Communion: More than crackers and juice?
Sacraments are outward, physical acts that provide inward, spiritual grace. Communion is one of these acts. So, what does communion mean, and why is it so important for followers of Jesus?
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Ties that bind
Too often, separation defines the global Church. Different denominations and sects within the Church disagree about many matters of theology. However, the things that most Christians agree on bind us together. These beliefs are stronger than what divides us.
Sacraments are one of these “sticky” items. To be fair, churches and denominations debate the term sacrament. Some denominations don’t like the word sacrament, while others use the term but don’t agree on what constitutes a sacrament.
Most commonly, sacraments are known as an outward or physical act that leads to inward or spiritual grace. Universally, most denominations agree that both communion (the Lord’s Supper) and water baptism are sacraments. Other segments add things like marriage and confession to this list (up to a total of 7).
For the remainder of April, I will focus on the two sacraments all Christians agree provide inward, supernatural transformation for followers of Jesus. I’ll cover what communion and water baptism mean and why they are so important to every Christian.
Today, I begin with the Lord’s Supper.
But first…Covenant
I’ve found the average churchgoer thinks of communion as the time in church for juice and crackers (or maybe bread and wine if you’re old school or hipster). However, if you want to understand the depth behind the Lord’s Supper, you must go beyond bread and wine.
To understand communion, we begin with the word “covenant.”
Contract vs Covenant
We live in a contractual culture. We understand signing a contract. You may have signed a contract when you started your job or purchased a home or car. A contract is legally binding. It ties me to that job, house, or car…from a financial perspective. However, there is one important key in how we think about contracts.
We break contracts.
It may cost me financially. We may lose actual dollars. Our credit score may decline (a long-term financial cost). I may lose out on future work. We sign a contract to protect both parties in case the contract is broken because we break contracts.
We see this most often and transparently in the sports world. College coaches often break one contract to sign another with a “better” opportunity. Professional athletes sometimes refuse to play under their current contract, demanding a new contract or team.
Typically, these coaches and athletes reach a point in their careers where they don’t feel the contract aligns with their values, so they refuse to honor it.
However, this isn’t how a covenant works. There are two important aspects that differentiate a contract from a covenant.
1. Covenant is ancient.
We confuse covenant with contract because we inherently understand how contracts work. In fact, when we often refer to covenant within the church, we interchange the word covenant with contract. While covenant and contract are similar, their implications are vastly different.
Covenant is ancient. One of the first covenants was made between God and Noah (in essence, all of humanity) after the worldwide flood. God promised or made a covenant never again to flood the entire earth.1
However, the next covenant God made was the most important ever (until the coming of Jesus). God and Abraham “cut” covenant after Abraham left his home and took his small family to an unknown location, displaying his faith in God.2
God appeared to Abraham and reaffirmed His promise to make him a great nation. Then God literally cut several animals in half and walked between the pieces to establish this covenant between Him and Abraham (hence the term “cut” covenant). It’s a bloody picture, but the meaning is immense for Abraham, his lineage, the Jewish people, and even you and me.
This covenant God made with Abraham was updated with the coming of Jesus, but God still honors it through you and me. We are now part of this nation or people God formed thousands of years ago!
2. Covenants are forever.
God’s promise in this covenant with Abraham was forever. Humans cannot break a covenant with God. Abraham and his descendants could (and did) attempt to break the covenant, but God wouldn’t. Abraham and his descendants would belong to God. God would be their God.
God would be with them.
The Old Testament is the story of God's covenant with Abraham, and it’s the story of Israel (God’s chosen people) keeping and breaking the covenant. The Old Testament is a recording of God’s faithfulness to His covenant, even in the midst of Israel’s unfaithfulness.
This covenant remained until the time of Jesus.
Communion: a new covenant
Jesus ushered in a new covenant.
The symbolism of God's new covenant makes the Lord’s Supper so important at that time, today, and into the future. Blood is integral to creating the covenant. Abraham sacrificed several animals in that first covenant (and then renewed it regularly through male circumcision).3 God sacrificed his own Son for this covenant. Communion recreates this covenant, hence why it is a sacrament (an outward act dispensing inward grace) to all who partake.
This is what Jesus meant when he said this to his disciples on the night of the Last Supper:
After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you. -Luke 22:20
When you eat the bread and drink the wine, you physically reaffirm the covenant God made 2000 years ago. You admit your shortcomings. Partaking in the bread and wine declares you are a sinner. You remind yourself of your need for a savior. But just as importantly, you identify with Jesus as a child of God.
You cut covenant with God.
The amazing thing is that God now sees you as his child…forever. This covenant between you and Him can not end. You may make mistakes, but the covenant will remain between you and God. Short of walking away…forever…there is nothing you can do to break God’s covenant. And even then, God will continue to chase you, longing to keep His covenant with you.
Bread + Wine
As important as the covenant is to communion, communion is more than just a covenant. Communion is also about bread and wine. There is a reason Jesus kept the meal simple. The bread means something, and the wine is important. Jesus speaks to us through these two simple elements.
Communion: the Bread
In the Book of John, there is the famous story of Jesus feeding 5,000+ people with only 5 loaves of bread and a couple of fish. The next day, a large group gathers around Jesus, demanding another miracle. In their demands, they refer all the way back to Moses feeding the Israelites in the wilderness. God miraculously sent manna or bread from heaven daily to the Israelites as they wandered the desert for 40 years.
The people ask Jesus to give them this type of bread again…daily.
Jesus replies, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” -John 6:35
When Jesus passes the bread around the table on the night he was betrayed for his last meal with his friends, he refers to this encounter. Jesus says, “This is my body, which is given for you.”4
Jesus is the sustenance you crave.
He sustains you spiritually, emotionally, and even physically.5 We look for help and support everywhere, and many of those support systems are a great supplement, but Jesus is enough.
Jesus is the bread of life.
Communion: the wine.
Next, Jesus passes around a cup of wine and says,
“This cup is the new covenant between God and his people — an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.” -Luke 22:20
Here it is again. Jesus made a covenant between us and God, using his own blood to confirm this covenant. The wine or juice we drink at communion reminds us of what happened 2,000 years ago. I am in an unbreakable covenant with God. Despite my own unfaithfulness, God remains faithful.
Again, looking back to Moses, on the night of the first Passover, a lamb was sacrificed in every Jewish household as a sign of the forgiveness of their sins. A bit of the blood was then painted on the door frame of every house so the angel of death would “pass over” that house.6
Every time you partake in the Lord’s Supper, you reconfirm the covenant between yourself and God. But in addition to all that, when you drink the juice, you are now made whole and clean through this sacrifice of Jesus. God forgave your sins. The ultimate destruction will “pass over” your life.
So…Don’t forget.
Communion is a symbol of the covenant between God and his children (you and I); it symbolizes the need you have for Jesus, and it is a picture of the blood that cleanses us of the sin in our lives.
But communion is one more thing.
When Jesus hands the bread to his friends, he adds these few words, “Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19). Communion is an act of remembrance. We remember the covenant God has made with us. Communion reminds us Jesus is enough. We remember our sins are forgiven. We are reminded of our standing in God’s house - His children.
From this perspective, communion is more than just a cracker and juice; yet, it is still all about bread and wine. It is indeed a sacrament. So don’t forget—God dispensed grace to you, God forgave you, and be reminded of who you belong to—you are a child of God.
Forever.
If you would like to connect to talk more about the importance of communion or any other subject, shoot me a message. I’d love to spend some time with you!
Related Posts
Circumcision originally was a reminder of God’s covenant with Abraham. It was a cutting away of the flesh from the body, which was a symbol of Abraham and his family being cut away from the rest of the world. It also was a shedding of blood, which tied Abraham’s family to God. Finally, it reminded the entire people or nation of the covenant between them and God.
Communion is all of these things today.
Jesus' body was broken on the cross so you can experience healing. Your full healing is complete upon your death and resurrection with Jesus in eternity.