After convincing those listening that they only have an
earthly hope, the brother announced the third question:
Who
partake of the bread and the wine?
There
is no doubt in my mind that what was taught here is thoroughly anti-Christian.
Not only is it foreign to the Word of God, to the early church and to
Christians for the past 2000 years, it has huge implications for those who,
like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, claim to be Christian.
From
their founding in the 1870’s through to 1935, the then named ‘Bible Students’
had no problem partaking of the memorial meal. They believed that the Bible
taught them that they should. So, what changed?
New
Light
The
story is told of a young man who was one of the first to hear of the change:
As was true
of all Bible Students back then, this sincere young man partook of the bread
and the wine each year at the Lord’s Evening Meal. However, his entire outlook
on life was changed by a history-making talk entitled “The Great Multitude.”
That talk was given in 1935 by J. F. Rutherford at a convention in
Washington, D.C., U.S.A. What was revealed at that convention?[1]
In Watchtower
parlance J.F.Rutherford had received ‘new light’, and this light was to rob all
Jehovah’s Witnesses of their ability to partake in the memorial meal. This new
revelation was to replace previously held belief regarding who could partake of
the Lord’s Evening Meal.
Rutherford, as the
then President of The Watchtower Society, told the convention that only those
with a heavenly hope should now partake of the bread and the wine and this has
been the teaching followed by Jehovah’s Witnesses ever since.
So it was, as I
looked on the screen and saw all those present for this memorial meal, that
none of them would partake of the bread and wine before them. When the time
came, they literally just passed the bread and wine to each other and then
placed them back on their table. How incredibly sad.
The brother began
this part of the evening by saying: ’Let us think about the pattern that Jesus
left for us.’ He then read 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 (NWT)
For I received from the
Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night on
which he was going to be betrayed took a loaf, and after giving thanks, he
broke it and said: “This means my body, which is in your behalf. Keep
doing this in remembrance of me. He did the same with the cup also, after they
had the evening meal, saying: “This cup means the new covenant by virtue
of my blood. Keep doing this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
We were told that when Paul
spoke these words, he was only speaking to the believers at Corinth. They were
the first to be part of the 144,000. So, whilst everyone in the Church at
Corinth would literally partake of the emblems, we could not. We, not being of
the ‘chosen for heaven’ group, can only observe the emblems, but we should definitely
not partake.
Nowhere can this
teaching be gleaned from Paul’s words or the practice of the early church. In
fact, reading 1 Corinthians 11 in its entire context reveals that partaking of
the bread and wine is for all Christians ‘until he comes.’
The brother said
that we were to think about, and imitate, the pattern Jesus left for us. What I
experienced at the Memorial Meal was a poor imitation and nothing like the
pattern Jesus set. This was devoid of any life and truth. So incredibly sad.
What a simple yet
profound ceremony!
This is what the
brother said at the conclusion of the ‘passing’ of the emblems.
At the beginning
of the meeting, I noticed a couple of ladies appearing to be shedding a tear as
the image of Jesus on a torture stake.
Seeing Jesus dying
in agony for the sin of the world is indeed moving. The idea that the God who
created us would sacrifice his only begotten Son to redeem sinful humanity
should move us to contrition and contemplation.
As the brother was
about to address our final question of the evening, he reminded us that the
Memorial Meal was all about love. It was love that made Jehovah send his son to
give us a second chance and it was love that caused Jesus to willing die for
us. So here is the question:
Besides attending this meal,
what else must we do to show our appreciation?
This final question
sought to keep the already convinced in line and the yet to be convinced
convicted. How could we, after all we had just heard, not want to truly show
our appreciation to Jehovah and Jesus. But how?
The brother was
not slow to offer suggestions. We should seek to get to know Jehovah and to
understand His likes and dislikes. Find out what pleases him and seek to follow
his standards. Then pour your heart out to Jehovah.
Notice how he
began by saying we are to show our appreciation to Jehovah and Jesus, but then he
refers constantly to Jehovah. He exhorted us to thank Jehovah and think about
what our life would be like without him. The greater we show our appreciation
the more we show we love him.
He told us that
the best way to show our appreciation is to regularly attend meetings. We
should associate with those who love Jehovah and participate in Bible readings
and studies. He concluded by reading 2 Corinthians 5:14-15:
For the
love the Christ has compels us, because this is what we have concluded,
that one man died for all; so, then, all had died. And he died for all so that
those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died
for them and was raised up.
Are
we compelled to show appreciation to Jehovah and Jesus?
He
pointed out that true appreciation for all that Jehovah and Jesus has done for
us, should be shown by associating with God’s organisation. Why? Because only
Jehovah’s Witnesses have the truth, only they are obedient to Jehovah, only by
meeting with them, studying the Bible with them and being baptised as a faithful
witness of Jehovah can one truly be appreciative of all that has been done for
them.
In
conclusion, attending the Memorial Meal of Jehovah’s Witnesses, was a little
like being invited to a birthday party to look at the cake. There was little
joy, nothing to taste and really nothing to see. My heart goes out to those
trapped in this false version of Christianity. Lord have mercy upon them.
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