Agape feast and Eucharist

[tonychanyt]

During the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the communion in Lk 22:

19 He took bread, and when he had 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.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

This is also called the Lord's Supper or Eucharist or agape feast. It came from the Jewish Passover meal. It was a full meal with bread, drinks, lamb, etc. Jesus focused only on the bread and wine.

After Jesus' death and resurrection, the nascent church practiced it regularly. Paul wrote in 1C 11:

20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

Paul warned the congregation about this disorderly eating of the Lord's supper in the church.

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is forf you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Like, Jesus, Paul focused on the bread and wine elements.

33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait forl one another— 34a if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home.

A decade later, Jude wrote about false teachers in 1:

12 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts,

Jude used a different term from Paul's.

as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

By the 3rd century, the church fathers made a clear separation between the Eucharist and the agape feast. Wiki:

The connection between such substantial meals and the Eucharist had virtually ceased by the time of Cyprian (died 258 AD), when the Eucharist was celebrated with fasting in the morning and the agape in the evening.[7]

Agape feasts were held in private homes in the evening. It was a time for substantial communal meals and fellowship with one another.

The Eucharist was a formal ritual that took place in a church. It was a time of remembrance of the Lord's death until he returns.

The Council of Laodicea (364 CE) explicitly prohibited agape feasts in churches.

Wiki:

Today, "the Eucharist" is the name still used by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Lutherans. Other Protestant denominations rarely use this term, preferring "Communion", "the Lord's Supper", "Remembrance", or "the Breaking of Bread". Latter-day Saints call it "the Sacrament".[25]

Jewish Passover meal → Last Supper → Lord's supper → agape feast → Eucharist → communion.

Today, Christians still practice agape feast occasionally, at home or in a church gym.

The agape feast and the Eucharist share a common foundation in early Christian practice. The agape feast emphasizes community and love among believers, while the Eucharist focuses on the sacrificial nature of Christ’s love and the remembrance of his Last Supper.

See also

• Was the breaking bread in Acts 20 part of a love-feast or Eucharist?