This is my body, "broken"?

Yesterday I did an internet search on "communion liturgy." Here's where I landed. Good stuff. But, something there caught me by surprise. Ken advises us to avoid saying "this is my body, broken for you." The reason being textual and inter-textual evidence against the phrase "broken for you." Many manuscripts do not contain this phrase and Jesus fulfilled the OT type perfectly -- he was the sacrificial lamb without broken bones. So Ken recommends saying "this is my body, given for you" since that sounds better than "this is my body, for you." Not to mention Luke 22:19, which is a good verse to keep in mind. 

Ken is in good company. Among the modern translations I regularly check (NAS, NIV, NAB, NET, NKJ, NLT, ESV, RSV, NRS) only one followed the reading of the KJV and that was the NKJ, which uses the same Greek as the KJV. Things don't look good for the "broken for you" phrase. 

Still curious about it, I dug a little deeper. I can't tell you anything about the manuscripts Metzger mentions. I did, however, dig a bit into the Church Fathers. It looks like "broken for you" was part of some early (pre-nicene) writings and liturgies. I'm still not totally convinced that the phrase should be abandoned. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Here's some of what I dug up. 

Metzger, Textual Commentary on the NT

11.24 u`mw/n {A}

The concise expression to. u`pe.r u`mw/n, read by î46 a* A B C* 6 33 424c 1739* arm Origen Cyprian al, is characteristic of Paul’s style. Attempts to explicate the meaning of the words resulted in the addition of various participles: (a) qrupto,menon (Dgr*); (b) klw,menon (ac C3 Db, c G K P Y 81 614 1739mg Byz Lect itd, g syrp, h goth al), derived from the preceding e;klasen; (c) dido,menon (vg copsa, bo eth Euthalius, it61 quod tradidi pro vobis), assimilated to Lk 22.19.

Constitutions Book VIII Section ii

Being mindful, therefore, of those things that He endured for our sakes, we give Thee thanks, O God Almighty, not in such a manner as we ought, but as we are able, and fulfil His constitution: “For in the same night that He was betrayed, He took bread”3664 in His holy and undefiled hands, and, looking up to Thee His God and Father, “He brake it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, This is the mystery of the new covenant: take of it, and eat. This is my body, which is broken for many, for the remission of sins.”

Pasted from <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf07.ix.ix.ii.html>

Cyprian Epistle LXII

Moreover, the blessed Apostle Paul, chosen and sent by the Lord, and appointed a preacher of the Gospel truth, lays down these very things in his epistle, saying, “The Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, This is my body, which shall be given for you: do this in remembrance of me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye shall show forth the Lord’s death until He come.”

Pasted from <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf05.iv.iv.lxii.html>

Then having broken bread He gave it to them saying, Take, eat, this is My body broken for you for the remission of sins149 . Likewise also He took the cup of wine and water and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all of it: for this is My blood, the blood of the New Testament which is shed for you for the remission of sins. This do ye in remembrance of Me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the death of the Son of man and confess His resurrection until He come150

Pasted from <http://www.bible.ca/history/fathers/NPNF2-09/Npnf2-09-31.htm>

Wherefore, I would add, neither did He appoint the sacrament before this, but when henceforth the rites of the law were to cease. And thus the very chief of the feasts He brings to an end, removing them to another most awful table, and He saith, "Take, eat, This is my body, Which is broken for many."

Pasted from <http://www.bible.ca/history/fathers/NPNF1-10/npnf1-10-88.htm>

(Aloud.) Take, eat.

The Deacon: Pray earnestly.

The Priest (aloud): For this is my body, which is broken for you, and divided for the remission of sins.

The People: Amen.

The Priest prays: After the sam

Pasted from <http://www.bible.ca/history/fathers/ANF-07/anf07-64.htm>

"The bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world,"420 and when He delivered the divine mysteries and broke the symbol and distributed it, He added "This is my body which is being broken for you for the remission of sins,

Pasted from <http://www.bible.ca/history/fathers/NPNF2-03/Npnf2-03-23.htm>

The Deacons say:34 For the remission of sins and life everlasting.

Then he says aloud: Take, eat: this is my body, broken for you, and given for remission of sins.

The People: Amen.

Pasted from <http://www.bible.ca/history/fathers/ANF-07/anf07-63.htm> 

Beyond Unselfishness

Moderate desires.
A quiet life.

Our Lord asks more than this. Look at the Christ. There's the price. We all have more to give.

In the garden the human race fell to selfish sin. The fix for this to some might seem mere unselfishness. Unselfishness? Is that the cost? Is that what Jesus did? I must insist, it was much more. It was much more than this.

In the garden the human race resisted selfish sin. What was it that drove the Son to say "thy will be done"? Was it mere unselfishness? No. For sure it was much more. It was love's obedience. The Father loved. The Son obeyed. Thus our lives were purchased.

Now Jesus speaks to us today, "Come and follow me." Thanks to him, death, hell, and grave are swallowed in victory. But what will it mean, where will it lead if we keep on following?

Love's call is to more than neutral selflessness. A cross awaits -- a suffering for and with. 

Prison Could Not Hold Them

Acts 5:17 ¶ Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, ¹⁸ And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. ¹⁹ But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, ²⁰ Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. ²¹ ¶ And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ²² But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, ²³ Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within. ²⁴ Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. ²⁵ Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. ²⁶ Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.

Opposition Intensified

-          They were filled with “zeal,” grabbed the apostles, and threw them in prison

-          What person in their right mind would do this?

o   Jesus saw intense opposition when he healed people

o   The Enemy wants to kill and destroy us all

-          Remember when you face opposition like this

o   Jesus was hated too

o   The battle is really a spiritual one

-          Do not be surprised when the heat is turned up

Supernatural Deliverance

-          God provided a way of escape

-          Just like the Exodus. Just like our salvation. Just like the resurrection. God will always make a way of escape.

-          They were delivered to preach. God’s purposes don’t end with you.

-          We are delivered to deliver the words of life!

Enemies Become Fearful

-          Started out with authorities zealously grabbing the apostles. Ends with the authorities fearfully grabbing the apostles

-          In the Parable of the Sower Jesus described different responses to the word. Some people receive the word gladly but fall away when testing comes. The way to avoid this? Get rooted.

o   Plow your heart.  Get the rocks out of the soil.

-          The apostles feared God rather than men. The people feared the apostles. The leaders feared the people. Looks like you’ve gotta fear somebody.

-          Fear God and you need not fear anyone or anything else. Not even a prison can hold back God’s people as they participate in God’s mission. 

God is a Fire

Our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29

Throughout Scripture God is associated with flame.

When God entered into a covenant with Abraham he appeared as a flaming torch (Genesis 15:17). He came to Moses in a burning bush (Exodus 3:2). He led Israel in a pillar of fire (Exodus 13:21). He descended to the mount with fire and smoke (Exodus 19:18). Ezekiel’s vision of God was filled with fire (Ezekiel 1:27). John foretold that Jesus would baptize believers in fire (Luke 3:16). Then, on the day of Pentecost, what looked like tongues of fire rested on the heads of the disciples (Acts 2:3).

But what does it all mean? Why is God so associated with fire?

Fire gives comfort. Fire gives light. Fire is elusive, flickering. All of these things can be said of God as well.

What I want to consider in particular is the consuming work of fire. Fire has an insatiable appetite. What it touches it takes into itself. Our God, the flaming God, consumes all that is unlike him. In his consuming work he makes things clean.

Numbers 31:22 Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, ²³ Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.

When God baptizes his people with fire he is doing a cleansing, consuming, work in us. Corrosion, corruption, infection, and filth can stay until the flame comes. When the fire comes all the rubbish is consumed, leaving only what is precious.

Fire can purify and fire can destroy – the same fire. Some welcome the flames of judgment – they welcome the destruction of all the trash. Consider Isaiah:

Isaiah 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. ⁶ Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: ⁷ And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Others run from the purifying and judging flame only to finally end up eternally intertwined with their sins. For them the consuming fires of judgment are never quenched.

Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
 

Welcome the God who is a consuming fire. He is a flame of love. 

Signs and Wonders

Acts 5:12 ¶ And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. ¹³ And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. ¹⁴ And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) ¹⁵ Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. ¹⁶ There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

God of the impossible

-          Signs of what? Signs are not just there for beauty's sake. They point to something. What do these signs point to? 

o   God’s Kingdom (already here but not yet fully here)

o   God’s Spirit given

o   Christ’s Lordship 

o   God’s Gospel verified

o   God’s will is good

-          Can God…? Anaias and Sapphira had asked this question in a way. They tested God. The Israelites tested God in the wilderness, asking "can God provide us meat?" In both cases the results were bad and the answer was an emphatic "God can!"

-          Human weakness was overcome by the Spirit. Peter was not a perfect man. He had fallen into sin recently, and shortly after this he had to be confronted by Paul for racist hypocrisy, yet now his shadow brought healing. 

o   All things are possible to those who believe (Mark 9:23). 

-          Get a new perspective – there are no limits!

A flame of love

-          Judgment led to unity

-          Love embraces and love excludes!

-          The church did not exclude anyone (hypocrites excluded themselves voluntarily), multitudes joined.

-          Welcome the burning, cleansing flame

Power for restoration

-          Sickness, sin, and evil spirits are out of order.

-          God’s miracles are not chaotic. It would be scary if the God of the impossible were arbitrary. There's good news. He is all good. 

-          The forces of evil rage against us, but through God we will overcome!

-          These signs point to the way things should and eventually will be

o   All will be healed!

o   All (who repent and believe) will be forgiven and set free from sin for eternity!

o   All evil spirits bound and souls delivered!

Is church a building or a community?

The point has been made time and again in recent American Christianity, "church isn't a place, it's a community!" It's true, as far as it goes. And sometimes the point really needs to be made -- being a part of the church is about more than what you do in a building one day a week.

As we relearn that we are the "temple of God" it is essential that we not forget another important truth -- God inhabits specific places. God is not equally present in all places. Cain, Satan, and Jonah all left "the presence of the Lord" (Gen 4:16; Job 1:12; Jon 1:3). Ezekiel spoke of God's glory leaving the temple (Ezek 10-11). In Deuteronomy we read about "a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell" (Deu 12, 14, 16, 26). In Exodus God gave the people of Israel very specific instructions about worship. Those instructions included a place -- a meeting tent. God was said to dwell in that tent, foreshadowing when he would "tabernacle [pitch his tent] among us" in an even more immediate way (Joh 1:14). 

God also established holy times. These times were special times, sacred times, for God's people and for God himself. These times brought God glory and celebrated his name. These times brought life to God's people. 

The church is more than a building, it is people. Let's just not forget that the people have been given sacred places and times. 

God chooses a place because God has entered into history with a people for whom place is important. If place is important for people, it is important for God. To speak of presence in connection with place also helps preserve the personal character of the divine presence, for persons are always associated with places...The divine presence is thus not reduced to spirituality, as if the human personality were somehow the only fit place on earth for God's presence, or even the community apart from times and places. Place remains important for God because it is important for people and their relationships with one another. 

Frethheim, Terence E. The Suffering of God: An Old Testament Perspective. Fortress Press, 1984.

Truth in Advertising

I recently heard a story about an interesting dry cleaners.

"One-Hour Dry Cleaners" was the name of the place. Preparing for a trip out of town, a man remember that sign. So, he took his suit to "One-Hour Dry Cleaners". As the lady filled out the card he explained that he needed the suit to be ready in an hour. To that she replied that the soonest he could expect to get his suit back was Thursday. Of course, the guy was perplexed by this. She explained that "One-Hour Dry Cleaners" was just the name of the place -- it didn't have anything to do with the speed of service.

"Christian" is the sign many of us wear. That title creates diverse expectations. However, there is a common thread among the divergent interpretations of the term. Everybody expects Christians to be like Jesus in some way.

What is Jesus like? He is holy. What does that mean? At the risk of sounding a bit circular I'll venture to say that it is like Jesus. God is the only one who rightly gives content to the term holy. 


How then can we live up to our name, "Christian"? 

In the Bible we learn about the content of God's character. But we haven't the goodness, generosity, love, faithfulness, gentleness, kindness, patience, justice, joy, self-control, or any of that character that God has on our own.

Christians are holy in the same way that the moon gives light -- by our relationship with the source. Jesus compared us to branches. He said, "I am the true vine...as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me...without me you can do nothing" (John 15:1-5).







It's time for truth in advertising. Be the real deal. Be holy by cultivating an intimate connection with the holy Christ.