Page 131 - Through New Eyes

126 THROUGH NEW EYES

bread, and it should be partaken of in a separate act. Jesus
gave new names to the products of His actions, calling the
bread His body, and the wine His blood.
4. Jesus distributed it to all present, giving them a command
to do this as His memorial.
5. They all tasted of it. “O taste and see that the Lord is good”
(Psalm 34:8). All but one evaluated it as good. Judas eval-
uated it as bad (assuming for the sake of argument that
Judas was still present when the Lord’s Supper was in-
stituted, a disputed point).
6. (After Judas left) the godly disciples remained with Jesus,
enjoying His fellowship and teaching for a time (John
14-17).

The performance of this weekly rite in worship is the heart of
liturgical piety, and this is seen in both major sections of the wor-
ship service. The six-fold performance in the Eucharist, the
Holy Communion, is obvious; but it is also performed in the
Synaxis, the service of the Word. In virtually every kind of
church, regardless how non-liturgical it may seek to be, during
the time of proclamation the Word is first read, then thanks is
offered, and then the Word is preached. Thus, the rite as applied
to proclamation is this:
1. The reader lays hold of the Word, reading a portion or
portions of it without comment.
2. Thanks is offered for the Word, and a request that the
Spirit bless the exposition of it.
3. The Word is broken down and restructured in the preach-
ing of it. Preaching expounds the text using different
words from what are found there — new names as it were;
and in that preaching. . . .

4. The Word is distributed to the people listening, as God’s
command for living. The Word provides both promise and
law, both a description of Kingdom privilege and an out-
line of Kingdom duties.
5. The people evaluate what they hear. By that I do not mean
to imply that the people are obligated to pass some kind of
professional judgment on the sermon, but that inevitably