“The Last Supper”, The Lord's Supper”, “Communion”, “Holy Communion”, “Eucharist”, “Sacrament” or “Breaking of Bread”
are some of the common names in Christianity given to the last meal Yeshua (Jesus) had with his disciples (talmadim). They are used to describe the bread and wine that Yeshua and His disciples  had before He was crucified on the cross. It is very clear from 1 Cor 11:23 “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you—that the Lord Yeshua, on the night He was betrayed, took matzah.” (TLV) that the bread and the wine form part of the Passover Seder as discussed in the previous article.

Within Christianity there are many different traditions regarding this breaking of bread and drinking of wine as indicated by the variety of names given to it. Do we consume bits of white bread, wafers, crackers, or matzah (unleavened bread) as given in the TLV. How often should we celebrate it, once a year, once a month or weekly, or whenever we gather? Is any of this important or not? The major question is, what is important to our Heavenly Father and His Son Yeshua? To answer this question we need to study the Bible to see what God teaches us and not rely on our traditions.

Origin of Passover/Pesach in the Old Testament/Tanach
Let us start with the first references to Passover in the Tanach which is an acronym made from the first letters of the three main divisions of the Hebrew Bible: Torah – 5 Books of Moses, Nevi'im -Prophets and K'tuvim – Writings.
Exodus 12:5-14 Your lamb is to be without blemish, a year old male. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You must watch over it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight. They are to take the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the crossbeam of the houses where they will eat it. …..... You are to eat it in haste. It is Adonai’s Passover. “For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and strike down every firstborn, both men and animals, and I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am Adonai. …... The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. So there will be no plague among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. This day is to be a memorial for you. You are to keep it as a feast to Adonai. Throughout your generations you are to keep it as an eternal ordinance.
Leveticus 23:4 “These are the appointed feasts of Adonai, holy convocations which you are to proclaim in their appointed season. During the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Adonai’s Passover.

The first Passover was observed just before the Israelites departed from Egypt and the Lord passed over the Land bringing death to all the first born in all households who did not have the blood of the lamb on their doorposts and lintel. God commanded the Israelites to commemorate this Passover feast on the 14th of Nissan as an everlasting ordinance. 

The requirements for keeping the Passover are given in Exodus 12:43
Then Adonai said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner may eat it, but every man’s servant that is bought for money, after you have circumcised him, may eat it. Nor should a visitor or hired servant eat it. It is to be eaten inside a single house. You are not to carry the meat out of the house, nor are you to break any of its bones. All the congregation of Israel must keep it. But if an outsider(gur) dwells with you, who would keep the Passover for Adonai, all his males must be circumcised. Then let him draw near and keep it. He will be like one who is native to the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat from it. The same Torah applies to the native as well as the outsider who dwells among you.”

So to partake in the Passover one needs to have a circumcised 'heart' which means that one has had a Passover Experience as discussed. Otherwise what is spoken of in 1 Cor 11:27 may befall one:
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

Yeshua came to fulfil the prophecy of the Bible
In Matthew 5:17 Yeshua declares:
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfil.
Yeshua is the fulfilment of all the Feast of the Adonai given in Leviticus 23, and has already fulfilled the Feast of Passover as the Paschal Lamb.
In John 1:29 The next day, John sees Yeshua coming to him and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John the Baptist testifies that Yeshua is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.


Yeshua kept the Passover of the Renewed Covenant with His Talmadim
Yeshua explained that the blessing of His sacrificial death were contained in the Passover ceremony (Pesach Seder) as covered in Messianic Significance of the Passover.
Matthew 26:17 Now on the first day of matzah (unleavened bread), the disciples came to Yeshua, saying, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and tell him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; at your house I am to keep the Passover with My disciples.”’” The disciples did as Yeshua had ordered them, and they prepared the Passover.
Matthew 26:26 -28 Now while they were eating, Yeshua took matzah; and after He offered the bracha, He broke and gave to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And He took a cup; and after giving thanks, He gave to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the removal of sins.


Yeshua took the matzah, which is called the afikomen meaning “that which comes after” and said the blessing, “Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam hamtzi lechem min ha'aretz”. Then He took the 3rd cup of Redemption saying “Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam, borei peri hagefen.” and “this is My blood of the Covenant for the forgiveness of sins.


Note that Yeshua and His talmadim kept the Passover on the 14th day of Nissan (Mtt 26:17 Mark 14:12) at twilight according to the Hebrew calendar. The following day when the paschal lambs were being sacrifices, He was hung on the cross and died as the talmid lamb was sacrificed, the final sacrifice of the day. Thus He fulfilled every prophecy relating to His death. This renewed covenant in His blood allows both the circumcised and the uncircumcised in the flesh to enter this renewed covenant provided both have circumcised hearts through accepting the blood of Yeshua into their hearts (Eze 44:7, 9).


In Remembrance of Me
Here we enter into controversial territory in the understanding of 1 Corinthians 11:26
      For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
“For as often” has been taken to mean in nearly the whole of Christianity that one does this anytime one chooses, but is this what Apostle Paul also called Shaul, meant? Let us examine the words of this passage carefully  “on the night he was betrayed” in verse 23: For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you—that the Lord Yeshua, on the night He was betrayed, took matzah.
The night is the beginning of Passover, the Last Supper Yeshua celebrated with His talmadim on which He prepared for His death. We should take part in the matzah and wine in remembrance of Yeshua, but there is no indication that we are to do it weekly, monthly or when we choose! Shaul states “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you” strongly indicates he is following the teaching of Yeshua concerning the Passover. So, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes" is only to be connected to the remebrance of His crucificion through the celebration of the Pesach (Passover).
If we continue to look at verses 27 to 29: 
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and then let him eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For the one who eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

Do we want to remember Yeshua' sacrifice and receive the forgiveness of our sin? Let us keep the Passover according to God's Word with circumcised hearts on the fourteenth day of the first month, Nissan. Not doing it according to the traditions of man, but according the ways of our Lord and Saviour, Yeshua HaMashiach. (Isaiah 55:8-11)


Breaking Bread and Communion
The reference to the term 'breaking bread' in the Gospels of Matthew (14:19 15:36), Mark (8:6) and Luke 24:30 refer to a meal like the feeding the five thousand and four thousand or Yeshua having ameal with the two disciples, while Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22 and Luke 22:30 relate to the Last Supper. In most cases Yeshua says a Blessing/Brucha:
Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam, hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz.

Other reference to breaking bread are found in Acts 2:42, 46 20:7, 11 27:35 and 1 Cor 10:16 11:23-24.  Acts 2:42 They were devoting themselves to the teaching of the emissaries and to fellowship, to breaking bread and to prayers. This verse has been used to support the doctrine that breaking bread refers to what is commonly known as Communion, effectively replacing the Passover remembrance of Yeshua' death and resurrection. In Acts 20 Shaul returning from Greece breaks bread in Troas on a Saturday evening which is clearly a meal as no wine is mentioned. In Acts 27:35 the breaking of bread is also clearly a meal in which all on board the ship took part, Jew and Gentiles. As already discussed the 1 Corinthian 10:16 and 11:23-24 passages refer directly to the Passover. Consequently any reference to breaking bread is commonly related to any meal in which bread is consumed, but can also refer to the Pesach Seder depending on the context.

Within Judaism the breaking of bread stands for the blessing over what is basic food staple at most meal tables. The symbolism is that God sustains life with this provision of sustenance. This is covered in the Talmudic tractate Berakoth (benedictions):
“The host breaks bread and the guest says grace after the meal. The host breaks bread so that he should do so generously and the guest says grace so that he should bless the host. The guest may not eat anything until the one who breaks the bread has tasted. The one who has broken bread stretches out his hand first, but if he wishes to show respect to his teacher or to anyone senior to himself he may do so. The one who acts as host may not break bread until the guests have finished responding Amen.

The breaking of bread was in ancient times, and remains to this day a common Jewish meal ritual tradition. All Peter was indicating was that Believers in Yeshua shared meals together and did so in the customary Jewish way especially on Shabbat evenings. He was not setting up a new tradition as many in Christianity believe. This is further clarified in verse 46:
Day by day they continued with one mind, spending time at the Temple and breaking bread from house to house. They were sharing meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favour with all the people. And every day the Lord was adding to their number those being saved.
The Apostles continued to meet in the Temple daily showing that they continued to live as observant Jews. Within Judaism, there is no such concept equivalent to 'Communion' or Eucharist except as it relates to Passover. So if the concept of the Eucharist from which the Protestant Communion originates, has no Jewish root, so where did the Church's ritual originate?


Origin of Communion
With Emperor Constantine making Christianity the new religion of the Roman Empire, the Roman Church rejected all Jewish customs and rituals stating that Christianity has nothing in common with the Jews. In order to accommodate pagans into the new Roman Empire religion, the practices and rituals of the Mystery Religions were modified to suit Christianity, in particular the “Communion Ritual”. This ritual involved the reconstruction of the 'sacrifice' of Christ, where the worshippers partook of bread and wine, which represented the body and blood of their god.

Let us look into the origins this pagan “Communion Ritual” a ritual called 'Omophagia. Ritual ingestion of wine was already common and sacred at least 500 years before the birth of Jesus. Known as Bacchus in Rome, Dionysus (the bull) was the Greek god of fertility and ecstasy. He was celebrated through ritual wine drinking and yearly festivals that also included dancing and intoxication. In the "Bacchae," by Greek playwright Euripides, written in the 5th century B.C., it is revealed that not only is Dionysus born of a virgin but his blood is wine to be shared. By practising Omophagia, the dismembering the animal which represented Dionysus, the Bull and eating the flesh and drinking the blood, it was believed the worshipper absorbed the nature, or life of the god into his own. Thus, having consumed the flesh of the bull (Dionysus) the worshippers took on the his power and character. This was the a communion in the god's own body and blood to become like the god, they had to consume the god.

The Roman Church took this concept and adapted it to Jesus. For this reason, the miracle of communion was that the symbols of 'Jesus', the bread and the wine literally became his flesh and blood. This is called 'transubstantiation' and is a belief of Catholics to this day. Although the Protestant Church rejected transubstantiation, they kept the communion ritual declaring that in the bread and wine, the believer partakes spiritually in the flesh and blood of the god. There are three main doctrines of the Communion rite within Christianity:

1. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the wafer and wine of the Sacrament become the actual flesh and blood of Christ. (Transubstantiation)
2. The Lutheran Church teaches that the flesh and blood of Christ are consumed in and with the bread and wine. This doctrine is called Consubstantiation.
3. The Calvinist say that the bread and the wine give those who partake of them a spiritual participation of the flesh and blood of Christ.

In the Jewish faith , there is no ritual where a worshipper literally eats a symbol of God in order to 'receive Him'. We are transformed only by the Ruach (Spirit of God) in observance of the commandments. So then what did Yeshua mean when He used the symbolism of bread and wine in reference to himself?
In Luke 22:19 And when He had taken matzah and offered the bracha, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, given for you. Do this in memory of Me.”

If you have read the article 'The Messianic Significance of Passover' you will know that Yeshua would be referring to the piece matzah now called the Afikomen. The matzah represents His sinless state as leaven represents sin. It is consumed with out the Paschal lamb as the Last Supper occurred the night before He was crucified at the time the Paschal lambs were being sacrificed. So as we partake of the Afikomen we remember 'the Lamb of God who  take away the sin of the world'. This can only take place at God's appointed time, Passover. Or at the second Passover (Num 9:11) in the following month as God is a god of second chances, a God of Mercy.

Writing this article has been a challenging journey of breaking away from centuries of tradition. I found it shocking and hard to accept at first, as Communion has played such a central role in my Christian walk. So please go and study the Scriptures for yourself and allow the Ruach to lead you to a deeper understanding of our Jewish Messiah and why from a Jewish perspective Christianity is full of pagan practices like Christmas, Easter and Communion rites.