I asked for feedback for several reasons. One of those reason is that fact that I think too many Christians live out a faith that they are not sure of. In other words, we tend to live off of what we are told instead of what we truly know. Many times we take other peoples words as truth without ever really having real knowledge of the truth or any valid personal convictions of our own.
Communion is one of those things that we do but have you ever really thought about why we do it? It is required or beneficial? The Lord’s Supper is should be a soul-stirring experience because of the depth of meaning it contains. It was first celebrated during the celebration of the Passover on the eve of His death. This alone should tell you how significant this was to Jesus and His disciples. He instituted a new fellowship meal that we observe to this day. I believe it is an integral part of Christian worship because it causes us to remember our Lord’s death and resurrection and to look for His glorious return in the future.
The Passover was the most sacred feast of the Jewish religious year. It commemorated the final plague on Egypt when the firstborn of the Egyptians died and the Israelites were spared because of the blood of a lamb that was sprinkled on their doorposts. The lamb was then roasted and eaten with unleavened bread. God’s command was that throughout the generations to come the feast would be celebrated. The story is recorded in Exodus 12.
During the Last Supper (a Passover celebration) Jesus took a loaf of bread and gave thanks to God. As He broke it and gave it to His disciples, He said, “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 22:19-21). He concluded the feast by singing a hymn (Matthew 26:30), and they went out into the night to the Mount of Olives. It was there that Jesus was betrayed, as predicted, by Judas. The following day He was crucified.
He said that the bread spoke of His body which would be broken. There was not a broken bone, but His body was so badly tortured that it was hardly recognizable (Psalm 22:12-17; Isaiah 53:4-7). The wine was His blood, indicating the terrible death He would soon experience.
He, the perfect Son of God, became the fulfillment of the countless Old Testament prophecies concerning a Redeemer (Genesis 3:15; Psalm 22; Isaiah 53). When He said, “Do this in remembrance of me,” He indicated this was a ceremony that must be continued in the future. It indicated also that the Passover, which required the death of a lamb and looked forward to the coming of the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world, was fulfilled in the Lord’s Supper. The New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant when Christ, the Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), was sacrificed (Hebrews 8:8-13). The sacrificial system was no longer needed (Hebrews 9:25-28). The Lord’s Supper or Christian Communion is done in remembrance of what Christ did for us and it should be a celebration of what we receive as a result of His sacrifice.
blessings, dave
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