What is communion all about?

What is

communion all about?

ď&#x20AC;&#x201A; Looking Deeper

 Looking Deeper What is communion all about?

t’s Sunday morning and I’m in church with my family. The atmosphere is one of worship and prayer. The pastor says we’re going to have a time of communion and a few selected people move forward to a table covered in a white cloth. He speaks briefly and then prays before handing trays of bread and small glasses to the stewards who hand them out row by row . . . It’s usually about this point that I begin to realise that I’m mentally and emotionally disconnected from what’s happening. I feel like I’m meant to be having a deep spiritual experience, but find myself thoughtlessly going through the communion ‘routine’ without really connecting with what I’m doing. I assume that everyone else is having a powerful moment with God—and I’m probably the only one getting nothing out of this.

I’ve been in church all my life and have experienced this pattern for years. I wondered if it meant I have a pretty mediocre walk with God or something. Eventually, I opened up to a small group of friends about my frustration only to find that I wasn’t alone. Most of them had the same sense of detachment during communion. We had somehow grown so used to it that it had lost its meaning to us. Perhaps you can relate to my experience, or maybe you’re brand new to Christianity and want to understand why we have this tradition in the first place. Either way, we would all benefit from taking a good look at communion, what it is and why it is practised by Christians all over the world. You may find, as I have, that there’s a lot more to it than you think.

[2] WHAT IS COMMUNION ALL ABOUT?

Where did it start?

he Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell us the story of what is famously called the Last Supper, which Jesus had with His disciples the night before He was crucified. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfilment in the kingdom of God” . . . And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” —Luke 22:15-20

Jesus intended this to become something that would be repeated as a way of remembering Him. A piece of bread was to be broken and shared amongst them, and then a cup was to be passed around for them to drink. He gave them to us as symbols to help us remember and reflect on all He has done for us. He was very clear about their significance: the bread represents His body, and the cup represents the new covenant (the binding agreement we now have with God) in His blood. But what does that really mean?

WHERE DID IT START? [3]

The bread

read is one of the world’s staple foods. It’s basic but comforting and satisfying. It’s so basic, in fact, that sometimes the word “bread” is used as a general term for food. In the culture of the Middle East during Bible times, sharing a meal (or bread) with someone else had a particular significance. The harsh environment of that part of the world often left travellers and strangers vulnerable. Access to food and water, and protection from potential attacks, could be a matter of life and death. This led to a strict hospitality ‘code’. Members of the community were to provide food and protection for strangers (and even enemies) in need. The guests who received this hospitality were to accept what was offered and were to be grateful and loyal to their host. A failure by either one to follow this ‘code’ was deeply offensive and could even be seen as an act of hostility (for some examples, check out Genesis 18:1-8; 19:1-11; 24:28-32, Judges 8:4-17 and 1 Samuel 25)

Even today in Arab cultures, there is a phrase, “There is bread and salt between us” which shows a special loyalty between host and guest. To betray your host after sharing their bread (as Judas did in John 13:18) was the worst possible insult, and showed a shameful lack of integrity. The upshot is that two parties eating from one piece of bread made strangers—or even enemies—into friends. [4] WHAT IS COMMUNION ALL ABOUT?

With that cultural background in mind, let’s think again about what the communion bread really represents. Peace with God: Even though we were God’s enemies, the bread is a reminder that God has brought us into a relationship of peace with Himself through the cross: God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. —Romans 5:8-11 (nlt) Imagine that you are invited to a meal with Jesus as your host. When He offers to eat with you, He is putting Himself under obligation to be at peace with you and to protect your relationship with Him (John 10:28-29). It isn’t just a little piece of bread He hands you; it is a binding promise of friendship and security. But we also need to remember that Jesus said to His disciples, “This [bread] is my body given for you” (Luke 22:19). Jesus doesn’t just give us bread, but Himself. When we have communion, we can remember that Jesus isn’t just our host, but “the way” to God and His peace (John 14:6). When we take that bread, we can remember that we don’t just belong to Him, we are now one with Him (see for example 1 Corinthians 6:17, Ephesians 3:17, Galatians 2:20). Peace with others: Communion is not a private thing; it is a group celebration. And so the significance

THE BREAD [5]

of the bread goes beyond just our personal relationship with God: “We, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf” (1 Corinthians 10:17). When we share the bread with other Christians during a communion celebration, we are actually acknowledging our relationship of peace and protection towards each other. We are saying that we are all involved in the same family of God; all brought into it through trusting Jesus. And so we are accountable to encourage, support and help each other to stay close to Him in our daily lives. We can quickly lose sight that, “We, who are many, are one body.” In our very ‘me-first’ culture, it can be easy to forget our responsibilities towards other Christians. But Jesus specifically and repeatedly emphasised this vital point in His prayer the night before His crucifixion. He even linked our oneness with each other to our witness to the world: [I pray that the church] may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. —John 17:21-23 The bread symbolises our unending peace with God and the incredible protection we have now that we are united with Jesus. And when we remember His body during communion, we can also take the time to think about and celebrate the oneness He has brought all Christians into. [6] WHAT IS COMMUNION ALL ABOUT?

The cup

t the Last Supper, Jesus said to His disciples, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15). This all took place at a Passover meal, which the Jews celebrated annually to remember when God rescued them from slavery in Egypt. It is highly significant that Jesus was crucified during Passover. Taking a look at the story of the Passover will give us some insight into what the cup of communion is all about. The book of Exodus tells the story of the Israelites’ rescue from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. They were used as forced labour; building cities for Pharaoh, brick by brick, with very little benefit to themselves. In their misery, they cried out to God to save them. God sent horrible plagues against Pharaoh (Exodus 7-10), but he refused to let the slaves go free (see 10:27). Finally, God sent one final plague; a sentence of death. That night at midnight every firstborn male in the land, young or old, would die. There was no distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians; the sentence of death was on the whole land (11:4-6). But God also made a way so that nobody actually needed to die; it was called the Passover lamb. In Exodus 12:1-28, God explained the plan to Moses. That evening, every Israelite household was to take a flawless lamb and slaughter it, pouring its blood into a bowl. They were to paint the blood around the door of their houses. God promised that when He saw the blood, He would pass over that house and no firstborn males would die

THE CUP [7]

there. The lamb, in effect, died instead of the firstborn. In the grief and chaos of that fateful night, the Israelites finally “went out from the land of Egypt” forever (Exodus 12:41 nkjv). What does this have to do with communion? According to Jesus, we too are slaves. He clearly stated that “everyone who sins is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). The apostle Paul tells us the state we were in before we trusted Jesus: [You used to live in sin], when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. —Ephesians 2:2-3 He is saying that at one time, much like the Israelites, we were all enslaved to our selfish “evil desire” (James 1:14) and so we followed the ways of the world and the devil. The devil is the ruler of an “unseen” kingdom (v.2 nlt) which is in absolute rebellion to God’s authority. Our slavery was to obey the desires of our sinful nature, and with each sinful action, to add to that rebellious kingdom brick by brick. When we see it that way, we recognise that there is a sentence of God’s judgement on all of humanity because we have all rebelled against Him and belong to the kingdom of sin and the devil. But just as God provided the Passover lamb for the Israelites, He has also provided a means of rescue for us; the blood of Jesus Christ. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty [8] WHAT IS COMMUNION ALL ABOUT?

way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. —1 Peter 1:18-19 God accepts the blood of Jesus as the full payment for every act of sin and rebellion ever committed. It is an “atoning sacrifice” (1 John 2:2; 4:10); which is a Bible phrase meaning “a covering for sin”. It’s a bit like an umbrella under which we can take shelter and be safe from the judgement of God against the devil and his kingdom. When, by faith, we put ourselves under the blood of Jesus, God will accept us as though we were Jesus Himself. If the Israelites had simply left the blood of the lamb in the bowl, the firstborn males would still have died; they needed to act in faith and apply the blood to their houses. In the same way, each of us must apply the blood of Jesus to our own lives by trusting Him for ourselves. When we take the cup of communion we are acknowledging and remembering that we have put our trust in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice as our only and secure hope. We take shelter under His blood, knowing He has died our death for us (just as the Passover lamb did for the first-born males). [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. —Colossians 1:13-14 The cup is a symbol of our freedom from slavery to sin. It is a regular reminder of the death of Jesus which bought our rescue into God’s eternal kingdom and family. It reminds us that His blood is the covering under which we have free access to our heavenly Father.

THE CUP [9]

The warning

hile Jesus’ words at the Last Supper are probably the most well-known on the subject of communion, they are not the only teaching the New Testament gives us on this topic. When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth about many issues and problems that needed to be addressed, he also warned them about their attitude and approach to communion: Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgement on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgement. —1 Corinthians 11:27-31

It’s clear from Paul’s words that communion is not something to be taken lightly. The consequences of taking the bread and the cup “in an unworthy manner” led to sickness and even death (sometimes [10] WHAT IS COMMUNION ALL ABOUT?

called “sleep” in the New Testament). This is serious stuff. Paul isn’t teaching that we must be perfect in order to take communion; all of us are “unworthy”. That’s why we come, to remember the forgiveness and new life we have been given in Jesus. What he is saying is that we mustn’t come in “an unworthy manner”; complacent and without any thought towards what we are actually doing and what Jesus has achieved for us in His death. So when we come to communion, it is important that we examine ourselves and see where we are at with God, and with our fellow Christians. How can we, as Paul directed, “examine” ourselves so that we make sure we are taking communion in the right way? Maybe we can start by asking ourselves these questions: Do I trust in the blood of Jesus? The first question to ask ourselves is whether or not we are actually trusting Jesus’ blood, or trusting in our own goodness to get God’s favour. It is easy to fall into this trap at any time during our Christian lives. The fact is we can never live perfectly enough to earn God’s love; we need to actively ‘live’ under the blood of Jesus. He alone is our shelter, fortress and safety. He alone is our salvation and certainty for the future. But is this the reality we live in? Or are we still striving to earn this standing before God? Are we still anxious and uncertain about the day we stand face to face with Jesus? Perhaps, before taking the cup at communion, it would be helpful to remind ourselves that it is only

THE WARNING  [11]

because of Jesus’ blood that we can ever be at peace with God. Sometimes, I need to repent of trying to earn God’s favour with my good works; and put my trust back in Jesus’ completed work on the cross. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us” (Ephesians 1:7-8). Do I live depending on God? If we now belong to God and His protection and provision, we should be increasingly living in dependence on and obedience to Him, even if it costs us something. If we refuse to give up lifestyles and ways that are against what the Bible says, it shows that we are actually living in rebellion to God rather than friendship. It is fair to say that we shouldn’t be taking communion if we are unwilling to give up our selfish ways and submit to Jesus. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a constant battle to live for Jesus—it is, one often full of failures and frustration. This is why we come to communion! To remember that our salvation rests on Him alone, and that the life we now live depends on His strength and power from the Holy Spirit within us. As Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Where we have sin or ongoing issues in our lives, we can readily admit them to God and turn to His strength, love, ways and forgiveness, longing to cling to Jesus and see Him develop a more God-centred life [12] WHAT IS COMMUNION ALL ABOUT?

in us. It’s when we are struggling that we most need reminding of the blood of Jesus that pays for all our failures—and to be encouraged by His presence within us and plan for us. But the challenge here is about if our heart is more loyal to ‘me’ than to Jesus. It’s about asking ourselves the question, Do I want to live for Jesus, rather than myself? If the answer to that is “No”, then taking part in a public celebration of our unity with Him would be hypocritical. Is my heart right with other Christians? For some of us, this is where things get tricky. The realities of church life can be a rude awakening for new believers, and many Christians have sadly got stories of hurt caused by fellow church members. I remember years ago finding a certain man in our church particularly difficult. He was rude and just plain wrong . . . well, I thought so anyway! I prayed and asked God to show him his faults. But to my amazement, He showed me mine instead! He showed me that I had put myself above that man as his judge; and that nobody but God has that right. Even though the man had offended me, it was me who needed to come to God for forgiveness. We cannot change other people. We can only stay close to God ourselves and actively want to see Him develop His ways of “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” in us (Galatians 5:22-23). The Bible is very clear that Christians are to love one another just as

THE WARNING  [13]

Christ loves us (John 13:34-35). That doesn’t mean we must summon a warm feeling of affection; not many of us are capable of that. But it does mean that we must ask God to help us see where we can meet their physical needs, encourage them and speak positively about them. Or, if we have done wrong to somebody else, we need to confess, apologise and, if possible, make things right with them. Love is practical and costly; but this is how we must live as God’s people. It’s also not something we can achieve on our own; we need to ask for God’s strength and a desire to love as He does. It is something He will grow and develop in us as we spend time knowing Him and being “filled with the Spirit”. This is what leads to “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18-19). When we focus firstly on God—and entrust other people’s faults and quirks to Him, “forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave [us]” (Ephesians 4:32)—we are free to enjoy communion and the unity it represents.

[14] WHAT IS COMMUNION ALL ABOUT?

Coming to communion

ommunion is not some sort of cultic ritual with mystical power; it is a very practical act of remembrance. When we meet together to celebrate it, we are not passive bystanders watching a religious rite; we are to actively remember Jesus’ death; to call to mind all that He purchased for us, remind ourselves of what it cost Him and to affirm our desire to rely on and live for Him. Communion is both a very sobering reminder of the cost of our salvation, and a great opportunity to respond in thankfulness. It can be too easy for our new status as God’s own, forgiven children to fall into the background. Communion stirs us up again as we reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice in our place. It challenges us to not just be in awe of our God on Sunday mornings, but every day—living thankful lives, rather than just having thankful moments, as we look forward to our place in heaven. Rather than communion being just another part of our church routine, I want to encourage you to take the time to reflect on all that it means and represents. I have found it very helpful to be deliberate about the things I want to reflect on during communion, rather than just letting my mind wander. I plan ahead, maybe to reflect on 1 Corinthians 10:17 and the unity

COMING TO COMMUNION  [15]

the bread symbolises. Or Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll go into communion with Exodus 12 in my mind so I can think about what it means for Jesus to be my Passover Lamb. I am convinced this intentional attitude of reflection will transform our experience, keeping our awe of God and our commitment to our church family much more at the forefront of our minds. You can get more booklets like this, including How do I know I am a Christian? and What is baptism all about? online at ourdailybread.org/lookingdeeper

[16]â&#x20AC;ŻWHAT IS COMMUNION ALL ABOUT?

 Looking Deeper The Looking Deeper series offers great Bible teaching for Christians. Whether you are a new Christian or a mature believer, we have a range of short Bible studies on many crucial topics and questions. At Our Daily Bread Ministries, our mission is to make the life changing wisdom of God’s Word understandable and accessible to all. We’re passionate about helping our readers draw closer to God and share their faith in Him with those they know. Please do share these Looking Deeper articles with others who may benefit from them. You can request print copies of any of the titles on the Looking Deeper website page. All our resources are available to all without any obligation to donate. However, should you wish to support Our Daily Bread Ministries financially, you can do so by clicking the link below.

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