“I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake in the one bread.”
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (ESV)
Over the years, I have become very fond of the sacrament of Holy Communion. And now I have noticed that churches are seemingly avoiding it all together. To me this is a very sad course of events. Early in my walk into Faith I experienced the pure joy of the Christ Experience that one can get from Holy Communion and now I feel the absence of Christ in it. I wondered why this came to be and feel that it is because the Leadership in the churches have never fully understood why Christ gave the commandment to the disciples to do it in remembrance of Him. I intend to bring it to your mind now so that you will be eager and even anxious to receive it.
Let me begin with the Event itself. Jesus is celebrating the Seder Feast with His chosen freinds. As a part of the meal the “Elder” is to lift bread up to God and bless it for the family. It was after Jesus blessed the bread that he told them that “This is My Body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19). In doing this, He was presenting Himself as the Passover Lamb who was to be an offering to God for the protection of the Israelites in captivity as slaves. Jesus offered Himself for us as the perfect offering for our captivity to the sinful nature that has held us in bondage since the fall of Adam. He, in the gesture, has presented Himself as the atonement sacrifice. The breaking of the bread represents the breaking of His body for us. This offering is done so that we might have reconciliation with God and freedom from the pains of our offences to God.
When Jesus followed the meal with the customary wine offering, He told the disciples, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My Blood.” (Luke 22:20). This is equally important because the wine was poured to represent the flowing blood of the lamb offering and the marking of the doorposts of the Israelites so that the Angel of Death would “Passover” their houses. The shedding of the Blood of Jesus is the making of the new covenant of God with Man. The marking of the “doorposts” of our hearts with the Blood of Jesus is the reminder that the Angel of Death in the time of Judgement will pass over us and we shall live in Eternity. We are sealed by the blood of Jesus and marked with Grace of the Holy Spirit as preserved in Grace. As we take communion, we are celebrating our freedom from sin’s bondage and the release from the wrath of God’s judgements.
So as we partake in the joy of our salvation, we are to reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus that we are free. The first time it was offered it was the foretelling of the redeeming grace of Jesus’ death and every time we join in the taking of communion, we are to recall His Mercy and Love for us in His dying. Paul tells us, “And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.” (Colossians 1:21-22 ESV).
This is the primary reason to seek to have communion but there are other reasons to consider. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the High Priest in the “Order of Melchizedek.” Looking at the full verse, “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:19-20). Now Melchizedek was the only one who was both a priest to the Most High God, he was also the King of Salem which means he was the king of peace (Salem means peace).
He was recorded as making a offering of peace on the behalf of Abram, an offering of bread and wine. Under Levitical Law, only the High Priest could make the peace offering in the inner chamber with the pouring the blood of the peace offering over the alter on Passover Sabbath.
Jesus presented Himself as equal to the Temple High Priest and offered His Blood as the Pascal Peace offering. By this action He gave of Himself that we would no longer be enemies of God through our transgressions but would have Peace with God. In sharing of the meal of the passover, we join Jesus as friends of God rather than the enemies of Grace. We who were once the enemies of God now sit at the Table of Peace with the Master. We join with Abraham and the saints of Salvation in sharing the Peace Meal that was restricted to the temple priests since the entering into the Promised Land. We are not entered into the Promised Land but live in the Land of God’s Promise. We who were at War with God are now Friends of God. We who were aliens to His grace are now heirs of Salvation and we are welcomed at the Master’s table. The most rewarding idea is that Jesus declared that we are the new temples of God. When we take of the peace offering, we are having the “Blood of Jesus” poured on our hearts as the altars of the Temple of the Most High.
The third thing that I want to share is key to the verse I opened with. We are to share in the unity of the One Body by the taking of the elements of Communion. As we who are individuals become one in Christ, we celebrate the uniqueness of that oneness by sharing the same loaf, the same cup. Communion is the uniting of our individuality by the surrendering our separateness and joining in as all members of the one body that is Christ. When we partake of Communion, we are partaking in the presence of Jesus as our Redeemer within our lives both as individuals and as a collective group. We are demonstrating our Unity of Spirit, and our unity with Christ. We are declaring that we are One With God and that God abides in us and we abide with Him through the Body and Blood of Jesus.
The whole point of what I am declaring is that the only way that communion is meaningless is if Jesus is meaningless to us. If there is the True Love of Jesus in your heart, then you would readily be in prayerful thanksgiving, remorseful heart and of contrite mind when ever the offering that Jesus gave for us is presented. When you take the elements your heart should be rejoicing that you have the presence of Jesus in your life and His redeeming, purifying grace of Reconciliation. Holy communion is the gathering of the believers to join in the oneness of Christ with ourselves. “For Christ also suffered, once for sins, the righteous for unrighteousness, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV).
Let your heart dwell on the the Pascal Sacrifice, the Peace Offering and the Communion of Believers. Praise God that He should deem it righteous that we who are so unworthy, should be counted among those who are blessed, made Happy in the presence of Salvation. When we go before the Lord’s Table we are to desire the Unity of God’s Spirit covenant, being one body with the Lord, have a contrite heart seeking to change ourselves to be truly holy and blameless, and to live in a mind changed for Jesus, no longer counted as unworthy but as Blessed. Be in celebration with the Most High and welcome Christ anew each time you receive the elements. Seek the blessings of God by meditating on the purpose of the feast and remember that as often, not as seldom, we do this we do it in remembrance of Christ’s Glory and Grace given for our sake.
Examine yourselves for the things that separate us from God’s love and confess them. Strive to welcome the Redeemer in your presence and present to Him a holy vessel eager to accept Him. And be prepared to take the risk for His sake as His took our sins for our sake. As where two or three are gathered in His Name, He is among them when we partake in His offering to us, His presence is clear. Jesus is with us as we take His gifts to us.
Be Blessed, be glad and be aware of Christ in all things. We share in the Pascal Feast of Jesus, we welcome the High Priest into our inner sanctuary and we sit as friends with God at His Holy Table; we share with each other the Glory of Christ.
