Common to all
three of the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus tells his apostles that he will not drink
of the fruit of the vine until the coming of the Kingdom (Matt 26:29; 14:25;
Luke 22:18). In LDS theology, Christ, when he comes again, will partake of what
scholars call the “Messianic Banquet,” and that is something in the future
(part-and-parcel of LDS premillennialism). This can be seen in D&C 27:5:
Behold, it is wisdom in me; wherefore, marvel not, for
the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the
earth . . .
There has also
been some nonsense comments from some Catholic apologists on this, stating that
Jesus drank the “cup of consummation” at the cross and that is what Christ
meant by “it is finished/done” in John 19:30 (Scott Hahn and Peter D. Williams
follow this flawed argument; fellow Catholic apologists such as Fr. Mitchell
Pacwa and Robert Sungenis have argued against this novel interpretation of the
Last Supper).
D.A. Carson in
page 539 of his commentary on Matthew, offers the following exegesis of Matt
26:29:
The four cups were meant to correspond to the fourfold
promise of Exodus 6:6-7. The third cup, the “cup of blessing” used by Jesus in
the words of institution, is thus associated with redemption (Exod 6:6); but
the fourth cup corresponds to the promise “I will take you as my own people,
and I will be your God” (Exod 6:7). Thus Jesus is simultaneously not to drink
the cup of consummation, the cup that promises the divine presence, till the
kingdom of all its fullness has been ushered in. Then he will drink the cup
with his people. This is a veiled farewell and implies a sustained absence . .
.The Lord’s Supper, therefore points both to the past and to the future, both
to Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary and to the messianic banquet.
