by felix,
Christ will not drink the fruit of vine until the kingdom of God comes is a simple truth. And we will be with Him together forever when He comes is a simple truth.
Why don't you understand this simple truth?
And where did Jesus say He was returning in the flesh? If you cannot definitively support your opinion of that, then you need to concede to the fact you are mistaken about the scriptures!
Jesus' Promise
In Matthew 26:26ff our Master instituted the Supper and promised, "I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
This text is generally interpreted to mean that when the kingdom was established on Pentecost and the church began to commemorate the Supper, this was the "new" way Jesus had in mind. Under the Old Covenant the Passover had a typical significance which found its fulfillment in the Supper of the Kingdom.
I accept this position on a limited basis. However, I believe it has serious flaws in it that do not sufficiently consider at least two different tenets.
First, the significance of "new." Arndt-and Gingrich says the word "new" from
kainos (Greek), means new in the sense of never having been before, or new as in superior in contrast to old. In other words, in meaning, worth, or significance. Vines says it means "new as form of quality, of different nature what is contrasted as old." (Vol. III. p.109.) See also Thayer, p. 317. Kittel says that kainos emphasizes what is "new and distinctive...What is new in nature...better than the old, superior in value or attraction..." (Vol. III. p.447.)
This newness is an overlooked aspect of the Supper, especially in regard to the Parousia. The Supper was not a totally new institution. It was the Passover fulfilled. Even that greater meaning, however, was not brought to fruition until the salvation wrought by the death of Jesus was consummated. The consummation of that salvation was "ready to be revealed in the last time" I Peter 1:5. That this was imminent is proven by comparing I Peter 1:5 with I John 2:18.
This brings us to the second oft-neglected tenet: the maturation period of the church. We in the churches of Christ have taught, at least implicitly, that when the church was established on Pentecost it was complete, full-grown, lacking nothing. The only time we have qualified this in any way was in our debates with charismatics when we emphasized the on-going revelation-confirmation period of miracles was for the church to come to maturity. Such argumentation is hardly consistent. It is also interesting to hear such vehement insistence on the part of some writers that the church was established in totality and completeness on Pentecost. This doctrine has some serious implications as a future article will demonstrate.
During the period of time when the church was coming to maturity (this is sometimes called a period of transition) there are several things mentioned in the New Testament as being
present realities, but which were also spoken of as
coming realities. Invariably the future aspect of these coming things is one of imminency.
The following list will demonstrate a few of the things which were both present realities but also objects of imminent expectation.
Grace: Present: Romans 5:2, Galatians 1:6; Imminent Future: I Peter 1:5-7; 4:5,7,13,17; 5:10. Glory: Present: I Thessalonians 2:12; Imminent Future: I Peter 1:5- 7. Salvation: Present: Ephesians 2:8-9; Imminent Future: Romans 13:11; Hebrews 9:28; 10:37. Adoption: Present: Romans 8:15; Imminent Future: Romans 8:19ff. Kingdom: Present: Colossians 1:13; Imminent Future: Luke 21:29-32.
How does this transitional period relate to the present issue? We believe the answer is to be found in the term "new" (
kainos).
It is incontrovertible that when the church began to observe the Supper from Pentecost, Acts 2, and onward, I Corinthians 11, they were partaking of it in a new way. It was not the Old Passover. It had a new meaning.
But, while the Supper had a new meaning during this transition period, it had not yet found its perfection. In the same way that those first Christians had life, glory, grace, salvation, adoption, and the kingdom (but were still expecting the imminent consummation of these things), so it was with the Lord's Supper. It was new, but not yet perfected.
When would the Supper's new meaning find perfection or consummation, so that far from ceasing, it would be taken in the predicted new way? The answer is to be found in Luke 22:15-18.
In these verses, Jesus promised, "I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." In verse 18 he emphasized, "I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come."
Jesus promised to partake of the Supper in a new way when the kingdom came. As noted it is usually taught the kingdom came in totality on Pentecost. Such is not the case however.
Present/Coming Kingdom
That the church/kingdom was set up on Pentecost we deny not. The church was present then and afterwards; but the kingdom was still future also!
In Matthew 16:27-28 Immanuel promised to come in his Father's glory, with the angels, to judge the world. He then stated emphatically that some then living would not die until they had seen Him coming in the kingdom. This did not happen on Pentecost! This then is a reference to a future coming of the kingdom subsequent to its establishment on Pentecost.
Further, in Luke 21:31 our Master looked forward to the signs preceding the fall of the Jewish Theocracy and said, "...when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." Those "things" presage an event that did not happen until thirty-seven years after Pentecost; yet, they were portents of the soon to come kingdom! So the kingdom (in whatever sense Jesus was referring to it) would not have fully arrived until A.D.70.
Could it not be that while the church ate the Supper in a new, yet unperfected way, in the present yet unperfected kingdom, that when the time of the perfection arrived they ate the perfected Supper in the perfected kingdom?
I suggest this is the case. Thus, when Paul in I Corinthians 11:26 said they were to show forth the Lord's death "till he come," he was eagerly looking forward, not to the cessation but to the consummation of the Supper.
The Lord's return, most assuredly expected in the lifetime of the Corinthians (cf. I Corinthians 1:4-8; 7:29-31; 13:8-13,) was not so much for the purpose of destroying the old Levitical system as it was for fulfilling it and bringing to completion the Scheme of Redemption. As the early church communed with the Lord in his Supper (I Corinthians 10:16-21), they remembered his death and sufferings. They eagerly longed for his return when the Feast would not only be a remembrance of the past, but a celebration with Him in a completely established and triumphant Kingdom. After Jesus came in A.D.70 the Supper could finally be taken in the perfected "newness" of which he spoke.
Today as children of God we also participate in the Supper. It is not in anticipation of a coming salvation, but in realization of an accomplished salvation through the suffering of our Lord. The Supper was not to cease at Jesus' return. It was and is to be taken in appreciation of his accomplished work.
from my link in the "communion thread"
Until He Comes | eschatology.org
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