First
of all, I have to decide which inconsistencies exist. I have the portions of
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and 1 Corinthians that relate to The First Communion.
I will put my analysis and opinions in brackets for those who might refer
to this on the Biblical Proof! Blog at https://BiblicalProof.blogspot.com/ and Do Biblical Inconsistencies Really Matter? at https://Biblicalinconsistencies.blogspot.com/ otherwise,
I will preface my comments on the podcast.
Matthew
26:20-29 says: When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. Now as they
were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one
of you will betray Me.” And
they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord,
is it I?” He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with
Me in the dish will betray Me. “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is
written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It
would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” And as
they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the
disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then
He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. “For this is My blood
of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. “But I
say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that
day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
Mark
14:17-25 says: In the evening He came with the twelve, Now as they sat and ate,
Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one
of you, who eats with Me will betray Me.” And
they began to be sorrowful and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?” And another
said, “Is it I?” He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve, who
dips with Me in the dish. “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of
Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been
good for that man if he had never been born.” And as they were eating,
Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and
when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He
said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is
shed for many. “Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of
the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Luke
22: 15-22 says: Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you
before I suffer; “for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is
fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks,
and said, “Take this and divide it among
yourselves; “for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until
the kingdom of God comes.” And He
took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this
in remembrance of Me.” Likewise
He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this
in remembrance of Me.” Likewise
He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which
is shed for you. “But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the
table. “And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to
that man by whom He is betrayed.”
John
13:14-30 says: “If then, your Lord and
Teacher, have washed your feet, you also out to wash one another’s feet. “For I
have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. “Most
assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he
who is sent greater than he who sent him. “If you know these things, blessed
are you if you do them. “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I
have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has
lifted up his heel against Me.’ [from Psalm 41:] “Now I tell you before it comes, that when it
does come to pass, you may believe that I am He. “Most assuredly, I say to you,
he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives
Him who sent Me.” When
Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you,
one of you will betray Me.” Then the disciples looked at one another,
perplexed about whom He spoke. Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His
disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who
it was of whom He spoke. Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him,
“Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give
a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And
having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now
after the piece of bread, Satan entered him [Judas]. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” But no
one at the table knew for what reason He [Jesus] said that to him [Judas]. For
some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, “Buy
those things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the
poor. Having received the piece of bread, he [Judas] went out immediately. And it
was night.
The
Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-31 says: For I received from the Lord that
which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in
which He was betrayed took bread: and when He had given thanks, He broke it
and said, “Take, eat; this is My body
which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the
same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This
do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. “ For
as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s
death 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. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink
of the cup. 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 sleep. For if we would judge ourselves,
we would not be judged.”
[The
First Communion passages in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and 1 Corinthians all
refer to Jesus taking the bread first at The
First Communion, but Gospel of Luke says, Then He [Jesus] took the cup, and
gave thanks, and said, “Take
this and divide it among yourselves; “for I say to you, I will not drink of the
fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took bread, gave
thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this
in remembrance of Me.” All three of these are similar with very
little variation in wording, so I don’t think there is anything of significance
to disprove that Jesus gave His disciples The First Communion or to disprove
that Jesus Is the Son of God.]
[
Also, in the Gospel of John, Jesus answers, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread
when I have dipped it.” And
having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. In my
opinion, after rereading these passages several times, I think that Jesus
dipped the bread into the cup He used to share the fruit of the vine for The
First Communion and gave that bread to Judas Iscariot, the one Jesus knew would
betray Him. In that both the fruit of the vine and the bread were almost shared
simultaneously, doesn’t seem to be significant enough of a inconsistency to
disprove that Jesus gave His Disciples The First Communion, nor does it
disprove that Jesus Is the Son of God.]
What
are some of the other inconsistencies in these passages?
In the
Gospel of John, it says that Jesus had washed His disciples' feet. John
13:14-17 says: “If then, your Lord and
Teacher, have washed your feet, you also out to wash one another’s feet. “For I
have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. “Most
assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he
who is sent greater than he who sent him. “If you know these things, blessed
are you if you do them.
[Although
these details aren’t shared in Matthew, Mark, Luke and 1 Corinthians, doesn’t
prove that it didn’t happen. In doing all this Biblical research, I find that
some disciples tell the events in a basic way and others elaborate on many of
the fine details, and sometimes leave out others. Regardless, this added
information does not disprove that Jesus gave The First Communion to His
Disciples nor does it disprove that Jesus Is the Son of God.]
Additionally,
1 Corinthians 11:26-31 says, For as often as you eat this bread and drink this
cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death 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. But let a man examine himself
and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 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 sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
[The
previous passage was Paul was giving additional instruction to Christians to
examine themselves before coming for communion, because some viewed communion
as an opportunity to eat. In 1 Corinthians 11:22, Paul says, “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? What shall I say to You? Shall I praise you in this? I
do not praise you.” I had included the passage from 1 Corinthians 11:23-31 even
though it was recorded some years after Jesus’ death, Resurrection, and
Ascension to Heaven, because it is additional proof about Jesus giving the First
Communion to His disciples and that Jesus Is the Son of God.]
Are
there other inconsistencies in these passages that are worth considering?
The
Gospels of Matthew and Mark say that before Jesus gave the disciple’s The First
Communion, He shared that He would be betrayed. In the Gospels of Luke and
John, it has Jesus giving the disciples The First Communion before He told them
about His going to be betrayed.
[I
didn’t consider 1 Corinthians in this comparison of passages, because it was
written by the Apostle Paul who was not at The First Communion. In my opinion
after reading these passages many times, I feel there is no major inconsistency
to disprove that Jesus gave His disciples The First Communion or anything
anywhere close to disproving that Jesus Is the Son of God. In fact, it does
quite the opposite! Who else but the Son of God would know in advance that He
would be betrayed and by whom? Who else but the Son of God would give His life
the ransom of many, knowing in advance how He would be questioned, challenged,
humiliated, scourged, spat upon, crucified and buried to save us from our sins?
I don’t know about you, but if I knew people were going to spit on me, it would
have been a deal-breaker right away, but He went through all of this for us!
John 15:12-13 says: “This is My commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. “Greater love has no one than this,
than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”]
[Don’t
let people confuse you into disbelieving the Bible because there are some
inconsistencies. Most aren’t significant and many have to do with the writing
style of the person who recorded it, some with lots of detail, and some with
basic facts. If Jesus, the Son of God, gave His life for us, we have to
withstand all the arguments of those who try to confuse us into not believing
the truth!]
