proclaim His death so that He comes."
"And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."" Luke 22:19
The translation "remembrance" is incorrect. The word here is anamnesis. The an is negative, meaning "not." Amnesis means amnesia. In other words, "not forgetting." The correct translation here would be "reminder." Both the bread and the cup are a reminder of the past and reminder of the future. The Lord's Supper is not a funeral event, though the practice in most denominations feels precisely like such. Yes, we remember what the Lord Jesus did on our behalf, but we look forward to His second coming (or at least we should be).
The typical ambiguous word for "me" or "my" is mou (μου), which by its usage indicates that the person can either be the subject or the owner. If your photo was in a magazine and there was an article about you, you are the subject. If the magazine belonged to you, you are the owner. That is not the word used here. The word used here is the emphatic emen (ἐμὴν), which indicates possession. It is Jesus' reminder. In other words, "Do My reminder! Remind yourselves of my return."
When you partake of the Lord's Supper, do the words "joy" or "fellowship" come to your mind? Probably not. Do you know why? Because your local congregation is practicing it incorrectly! The Lord's Supper was an actual, full meal. A banquet! The text bears it out itself, but let us hear from several scholars on the issue:
[Paul] "sets the Lord's Supper in the context of the fellowship meal." -Donald Guthrie, New Testament Theology, p. 758.
"From the beginning the Lord's Supper was for Christians not an annual Christian Passover, but a regularly repeated meal in 'honor of the Lord,' hence the Lord's Supper." -Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT
"Holy Communion was not simply a token meal as with us, but an actual meal. Moreover it seems clear that it was a meal to which each of the participants brought food." -Leon Morris, Commentary on First Corinthians
"The name Lord's Supper, though legitimately derived from 1 Cor. 11v20, is not there applied to the sacrament itself, but to the Love Feast or Agape, a meal commemorating the Last Supper..." -J. G. Simpson, The Dictionary of the Bible
"This simple rite was observed by His disciples, at first as part of a communal meal, Sunday by Sunday." -I. Howard Marshall, Christian Beliefs: An Introductory Study Guide"the early church associated the Lord's Supper with a proper meal" -I. Howard Marshall, Christian Beliefs: An Introductory Study Guide"In the first century, the Lord's Supper included not only the bread and the cup, but an entire meal." - John Gooch, Christian History, Issue 37, p. 3.
If Jesus set it up this way, if the apostles set it up this way, do you not think there was a specific reason for doing so?
"The early church observed the Lord's Supper as an exclusive community meal." -John Drane, The New Lion Encyclopedia, p. 173.
"They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ..." Acts 2:42-47
There are three (3) elements here; not four (4). Perhaps you will see it better if we lay it out like this:
They were continually devoting themselves
to the apostles' teaching
and
to fellowship, to the breaking of bread
and
to prayer.
The fellowship is the breaking of bread. That is why they came together. The fellowship meal was the central matter surrounding their gathering. Not the singing. Not the teaching or preaching. Not anything else. The fellowship is what creates the unity.
"Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread." 1 Corinthians 10:17
The Lord's Supper consisted of a single loaf. Why? Paul just explained it. It is a picture of unity. The same with the single cup. What picture is portrayed by the vast majority of local congregations today in their unbiblical practice? Disunity! Again, let us hear from some of the scholars:
"Because all have eaten portions of the same element, they have become a unity in which they have come as close to one another as members of the same body, as if the bodily boundaries between and among people had been transcended." -Gerd Theissen
"The single loaf is a symbol and an instrument of unity." -Robertson and Plummer, Int'l Critical Commentary
Gordon Fee wrote of the "solidarity of the fellowship of believers created by their sharing 'the one loaf.'"
How do we know that the Lord's Supper was a full meal? "One is hungry and another is drunk." You cannot go home hungry, or drunk, off the token meal 99% of denominations practice today! Go ahead and read 1 Corinthians 11. There is no question that they ate it as a full meal. So why is every single denomination practicing it wrong today? Of greater consequence, why do they not seem to care to fix it?
What is one of the reasons why so many denominations follow an unbiblical practice today? Because of the erroneous translation found in the King James Version. The KJV has the word "unworthily," which conveys a lack of worth in the person taking the element. But what does the Greek word used actually mean? It means an "unworthy manner." What is meant by that? Divisions. The rich did not want to eat with the poor, so they would take off work early and eat the meal before the poor could arrive. The poor, working for the man, would arrive late and there would be no food remaining for them, and several of the rich people would be drunk. Because of this, several of them were dying. God was killing them because they were eating and drinking in an unworthy manner. They were creating divisions. Similar divisions to the rich/poor dynamic would be the black/white dynamic. If members in a congregation do not want to eat with members of a different ethnicity, their eating is in an unworthy manner. They are perverting the unity the bread and cup were meant to stand for.
What does the Old Testament say about worshipping God? The pattern shown to Moses on Sinai was to be followed exactly. Why? Because everything foreshadowed and pictured something else. God determines how we are to worship Him. The pattern set up in the New Testament is different than the pattern set up in the Old Testament. Each denomination does not get to decide how they would like to "do church." God tells you how to do it! Jesus and His apostles set up certain traditions and they are to be followed by every Christian! Period End of sentence. End of discussion. Your congregation does not get to make up its own tradition(s) for worshipping God. Everything Jesus and His apostles set in place was done for a reason. Hence why Paul repeated mentions the fact that in all the congregations, he teaches them the exact same things. Our pattern is not the Old Testament Hebrew religion; try reading Hebrews some time. Our pattern is not what the early church fathers chose to do in contradiction to Scripture through their creation and use of the heresy of apostolic succession. Our pattern is not what pagan Emperor Constantine set up, or the cultural Roman elements used by the Catholic churches. Our pattern is not what Luther or Calvin or anyone else set up. Our pattern is to be derived from the pages of the New Testament alone! Scripture is our absolute and final authority on such matters; not any other pragmatic considerations!
Let us get back to the Bible, and show the world what true Christian fellowship, love, and unity look like!