HOW would you view HOLY COMMUNION?

HOW would you view  HOLY COMMUNION

The first Christians in Corinth came together to "break bread:(1 Cor. 10:16)  They would congregate in the homes of a member to have a common meal  -  meeting weekly on the first day of the week(Acts 20:7 cf 1 Cor. 16:2)  each person, rich or poor,  brought his or her own food.  

At some point  during the meal  -  there was a more formal sharing in   a loaf of bread and a cup of wine... the comon food of peoples of the Middle East. This common practice/habit eventually became the focus of significant symbolism.

 
Significant Symbolism

Paul commented that those who  shared in the loaf and the cup  -   for which thanks had been given to God  -

 * was participating in the  body and blood of Christ;  viz.  experiencing the benefits resulting from Christ's Crucifixion -  wherein He gave thanks  and shed His blood for the sake of Man.


Paul then emphasised that 

        *  those who take part in this way  constituted one body  -   as symbolised by the one loaf.  They belonged together.  Here was a powerful Sign of Unity within a local church.

 The 2 Basic Forms of Tradition -  

Together with Paul,  the three Synoptic Gospels  -  Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25 Luke 22:15-20  -   later gave us the Tradition of what Jesus said and did at His Last Supper with His Twelve Disciples shortly before His Crucifixion.

Mark I Cor.
  "This is my body...."This is my body that is for you.  Do this in remembrance of me..."This is my blood of the covenant which is covenant in my blood.  Do this as often as you poured out for many..".  drink it, in remembrance of me."

These were the Litergies of the Early Church.  And as the churches grew in numbers,  the litergies were preserved.  Each local church kept following the same liurgy   *  preserving the  Intention of Jesus by the sharing of a loaf and a cup.  

#  Jesus made the loaf  -   a symbol of His body and

#  the distribution of the broken pieces    as suggesting    the giving of Himself for others 

#  He made the cup the symbol of His blood. -  associatring it with the New Covenant.(Exodus 24:8). Observe also the way in which Jesus performed this act.  

It implies that He was giving His disciples   -

#   a way of remembering Him and associating with Him  -   after His Ascension.

 

The "Breaking of Bread" in Acts 2:42f  was a  Continuation of the Meals  described in the Appearances of Jesus -  after His Ressurection.

Our Church Membership Manual states that Communion is for sinners.  What is required is a desire for change(repentance) and a desire for the Lord.  Most churches today has become a community of respectability -  where the down and out  no longer feels welcome.

Contrastingly..  the Gospels and Acts  record  diverse groups of social rejects, the down and outs, the nobodies....  And it was to and of these that Jesus invited to His Table. To Eat Together ... was a Pledge of Protection. A Persian nobleman was sitting in his garden. 


A man prostracted himself before him and implored protection from the unruly mob.  The nobleman gave him the remainder of the peach which he

was eating.

When the incensed mob arrived, and declared that the man had slain the only son of the nobleman, the heartbroken father replied,

"We have eaten together,  Go in peace."  

 Researched  by Pastor Khoo.

STORY TO SHARE: HAD WE BEEN CAUGHT... this Story would be left Untold...!

Dear Reader,

I am very sorry for this long break from my Blogging. Church and Community commitments prioritize.

The Rev Edwin Khoo

British Singapore fell to the Japanese Invasion on 15 Feb 1942

The year 1941 witnessed the War in the Pacific.  The surprise Japanese on Pearl Harbour in December 1941  -  followed by rapid invasion in S.E.Asia saw Japan capturing  Burma, Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea and Hong Kong.

The Americans were forced into this War by the Pearl Harbour Attack.  The Americans won a series of battles in 1942  -  then slowly re-captured the Japanese -occupied territories. They turned these into bases from which they could attack Japan proper.

Meanwhile at Selarang Barracks, near  Singapore's Changi Prison  -  after only 6 months of Japanese occupation....thousands of Allied POWs died.  Death came largely from beriberi  -   dysentery  -  torture  -  beating but largely from starvation. 

These Allied POWs, numbering around 50,000 ,  predominantly British and Australian soldiers, worked around Singapore...repairing the damages inflicted by the Japanese invasion  and getting the essential services back to working order. About 850 POWs died during their intern at Changi.

I was then in my early teen  -  working as a 'toban' at Yasuda Butai  -  the Japanese Army Camp at Changi then. A toban makes -  and serves tea to Japanese military personnel.. He also fetches meals for them.

Hunger, as mentioned above, was the main cause of death of the Allied POWs.  Sighting them rummaging for thrown-away food from dustbins was  common  -  just as stray dogs, cats and rats do. Deplorable!  Humans eating food wastes  -  from garbage bins!  Sheer hunger drove them to it.

Moved by compassion,  a few of us  -  all teenagers   chose to supply them with bought fresh clean food.  But how!?   Readers can fathom what the Japanese would do to us  -  had we been caught?

But for posterity .. we're very sorry we cannot tell you how... Wars have not ceased . When will we ever learn! 
                                     

For our Today; they gave their Yesterday.

The Rev Edwin Khoo

Every person passes on; but the next important thing is: What follows!

Every person passes on; but the next important thing is:  What follows!


The Bible does not  make a distinction between a physical, a spiritual and an eternal death.  It has a synthetic view of death and regards it as  separation from God.  So says Professor Louis Berkhof in his book  SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

Moral responsibility, as seen in the rise and fall of civilization history, makes this point.

When mankind disregards the divine intimations in him  -  something in him slowly begins to die.  Luther and Calvin hit upon this squarely, "A person is not a sinner because he sins; he sins  -  because he is a sinner."

With the Fall of Adam  - death was pronounced on all  Man.  Accountable to God, Adam deluded himself  when he tried grasping moral autonomy.

As civilization progresses and religious awareness develops  -  Man becomes aware of a "presence".  Mysteriously he 'sensed'  a  connection between death and evil  -  as recorded in Genesis 3 re the Fall of Man.  The Old Testament does not 'sentimentalize death as 'natural'.

Biblical Theology teaches that death is evil(Deut. 30:15,19) and horrific(Psa. 55:4f).

Death was never part of God's original intention in the Bible's Creation Story.  Death is the separation of body and soul; but  never an annihilation. "Then shall the dust return to the earth ( Matt. 16:28) and "the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.(Eccles.12:7.  God does not annihilate anything of His Creation.  In theology, life and death are rightfully opposites of different modes of existences.

Hell  and Heaven.

The Biblical progressive revelation of a God of Love...  makes impossible the concept of endless punishment in Hell. God is not vindictive.  Love spiritual things. At death, we see ourselves in Heaven. But sin continually  ... we discover it is Hell in that spiritual existence.

We have lost the taste  -  and admiration for the things that  are spiritual  and noble. That experience is Hell.

Likewise, the New Testament nowhere  mentions eternal death. Civilized men of good conscience fears not annihilation  -  but of 'the wrath to come'(Rev. 6:17)  Punishment in Hell paves the way for new beginnings. Dr. Leslie Weatherhead cites the  Dives and Lazarus story(Luke 16::19-31)  Endless punishment serves no good purpose.

It is a study showing the shadows of life's realities.  Selfishness makes Hell on Earth.

If a man lives without compassion, he manifestly digs a chasm between himself and his fellowmen  -   and consequently separates himself from God.  God is there when Pity dwells  -   for God is Love.  Every step we make here fashions our destiny. The destiny of the soul is not settled at death  -  but here  ..  and right now.

Dives was in torment in Hell  -  but discover or uncover the surprise..!?  Dives ceased to be wholly selfish.  Whilst undergoing punishment Dives developed a concern for his brothers

here on Earth!...

The Sin of Blind Casualness.

Dives 'did not see'...the Lazarus at/by his gate!  He would contribute generously to charity  -   community   -   church;   Dives would give a public talk on the 'Great and Growing Divide'  -   but 'fail to see'  lonely  -  loveless Lazarus  in some corner in the sanctuary   -   the more so  'all because Lazarus is a beggar  -  'a nobody'

Consequently...   eventually  God Himself  walked out of that church!?  Ancient Nazareth  -the hometown of Jesus for roughly 30 years  -   rejected Him!?  How do we draw Circles!?

Uncannily...  and frighteningly ..it was Jesus Himself who told this Dives-Lazarus Story.There is  Hell -  and Heaven.  And Jesus came to His Glory  -  only after He tasted Death...."I go and prepare a place for you...  that where I am, there ye may be also"(John 14:2,3)

....on the  Other Side!

A ship is starting out for the oceans.  We catch her going out...  soon she's gone!!

But where!?  Only from our sight....  On some other distant shores other eyes are watching and waiting.  Other voices are ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes......"

 Such is death  -   and dying.

The Road down Jericho ... begins from where we are. The sky begins from where we stand...Eternity begins  -  with Today.

Pastor Khoo apologizes for this 'belated' blog;  he has been down with flu for the past  few weeks. God provides -  and cares.  A few readers feel that these blogs could be the more effective  -   if preached.   This is welcome  -   if churches or groups extend their invitations.  I can he reached at  Tel. 6769 8890 or  edwinkhoobt@gmail.com.
 
The Blog  "Why did Jesus keep the Scars from His Crucifixion?" comes from the Holy Week Services at Wesley, Segamat.
 
Walking in the Footsteps/Footprints of the Master...God Bless you dear readers.











Pastor Edwin Khoo

WHY DID JESUS KEEP THOSE SCARS FROM HIS CRUCIFIXION - John 20:27-29 Luke 24: 39-43

GOD will never let death win.  Jesus could have had any resurrected body He wanted  -  when He rose from the dead. 

Instead He purposely chose one that is identifiable easily by scars  -  one that can be seen and touched.  Why?

 

I mentioned these scars when I preached the Easter message ..   at Wesley Methodist Church, Segamat, Johor, Malaysia during my 4 day sessions there. 

Worshipper Dr Ling, a medical doctor, understood and could see the added dimensions of those scars of Jesus relating to the Easter message.
 
Those scars relate to Jesus Crucified.  His flesh  -  the Manhood of God ..  bears "evidences" of the Crucifixion.   And those scars are permanent reminders of His earthly days of confinement and suffering.  This gives the added dimension and significance to Easter.  

Easter can only be  -  because of Good Friday.

Interpreter's Bible Commentary says that Christ offers these scars as  visible and tangible proofs of the corporeal reality of His Resurrection.  "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as yesee me have.  And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet."   (Luke 24:39-40).

There were many scars  -  before and after Jesus'..   We honor them;  but we worship Jesus.

History of the Crucifixion

Cicero  -  Roman orator and statesman -  pointed out that the  Crucifixion was the most cruellest and most hideous form of  capital punishment. Crucifixion was so tragically common in ancient times  .. Hundreds ...  thousands were crucified on one single occasion.  Just to mention two - 

         

Alexander the Great  -  after the siege of Tyre  crucified two thousand Tyrhians. 

 

In Titus final campaign  in which the Jews were annihilated ... and the Temple destroyed  - it was said that he crucified so many men that  there was no space left for crosses  -   and no crosses for the bodies. (Josephus, Wars of the Jews).

Not only was it the common custom for executing criminals .. it was also widespread  -  practiced in Egypt, Phoenecia,  Carthage, Persia, Assyria, Scythia and even India  -  not forgetting Greece and Rome.  The Romans took it over from the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians.

Methods of Crucifixion

Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible throws dramatic  new light on the methods of crucifixion in antiquity.

Conclusion: Scars are life's reminders.....

Wonder of wonders  scars can never completely go away. My right knee still carries the scars sustained when I was dragged ..in a motor accident when I was a student in my teens;  I'm 84 now. 

 

Because of Easter, we can hope that  the tears we shed  -  the blows

we receive  -  the emotional heartaches we suffer ....will become memories  -  just like the Scars of Jesus for Him  ...  as they are of us.

Scars are  Life's Reminders that Hope is standing by.    One day... a church minister asks ..  when  preaching "What work of man will there be in heaven..,?"  Someone replied,  "None. Only the Prints of the Nails on the Hands and Feet of Jesus."

There's Hope  -  then and now  ..  and always.  We will have re-created bodies  -   a re-created heaven and earth.  We will have an

Easter Beginning.

There is another way to look at those SCARS.  Christmas comes out of a stable.  Christ comes out of a disreputable little village, Nazareth.

Rome died  -  passed over.  Twenty centuries of Christianity passed on  -  out of a Crucified and Scarred Body of the Risen Christ.

And His Disciples saw Him  -  yet once again.  And this time...  Jesus showed them  His SCARS  - they stood up to be counted......

  

  God Bless All...

  Pastor Edwin Khoo

DISCRIMINATION DIVIDES

Think Twice says "It's a Long Journey between Human Being - and Being Human."

A common sight greeting onlookers whilst in Singapore are Seniors cleaning - collecting - polishing shoes...... Granted that their majority are poorly educated, we cannot help but form an opinion.

... arising from observation - rather than from argument. 

 

Whilst 40% of the cleaning workforce are foreigners Seniors fill up the remaining 60%.  Wontonly ... a thin line of discrimination emerges.

As we aged our 'individualistics' become the more apparent.  Our capacity to adjust becomes the more difficult.  Impairments set in - due to the attrition of the years. The emotional impact suffers the most.  

 

Gary R. Collins Ph.D - a psychologist in clinical psychology and lecturer at Trinity Evangelical School.. Texas pin points that the loss of self esteem is the worst thing about aging -

# Everything around .. is letting Seniors know that they are not terribly important anymore.... and that the elderly are too old to make decisions - do useful work

- create new things.... Many end up feeling useless - unimportant.

'PASTORAL CARE' , edited by Richard Spann... reported that Longevity Centres - like those in New Yoirk City, a research think tank on aging issues - reported that seniors are being discriminated against. Many reported that they have been ignored - slighted - experienced impatience and condescension......

 

(Photo 1 - Homeless Seniors end up Discarded .. in a crypt in England...)

 

Interpreter's Bible Commentary explicitly cautions against this.... Israel culture and Old Testament theology directed the adult citizen to care for one's parents (Exo. 20:12).  

 

Parents are not to be discarded...to be eaten by beasts or to die of exposure - as in some primitive heathen societies. The Torah specifically teaches Family Solidarity, viz. the necessity to protect aging parents(Exo. 21:15)

Death is the punishment for children(above 16) who strikes and curses their parents...Babylonian society would cut off the hand that struck a parent - Code of Hummurabi 195.

Modernity ... interprets belittlement as a substitute for cursing....as evidenced with the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers ......at the New Plymouth Colony in 1670.

Human Progress is very slow from the time of Moses to that of the Pilgrim Fathers....

Come .. 20th century .. we see today the shifting of Parent Care Responsibility .. to State and Society! How .. Sad!  We forget that Blood is thicker than Water! Local churches and the communities should do something positive about this.   But be aware... In my morning walks ... I encounter mini buses ferrying some aged to some centres. They don't look happy....!

(Photo 2 - Eldedrly Britons reject going to old-age daycares......) 

 

 

 

INVOLVE ... the SENIORS

Invite them to share their talents - and experiences .... I turned my hobbies into a self-employed business

(Photo 3 - Edwin's Garden & Landscape Handyman ... Teaching Floral Creation...)

 

Being hobbies ... I enjoyed doing them - and I was proud for Jobs Well Done.. - the PLUS Factors: No bosses pushing me down - and around.. I earned a steady-rising income for over 20 years....

I'm now 84. I did not choose to retire... Falls from a work forced me into retirement - at GOD'S HAVEN - my Retirement Home at Rinting Heights, Johor Bahru x 15 years.

(Photo 3 - from HOBBIES to SELF EMPLOYMENT Photo 4 - G O D'S H A V E N @ Rinting Heights).

I still pursue those hobbies .. I gladly will give you a Helping Hand. Just email or call me at 67698890.. 

 

Several of my ex-employees and past students are today - self employed and happy.

We do not grow old by merely living a number of years. "We aged only when we desert our Ideals and Goals.. There is in every being's heart the love of wonder - and there's always the undaunted challenge of events" - so said General Douglas MacArthur.

Hebrew History began with GOD inviting aged Abraham to be the progenitor of the Hebrews (Genesis 11-25) 

 

And GOD involves Moses, in his aged years, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt ... and later to be the law giver... 

 

Both these Seniors were tasked with positions of authority.  Decline in physical strength is now compensated by an increase in wisdom (I Peter 5:5) God values the older peoples in Israel's History. 

 

Experience counts. Old minds are not slower; they just have much more to recall - because they know so much more - so reported TODAY dated 21st January 2014.

At 84 I am blogging.. Perchance some publishers might find some articles interesting - and worthy...

PAIN SUFFERS .... LONG

The late Nelson Mandela suffered much and long. C.S. Lewis, the Problem of Pain.....amplifies "God is not deaf nor blind to our Pain"

 

He whispers in our pleasures; speaks in our conscience; and shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."   Pain offers Nelson Mandela access to many more people. Passed on at aged 95 - he fought against apartheid ... suffered shame and imprisonment for 227 long and painful years.

Refusing to be embittered against his white enemies - who are often blurred by prejudices in politics, Nelson Mandela 'imparted' his pain/suffering to his fellow black peoples.  They stood by him.  That inspired him on. He spent 70 long years - fighting for freedom and equality. And he changed modern man's distorted minds - and thinking. He remained assertive all along. God called him back on 7th December 2013. 

 

(Photo 5 - Great and humble gather tp honour Mandela)

"There is no passion to be found playing small.... Poverty is not an accident; it is man-made; and can be removed by the actions of human being." was his battle cry.

His prime purpose was not to defeat the white man... Philip Yancey sums it up fittingly "to awaken the sense of shame against his oppressors." 

 

 

Nelson Mandela put right where/what went wrong... William Barclay Commentary compares his actions to Jesus' 7th Beautitude ..He believed .. and practised peacemaking. 

 

And by making peace, he stood tall - and made his enemies lood small. Together with Bishop Desmond Tutu they highlighted the injustices of the whites against the blacks... Their expertise - put together chasnged their country

.... brought Justice to the afflicted and needy(Psa. 82:3) - transforming bad into good and beinging good out of evil.

Instead of stooping down to their level - hitting back .. Nelson Mandela stood tall "With Malice toward None but Charity to All"   He did not hit back. Hitting back is assault - NOT leadership......He led a pariah nation out of their miseries. 

 

The Lone Ranger lives on - putting right above wrongs....

Truly indeed Nelson Mandela was "a giant amongst men."

Pastor Edwin Khoo

We have many thinkers .... but they do not know.

 

KEEPING CHRISTMAS

KEEPING CHRISTMAS.....

The whole world keeps Christmas... but many keep it wrongly. We commercialize Christmas with shopping parcels cards ... There is good about it - outflowing generosity in one day in the year. 

 

Some sentimentalize it - in truth or on pretence. Yet ..we're happy that Christmas is kept. But the greatest tragedy is so pathetic beyond words - celebrating Christmas but without Christ.

Christmas is God's Greatest Gift to All Mankind. God enters human life. God became Man in Christ.

God is now one with Man (John 1:14-18)

All around us ... are discouraged people. Some are Disappointed. Some are Lonely.. Some others are Hurt. Many others are Heart broken - living starved lives receiving little or no love at all.

Opportunities for love and kindness are everywhere. We do not see because we are blind to them or we do not care. No single day passes me by ... without a simple act of love or kindness..I dare...care...

One simple kind act is far better than hundreds of bowed heads in prayer - devoid of any kind act.

If we can keep Christmas for one day in the year - why not keep it for every day the whole year through.

Jesus was born at a stable. His Incoming makes the Difference between a Darkened Inn and a  Glorified Stable.

Think.

Contributed by Pastor Edwin Khoo

THE PRODIGALITY of the father .... in the Prodigal Son Story

This wealthy country resident plantation owner has 2 sons. 

The older son projected the more conformity personality ... whilst the younger son showed an adventurous and independent profile. Luke depicts this rich father as a forgiving character. 

Our compliments to the father... The younger son grew up .... becoming a prodigal - when he dissipated his inheritance wealth.   His older son .. at worse was a grudger.  

On hindsight we cannot help but conclude that the father was to be blamed - directly or implied...... for the characterization personalities of his 2 sons.  And ironically .. the father also ended up - a prodigal himself.

How long the younger son stayed in the Far Country where he squandered all his wealth is not mentioned.  What mattered was his dragged footprints .. coming back home.   And how long the father had patiently waited is also left blank.  That young lad quit home - loaded with monies; he dragged himself home in rags.

Wouldn't it be fitting that the father should celebrate .. this prodigal's return? The Balance of Scales indicates however that the father splurges - with extravagance. (Luke 15:22,23)

Interpreter's Bible mentions one Scotsman - Edwin Mcneil Puteat's interpretation that "the father was also a prodigal - a materialist - casual and worldly in the upbringing of his sons - and sentimental in his forgiveness - shallow always in bourgeois mind -  - is a justifiable and very valuable application, but surely not a justifiable implication.

Evidences stand out

Our discerning minds can visualize the picture of a rich capitalist plantation owner - who was the more preoccupied with status consciousness and exhibiting his pride and arrogance. The elder son had no reason to be angry; already he has two thirds of the family's inheritance and the wounded younger brother's shameful ... return. Yet the elder brother was so very bitter and contemptuous. 

Why this fractured relationship? The elder son - stayed home ... faithful in his duties, etc. Unawares perhaps.. the father took things for granted.

-- was but only given routine gifts whilst the returned younger brother is having a hefty, gaiety party.

The father was over-indulging towards the younger pet ... and immensely spoiling - and often yielding to the Give Me fancies and whims of this spoilt brat. Not wanting to be sarcastic ... these ill factors paved that Journey into the Far Country!

Submitting ... shockingly to the younger son's request for his one-third share of the family's inheritance before his demise .. was never done in Eastern Countries. That father granted both possession and disposition to this demanding erring brat. This was Very Exceptional. 

What the shepherd ... and the woman... did in the 2 earlier stories were not anything out of the ordinary.  But what the father did here - was something Very Unusual.   Mid East Rabbis testify that this has never been done. Customarily a father would refuse and punish the brat... Yet there was the claim that what the father did - was an act of unprecedented love. This can be dangerous!

- When imbalanced... the Scale of Values was so tilted that it led to the elder son's refusal to join in the celebration. 

# Love has to be impartial. Love has to be weighed and measured.

Ignoring this ... gave that young bullying his father brat - power over his father.  On Hindsight.. Contemporary Social Identification in their Differences are but "Projections" of these Stories.

Jesus showed....that Good People Can Go Wrong

It was Jesus who told these stories. He was addressing the Scribes and Pharisees - contrasting Good People against Bad People the Insider excluding the Outsider the Sadness of Being Lost and the Joy of Being Found.

We witness a wealthy father *partial " pampering * extravagant and recklessly wasteful * splurging and overdoing it * indulging in showmanship * proud and arrogant.....

This Discourse carries us into the Future of Family Development and - to a certain extent - Community Bonding.

Be Aware and Beware that Social Style with Social Activities has its Dangers.. And this time around .. Masses - instead of individuals .. can Go Awry!

What kind of father - or mother are we?

Pastor Edwin Khoo

END.

Sources: Interprteter's Bible - William Barclay Series - Oxford Companion to the Bible - Kenneth Bailey's Poet & Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes - Christian Theology by M.J. Erickson... History of the Future by Peter Lorie and Sidd Murray Clark