Communion

Many people view the sacrament that we call “communion” to be a ritual where we come to church and perhaps partake in once a month. Many of us are familiar with those dry crackers that taste like air, accompanied by the tiny cups that lack the proper amount of grape juice to help choke down the dry cracker. And thus, when we have finally endured it, we’re done “communing” with the Lord. While presenting a rather humorous description to this ordinance, please do not think that we are demeaning this necessary ordinance. We are merely presenting the monotony that can be associated with such a sacrament if not properly understood. There are others that view this as a way to attain some sort of Righteousness and esteem this as such a holy work, while never fully grasping the fullness of what is taking place through such an ordinance. We hope to break down walls of ignorance and traditions of men to explain the true meaning of this ritual that commemorates what man calls the “Last Supper.”

The word, “communion,” means: fellowship, association, community, joint participation, and intercourse. The writer’s personal favorite is this last word, not because it is a “sensual” word, but rather for the reason that it implies a level of intimacy with a God that we should not be allowed to experience with our God because of sin. We remind the reader of the words of Christ Himself, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man comes to the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

In all ordinances that we may have partaken, (especially religious ones), we should always ask ourselves this question, “Why am I doing this, does it make sense to me.” For those things in which we don’t have understanding, we need to seek the Lord to show us the meaning in it and if it is even biblical. The act of taking communion is much like that of water baptism, it doesn’t save us, but there is an identification with Christ that should be taking place while we partake of it. The other question one should always ask is, “Does Christ and His Sacrifice for me fit into this somehow,” because if it doesn’t, it’s not the gospel of Christ, it’s some other gospel. “That I may know Him (like Adam “knew” Eve, which is intimately), and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death” (Phil 3:10). We’ll discuss more about this scripture in chapters to come; as it is imperative to understand what part the death and resurrection play for us in our lives.

Just as we explained water baptism as though we were witnessing it ourselves, we’ll approach our visualization of the Last Supper as though we are actually there as well.

THE BREAD

We sit down at the table that has been prepared by the Lord for us. He stands and holds a piece of bread up, blesses it, then breaks it, and passes it out to us and says, “Take, eat; this is my Body,” (Mt 26:26), another account says, “This is my Body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me.” What is Christ saying here when He does this?

Let us stop and travel further back into the Old Testament story of the book of Exodus where God created “Passover?” As we arrive we see that Moses and Aaron have been going continually before Pharaoh, requesting that he might free the children of Israel from their enslavement to him. God told the Children of Israel to slay a lamb and smear it’s blood upon the doorposts and upper portion of the doorway of their homes (Exo 12). When the death angel is to come by each house, he will pass over their home if he sees the blood. Because of the blood, no one in the house will die.

Pharaoh in this story is supposed to be a prefigurment of Satan. Israel’s slavery is a symbol for our being in bondage to sin and death. The Lamb’s blood that was applied to the door was Christ’s Precious Blood. That’s why John the Baptist called Him, “The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world” (Jn 1:29). When we receive Christ into our heart, He takes His blood and puts it upon the “door of our heart.” It is then that we are saved. When the Day of Judgment arrives, we will be passed over and will live forever in the Light of Life! Israel was also instructed to eat of this lamb that night. Christ is making a reference to this particular story, so that we might understand that He is the Lamb that is spoken of here.

For us to “eat” of this Body that was given for us and doing it in “remembrance” of Him, is to understand that we daily reap the spiritual benefits of what Christ has done for us at Calvary. It is like food for our soul, knowing that He took the beating in His Body that all sinners deserved, so that we wouldn’t have to. When we evidenced faith in Christ, through our initial salvation experience, we received something that God can feed us with everyday, all day long! We’re now saved and alive with Christ!

Many people like to argue that the “eating” would imply that we are to put our constant faith in the Cross-as our object of Faith. They would also imply that there is constant work that would be needed in order to maintain our position of saved or “in Christ,” and that is incorrect. Nothing that God does is dependent upon us. The only condition for salvation is that we receive the gift that God has sent by faith. There are not other requirements of God. The price that Christ paid was “once and for all.” It wasn’t a sacrifice that has to be made 3 times a day, nor is it only for some people, but it is for the entire world! Christ was the Sacrifice of all sacrifices. There is no need for Him to die again. If there is no need for Him to die again, then there is no need for us to have to depend on our workings of faith to keep us in good standing with God. We came into right standing with God when we accepted Christ into our hearts. Now, we are reminded daily that He is the Fulfiller of all that we could not do. Jesus is the Just One that God sees when He looks at us, He’s not looking at our own personal “right doing,” therefore, our salvation is secure in Christ and is Finished Work. All we have to do is trust that what Christ has done for us is enough! That should be food that satisfies our soul everyday, all day long!

Also, there is a term that we in America use that says, “You are what you eat.” The Word of God is filled with tons of spiritual meat, proclaiming over and over again in every story that we read of Christ, His Redemptive Power, God’s foreknowledge of our need for Christ’s Sacrifice, and the need for each of us to receive it. We can daily be filled and blessed by God’s Goodness and His Love for us through Christ. The more we become aware of the fact that we are seen before God as “In Christ,” and not by our own merit or behavior, the more we are able to be the sons and daughters that God has called us to be.

THE CUP

As Christ is still standing before us, He is holding up a cup. He’s given thanks for it and says to us, “Drink ye all of it” (Mt 26:27-28). This is another unfortunate translation that can make this verse read in a very confusing way. A Greek scholar named Kenneth Wuest translates this verse to read as, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the New Testament which in behalf of many is poured out for the putting away of sins” (Mt 27-28 translated). Basically, what Jesus is saying is that His blood will be poured out so that the entire human race will be reconciled unto God.

This “cup” that is spoken of could be described as the cup of wrath or indignation (Rev 14:10; 16:19) and the cup of blessing. It is the cup of God’s wrath poured out upon Christ, as the sins of the world enter into Him on the Cross. However, as we drink of this cup, it becomes the cup of blessing to us. He drank of the wrath that would have had to drink of. Instead, Christ exchanged with us so that we could reap the blessings of Salvation.

It’s awesome that Christ chooses something that we should “drink.” After we “eat” of the knowledge that we are saved through His broken body, then we can be refreshed in washing His vicarious death down with the understanding that we are sealed forever by His blood until the day of redemption (Eph 1:13).

There is an unending list of wonderful types and shadows throughout the Old Testament that foreshadow this very subject we are addressing. The Old Testament mentions the five offerings, two of which are the meat and drink offering. These were offered to God for forgiveness of sins, all of which spoke of what Christ would do for us, thereby putting an end to any further need of animal sacrifices (Lev 23:13, 18, 37; Num Chapters 6, 15, 28, 29, the list goes on). “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins” (Heb 10:4).

Something else that is important to know about this “Eating and Drinking,” is that many covenants in the Old Testament were confirmed and sealed often times with eating, drinking, and blood (Exo 24:8-12). We’ll talk more about covenants soon, but it is imperative that we understand that what Christ is offering us in this “Supper” is a “Heavenly transaction.” He gives us in advance the receipt for a deposit that He is making into our account, before we even knew that we had an account with God. He hasn’t even gone to the Cross yet, but is stating that if we drink this blood, we will be receiving this “New Covenant.” These are very rich statements that Christ is proclaiming to us through this “Last Supper!”

There is so much that we could share about the communion “eating and drinking,” Christ, and what He has done for us. In effort to remain simplistic in explanation, we will refrain from sharing everything. We desire simply to show that when we received Christ into our heart, we received His salvation and preservation. When we take communion, we are being reminded of the intimacy we have with Christ as our Savior. He wasn’t asking us to simply “wear” what He had done, but rather to take it into ourselves and digest it. This speaks not of personal application of Christ, but digesting it and trusting that the Holy Spirit will give us the nourishment that we need to keep going in this life. We’ll get more into this later, but it’s imperative that we mention why Christ used the “eating and drinking” metaphor. Let us look to a portion of scripture that explains exactly what we are trying to present to the reader here. 1 Pet 2:24 says, “Who (Christ) His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, (what we are when we died with Him and are baptized into Him), should live unto righteousness (Christ’s Righteousness put into us), by whose stripes we are healed.” So Christ is seeking to show us that there is more than just a surface knowledge to have of Him. Our God is an intimate God that wants not to only be with us, He desires through Christ to be in us!

Finally, we’ll just cover a few more important verses on this subject. The Apostle Paul spoke about this, making mention of those who might eat and drink “unworthily,” that they “shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” This does not mean that if one has taken communion and not known all of the things that we have shared with you, that they were “eating and drinking damnation” unto yourself and are hell-bound. What Paul is stating here is that if someone doesn’t receive Christ into his or her own heart, then they are attempting to approach God on their own merit, of which is woefully inadequate and will never be received by God. This is Paul’s way of reaching out to the sinner and bidding them to partake of the One that can save them. Jesus said it like this, “Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you” (Jn 6:53). Translation: if one doesn’t receive what Christ has done for them on the Cross or they reject His Vicarious Death, they are going to be damned and cursed forever and forever.

Someone said it so well when they gave this scenario:

There is a man that lived his life the best way that he knew how. He never stole from anyone, always tried to be honest and loving to others. He gave to the poor and helped old ladies across the road when they needed it. He bought a local family that was poor a huge brand new wardrobe of clothing and set them up with a month’s worth of groceries to help them out. He had a family and treated his wife and kids well. However, this man rejected Christ and did not think that he needed Him to get to Heaven.

Another man lived a despicable life. He was a drug addict and a drunkard. He abused his wife and children. He never did a thing for anyone other than himself. In fact, everything that he did in his life was for selfish reasons. His life was lived solely for himself and no one else. Just before this man died, he accepted Christ into his heart.

Which man made it into Heaven? The one who accepted Christ and what He had done for him. It’s not about what we do; it’s about what He did for us!