Noordzij — Bibliology
Noordzij treats in “Bread and Wine” the biblical grounds of the Lord’s Supper through a hermeneutical framework that concentrates on the relationship between Old and New Testaments, on typology as an interpretative principle, and on the central role of biblical exegesis in understanding God’s purposes.
Typology: Passover as Prefiguration of Christ
The central biblical insight in this article is that the Passover of Exodus is a complete prefiguration of Christ’s work and person. Noordzij writes:
A lamb was slaughtered and its blood proved to be a miraculous protection. God also established a covenant with His people: He promised to bring them to a free and better land… He, the Lamb, would be slaughtered and His blood would truly set free (Rev. 1:5, Gal. 5:1). He is the Way to the true Promised Land, the Kingdom of Heaven (Heb. 10:19-23).
This typological reading undergirds Paul’s use of Passover imagery in 1 Corinthians. Noordzij emphasizes:
points to Jesus, our Passover lamb (1Cor. 5:7)
The typological method—whereby Old Testament figures and institutions are redemptive-historically fulfilled in Christ—is foundational to understanding Scripture according to Noordzij.
Hermeneutical Method: Shadow and Reality
Noordzij formulates an important hermeneutical principle: the relationship between shadow and reality in scriptural interpretation. This is explicitly developed:
A shadow is two-dimensional, flat, lifeless — like photographs. That is how the “old” relates to the “new”. The “old” is perfect in foreshadowing the “new”, like a photo album (Heb. 10:1). Jesus makes everything “old” radically “new”, including laws and rites (1Cor. 15:46, 2Cor. 4:18, Rev. 21:5).
This hermeneutical framework—wherein the law and rituals of the Old Testament are the ‘shadow’ of the ‘reality’ in Christ—is traceable to Hebrews and constitutes a structural account of how Scripture interprets itself and how the testaments cohere. Noordzij helps readers approach Scripture not literalistically but typologically-spiritually.
Covenant Progression: Old to New
The doctrinal movement in Scripture from old to new covenant is crucial for Noordzij:
On the evening that Jesus and His disciples ate the Passover meal, the Lord began to speak of a “new” covenant, a covenant in His blood… That is “new”, in spirit and truth — not “old”, with the blood of a natural lamb, but “new”, with the blood of the Lamb, spiritually.
This is more than historical narrative; it is a biblical hermeneutics of discontinuity-in-continuity. The new covenant is not a replacement but a fulfillment—the Passover of Egypt is fulfilled in Christ, but at a higher plane, “in spirit and truth”. This progressive-revelation framework helps explain why Christians still read the Old Testament: not to keep its letters literally, but to see the typical reality in Christ.
Symbolism and Substance: Unleavened Bread
Noordzij also addresses the biblical meaning of religious symbols and their spiritual content. On leaven and unleavened bread, he positions himself with Paul:
Our Passover lamb has been sacrificed: Christ. Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, or with leaven of wickedness and evil (Greek: poneria = baseness), but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1Cor. 5:6-8).
This shows how Scripture itself interprets symbols—not as arbitrary signs, but as bearers of meaning. “Old leaven” in Scripture stands for ritualistic religiosity without inner reality; “unleavened bread” stands for purity and truth. The hermeneutical task is to let Scripture herself be the interpreter of her symbols.
Spiritual Knowledge and Revelation
Noordzij also points to an important hermeneutical principle regarding the nature of scriptural knowledge itself. He states:
How we eat Him cannot be expressed in words. Spiritual knowledge comes through revelation, not through intellectual effort. To eat the true bread anew in His kingdom, we must be from above, born again (John 3:3-6).
This touches a classical biblical distinction: between psychical (soulish knowledge) and pneumatic (spiritual knowledge). Opening Scripture requires not only intellectual labor but spiritual renewal—a hermeneutical principle that traces back to 1 Corinthians 2 and continues in reformational exegesis.
Scripture’s Authority in Covenant Interpretation
Finally, Noordzij leans heavily on scriptural authority in determining what the Lord’s Supper means. Rather than church tradition or scholastic theology as the first norm, he seeks Scripture itself:
Let no one disqualify you in matters of food and drink, or with regard to a festival, a new moon, or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ! (Col. 2:16).
This Pauline quotation, which Noordzij cites, places Christ at the center as the norm for interpretation—not external ecclesiastical authority, but scriptural groundedness in Christ as the standard.