Sorry I didn't see this thread before, SimpleSally!
A year ago, back when I was still trying to remain a Witness, and still believed in the division of Christians into two classes, I decided that despite being a member of the 'other sheep', I should still partake of the emblems. I did so privately at home, after the congregation's Memorial.
Here's an essay I wrote explaining my reasoning. I'm going to copy-and-paste from Word, so hopefully the formatting will come out alright.
Who Should Partake of the Memorial Emblems?
It is the teaching of Jehovah?s Witnesses that among modern-day Christians, only those of the ?little flock??those who are anointed with holy spirit and have the hope of heavenly life?should partake of the bread and the wine at the Lord?s Evening Meal; the remainder of Christians?the ?other sheep? who have the hope of earthly life?attend the Meal only as observers.
It is the objective of this essay to demonstrate that scripturally, all baptized Christians should partake of the emblems. To do so, we must first examine why Jehovah?s Witnesses teach as they do.
Why only the anointed?
On the night that Jesus established the Memorial of his death, he also spoke to his apostles of two covenants.
The first of these is the ?new covenant.? (Lu 22:20) This is a covenant between Jehovah and the anointed. It replaces Jehovah?s old covenant with the nation of Israel, turning the anointed into Jehovah?s new spiritual nation, ?the Israel of God.? (Ga 6:16) Just like the law covenant, it provides for forgiveness of sins by means of sacrifice (in this case Jesus?s sacrifice, rather than animal sacrifices); and just like the law covenant, it promises that the Israel of God will become ?a royal priesthood? (Ex 19:6; 1 Pet 2:2)
The second is the ?covenant? for a kingdom,? between Jesus and the anointed. (Lu 22:29) This is Jesus? personal promise to the anointed to share his rulership with them. Unlike the new covenant, which is based on Jesus? shed blood, this covenant is based on the fact that the anointed have ?stuck with [Jesus] in [his] trials.? (Lu 22:28)
Based on the fact that Jesus instituted both these covenants on the night of his last supper, The Watchtower states:
?Spirit-begotten Christians are positive that they are in the new covenant and in the covenant for the Kingdom. At observances of the Lord?s Evening Meal, therefore, only the relatively few remaining anointed ones yet on the earth partake of the bread, representing Jesus? sinless human body, and the wine, signifying his perfect blood poured out in death and validating the new covenant.? (w98 2/15 16)
Thus the fundamental reason why Jehovah?s Witnesses teach that only the anointed should partake of the Lord?s Evening Meal is because only they are party to the new covenant and the covenant for a kingdom.
Covenant parallels
Given this apparently logical reasoning, why do we conclude that the other sheep should also partake of the emblems? To answer, it is necessary to examine more closely the Memorial accounts and the nature of the new covenant.
First of all, while Jesus? instituted both the new covenant and the kingdom covenant on the same night, he also engaged in a good deal of other teaching that night. In fact, of all the gospel accounts, Luke?s is the only one that even mentions the covenant for a kingdom, and he separates it from his account of the Memorial by relating how the disciples argued who was the greatest among them. (Lu 22:24-27) Hence it appears that when Jesus made the covenant for a kingdom, it was not part of the memorial celebration. Not only does Luke?s arrangement indicate this, but if the kingdom covenant were a crucial part of the meaning of the memorial, it would seem odd that none of the other gospel accounts would mention it.
Instead, Jesus clearly indicated which covenant the Memorial symbolizes. After giving his disciples the wine, he said: ?This cup means the new covenant by virtue of my blood, which is to be poured out in your behalf.? (Lu 22:20; see also Mr 14:24. The parallel account in Mt 26:28 refers to the ?blood of the covenant?; as mentioned above, the covenant sealed with blood was the new covenant.) Hence partaking of the memorial emblems is a symbol of participation in the new covenant.
As mentioned above, the new covenant is between Jehovah and spiritual Israel?the anointed. So why do we say that the other sheep should also partake? A parallel with the old covenant is instructive.
While the parties to the law covenant were Jehovah and the fleshly nation of Israel, it was also possible for a non-Israelite to become circumcised (if male) and join the nation of Israel. (Ex 12:49; Lev 19:33) The Watchtower parallels this to the position of the other sheep with respect to the new covenant:
Like ancient Israel?s alien residents who worshiped Jehovah and submitted to the Law, today?s other sheep accept Christian responsibilities, such as preaching the good news along with the members of spiritual Israel. (Galatians 6:16) Just as no alien resident could become Israel?s king or a priest, however, none of these other sheep can as such rule in the heavenly Kingdom or serve as priests.?Deuteronomy 17:15 (w03 2/15 20)
The question then arises, should these ?alien residents? of spiritual Israel partake of the emblems in the Lord?s Evening Meal? The answer can be found by looking at the two aspects of ancient Israelite worship that foreshadowed the Memorial.
The first of these is the Passover. Paul spoke of ?Christ our passover.? (1 Cor 5:7) Jesus is elsewhere spoken of as a lamb (the Passover sacrifice), and the memorial itself was instituted on the night of Passover. Hence the Insight book says: ?The Bible definitely states that Christ is the Passover sacrifice.? (it-2 581) Did alien residents in Israel partake of the Passover? Absolutely. ?And in case an alien resident should be residing with you as an alien, he also must prepare the passover sacrifice to Jehovah.? (Nu 9:14)
The second parallel is communion sacrifices. As The Watchtower explains: ?The Memorial too is a communion meal because it involves a sharing together.? (w03 2/15 16) Did alien residents in Israel partake of communion meals? Yes. Communion meals were one of the ritual sacrifices established by the Mosaic law, which said: ?And in case there should be residing as an alien with you an alien resident or one who is in your midst for generations of you, and he must render up an offering made by fire, of a restful odor to Jehovah, just as you should do, so he should do.? (Nu 15:14; see also it-1 72) Thus an alien resident could offer sacrifices?including communion sacrifices?the same way an Israelite could.
To summarize, the following statements can be made based on Watchtower publications and the scriptures:
1) Alien residents in ancient Israel partook of the Passover and communion sacrifices. (Nu 9:14; 15:14; it-1 72)
2) The alien residents prefigured the other sheep. (w03 2/15 20)
3) The Passover and communion sacrifices prefigured the Memorial. (1 Cor 5:7; it-2 581; w03 2/15 16)
In view of these three points, it seems scripturally clear that the other sheep should partake of the Lord?s Evening Meal.
Postscript: A reply to The Watchtower
The above argument is not new. It was addressed in The Watchtower in 1985. ( w 85 2/15 17-18) I feel that the The Watchtower ?s reply is inadequate, for two reasons.
First of all, The Watchtower states: ?The Passover was not strictly a type of the Lord?s Evening Meal,? on the grounds that the blood of the Passover lamb was not drunk; whereas the Memorial includes wine symbolizing Jesus? blood. (18) It should be noted, however, that no prophetic parallel is an exact correspondence. Spiritual Israel, for example, is made up of members of many fleshly nations. Membership in it is not by birth. ?Circumcision of the heart? applies to all genders, whereas literal circumcision only applied to males. Many more examples could be presented; but the point is, there will always be some minor divergences between types and anti-types in prophetic parallels. The parallel between the Passover and the Memorial is still scripturally very well supported.
Additionally, however, the blood of the lamb was an important feature in the Passover celebration. Obviously, under Jehovah?s law, literal blood could not be drunk. But in the first Passover, it was sprinkled over the doorpost of the celebrants? houses; and in later Passovers, it was sprinkled at the base of the altar. So the blood of the lamb was an important part of the Passover celebration, just as Jesus? blood is of the Memorial.
The second point made by The Watchtower is that ?Jesus discussed two related covenants with his disciples, ?the new covenant? and ?a covenant for a kingdom.?? (18) The important distinction between these covenants has already been discussed above.
Therefore, it seems evident that The Watchtower?s comments on the matter do not dispose of the reasons why the other sheep should partake of the Lord?s Evening Meal.
