What Is the Command?
As one studies the accounts of Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper, one must ask, “What are the commands related to the Lord’s Supper?” Matthew records the commands “eat” and “drink” (Mathew 26:26-27). Those are the commands which must be obeyed. When one eats the bread and drinks the fruit of the vine, one has fulfilled the commands Jesus gave whether that is from one big container or individuals cups.
With regard to the bread, Mark records that Jesus said, “Take it” (14:22) and with regard to the fruit of the vine the text simply says, “He gave it to them, and they all drank from it” (v. 23). Luke’s account is different in that he mentions the cup, the bread, and then the cup again (Luke 22:17-20). Luke’s account says, “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes’” (22:17-18). Then with regard to the bread, Luke’s text says, “And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me’”(22:19). Following that statement, the text reads, “And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood” (22:20). Since He gave them the cup before the bread, where were they holding the liquid from the cup during the time they were eating the bread?
History shows that at the Passover meal each person had his own cup. In Victor Knowles’ book The One Cup Faith, he quotes Harry Bucalstein, a converted Jew who states that at the Passover Feast, each person had his own cup in addition to the main cups that were used by the host (61). On page 62 Knowles also verifies that fact from Alfred Edersheim’s book The Life and Times of the Messiah. Thus, when Jesus passed the “cup” around, each poured the fruit of the vine from that cup into his own cup and then when Jesus talked about the cup, each drank from his own cup, not the one Jesus had passed around earlier. Frank Jamerson wrote, “The Treasury of Jewish Holidays, by Hyman E. Goldin, p. 138 says: ‘One goblet or wineglass is placed on the table for each and every one who is to participate in the Seder service….A Jewish Rabbi in Dothan, Alabama told me that this is ‘common knowledge among the Jews’ and gave Encyclopedia Judaica, by Keter Publishing Co., p. 173, as another source indicating the same” (Article from the Midway Church of Christ).
In the May 18, 2004, Christian Courier Wayne Jackson gives a quote from one of the “Church Fathers” about the use of multiple cups when serving the fruit of the vine in the Lord’s Supper. Even though the “Church Fathers” are not our authority, they lived close to the time that first century church existed and give good insights into what the New Testament church did. The quote is “XLIII. Then he distributes to the clergy; and when the deacons take the disks Or patens, and the chalices (plural) for distribution to the people, the Deacon, who takes the first disk, says…” (This is a quote from the Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7 p. 548 The Divine Liturgy of St. James, which talks about how they did communion).
“One” Does Not Have to Mean “Only One”
In I Corinthians 10:16 Paul wrote, “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?” Notice that Paul used “the” in front of “cup” and “bread.” Was he speaking of only one cup and one bread? No, when he wrote this to the Christians in Corinth, he was in Ephesus (I Corinthians 16:8). The church in Ephesus was two hundred and fifty miles from the church in Corinth, yet he described his and their partaking as doing so from “the cup” and “the bread.” He is speaking of two cups, but he refers to them as “the cup.” “One” does not have to mean “only one.” “The cup” was the fruit of the vine that was in a cup or many cups and even though they were hundreds of miles apart and being drunk from at least two cups (maybe more), all the Christians are drinking from “the cup.”
Another example where “one” does not have to mean “only one:” Jesus said, “And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward” (Mathew 10:42; Mark 9:41). Since Jesus spoke of “a cup” would it be sinful to give the needy person two cups of water? One or “a cup” does not have to mean only one. When Jesus was speaking of “the cup” in the Lord’s Supper, he did not mean that everyone had to drink from only one cup. “The cup” represents the blood of Christ. It still represents that, whether one drinks from one large container or one small container. Remember, the command is “to drink.” That command can be fulfilled by using one large container or individual cups for all individuals.
Is One Cup Practical?
Would the number of people partaking not determine the size of the cup which was to be used if the whole congregation had to drink from one cup? What size cup was necessary when the church in Jerusalem began with about 3,000 people being baptized (Acts 2:41)? Following the verse stating that about 3,000 people were baptized, Luke tells us what that church did. “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). The phrase “breaking of bread” has reference to the Lord’s Supper. The fact that only “breaking bread” is mentioned is a figure of speech called “synecdoche” which means the speaker or writer is putting a part of something for the whole (Figures of Speech Used in the Bible Explained and Illustrated by E. W. Bullinger, 613)
What size cup would they have had to use so that about 3,000 people could drink out of that one cup? Someone might say “maybe they used one cup but refilled it several times.” If that is the case, why could they not have filled all those individual cups and had them sitting on the table and served them by passing all of them to the members at the same time? If that was the case, then they were using multiple cups. Those who insist that the church must use only one cup might say, “The 3,000 members were actually in many smaller congregations.” That could be, but we have no record of that being the case. Therefore, that idea is just an assumption, not a biblical fact. Luke even explained, “All those who had believed were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:44).
Some Questions to Ask
Here are some questions which our “One-Cup-Brethren” should answer in order to clarify their thinking on this subject, and maybe to help others to understand this vital subject: (1) Would a glass rather than a cup be acceptable? (2) Does it matter if the cup has a handle or not? (3) Would an empty cup sitting on the Lord’s table, symbolize what Jesus had in mind? (4) When offering “thanks” at the Lord’s table is one offering “thanks” for the cup or the contents?
Summary
An “expedience” is an aid to help carry out a command of God. A song book is an “aid” (expedience) to help carry out the command to sing. A plate is an aid to help serve the bread. Individual cups are aids to carry out the command “to drink.” If it is wrong to add individual cups to aid in drinking the fruit of the vine, then it is wrong to add a plate to serve the bread. All aids are authorized by God because they do not add anything to the commands of God. They simply help carry out the commands of God. Since they are aids, no one can make a law as to which aids must be used or which aids cannot be used.
Drinking the fruit of the vine from one container is not a sin. But, saying that is the only way one can drink the fruit of the vine is a sin because one is making a law God did not make. It is this writer’s prayer that all may study and understand this important subject. We do not all have to do it the same way, but we ought to recognize that we can be in fellowship with each other if we recognize that drinking out of one or out of many containers, is a matter of one’s preference. Remember, the command is “to drink.” The Lord did not tell us how much we had to drink or whether it had to be from one cup or from many cups. When one has drunk the fruit of the vine, one has obeyed the command of Christ.
— Wayne Burger