Question:
If the Passover was a memorial yearly feast forever (Ex. 12:6, 14), and the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of Christ’s death (Luke 22: 59), and He is “our Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7, 8), do the words “as oft” in 1 Cor. 11:24, 25 mean any oftener than the Jews had been in the habit of observing their Passover? Is there any Scriptural authority to observe it any more often or quarterly?
Answer:
The Passover marked the beginning of the Jewish sacred year. It was a memorial of their deliverance from Egypt and a type of Christ. But every other feast or fast of the year likewise pointed forward to Christ or His work. They came yearly, and definite times were appointed for their national observance, that there might be order. In meeting these types, Christ wrought His work once and for all. He did not continue the old Passover as the memorial of His death but instituted an ordinance to commemorate the event without any respect to the time. In fact, no time is mentioned in connection with its institution. The directions Paul gave to Gentile Christians did not refer to any definite time, nor does he even allude to the time, but the great event, in 1 Cor. 5:7. “As oft” certainly does not refer to definite or regular time. An instance of its use is found in Rev. 11:6, “as often as they will.” In connection with the Lord’s Supper, it meant daily, quarterly, yearly, or whatever time was agreed upon. Some students believe that Acts 2:46 refers to a daily observance of the Lord’s Supper; others declare that Acts 20:7 shows a weekly observance. It is safe to say there was no stated time.
