6 – COMMUNION – A Covenant Meal – New Life Church, Teesside

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

One institution that the Christian and the Christian Church practises all over the world is ‘the communion.’ Other names given for this are, ‘the Eucharist, the Lord’s Table and the Lord’s Supper.’ It is an event where in obedience to the command of Jesus, Christians regularly meet together to take bread and wine. It is a time when Christians remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In this paper we are going to look at this simple ceremony, given by Jesus and practised by every Christian Church.

Origins – Where did it come from?

Its origin is in the Jewish Passover meal. Jewish families did this
once a year in remembrance of one of the greatest moments in their history: their ancestors great deliverance form slavery in Egypt
during the time of Moses (You can read the account in Exodus 11-12).
You may remember the story. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt and Pharaoh was unwilling for them to leave. God had sent a number of plagues on the Egyptians and the final one was the death of the first born.

In (O.T) Exodus 12:21-28 God told the Israelites that He was going to punish the Egyptians for their unwillingness to let God’s people go free. To ensure that the Israelites are not included in this they were commanded to sacrifice a lamb and place some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the door frames of their homes. They are informed that when the Lord sees the blood He will “pass over” their homes. The Lord went on to command them to make this a yearly ceremony to commemorate and help them remember and teach their children how God delivered them from Egypt. It was to be called, “The Passover.” (v26-27)

In (N.T) Luke 22:14-20 we have the account of Jesus eating His
last meal with the disciples before He died. Later that evening He
would be arrested and tried before being crucified on the following
day. But this was not any ordinary meal, this meal was the
Passover meal. This is why sometimes ‘the communion’ is
sometimes called, ‘The Last Supper.’ To the astonishment of the
disciples, Jesus turned this meal into a remembrance of Himself. He
used bread and wine to explain that He was going to bring a far
greater deliverance than that of Israel from Egypt – He was going to
deliver His people from slavery to sin and Satan. Jesus was actually declaring that He was the fulfilment of the Passover.

What did Jesus say the bread represented? (v19) _____________________________________

What does the wine represent? (v20) _______________________________________________

In (N.T) 1 Corinthians 5:7 we are clearly told that Christ is our Passover Lamb.

John the Baptist said of Jesus in (N.T) John 1:29, “Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Because Jesus has died, God will pass over our sins and we can escape and be delivered from God’s judgement.

What does it mean?….What’s the point of it?

Physical acts can convey spiritual truths. That’s what a sacrament is. We saw in our last paper for instance, that water baptism is a reminder that our old life is dead (buried) and that we are now living a new life. So what’s the truth conveyed in the communion? We’ll answer this question by looking at the main Bible passage that deals specifically with this and highlight some aspects of it.

The passage is found in (N.T) 1 Corinthians 11:23-34. You need to read this passage carefully before you look at it.

Looking Back – Remembering

When you take and eat the bread which represents Christ’s body, what are you doing? (See v23-24) ______________________________________________________________________

When you take the bread, you remember the suffering of Jesus. His body was abused, spat upon, whipped. He was dressed in a purple robe, crowned with thorns, deserted by those who followed Him and made to struggle as He carried the weight of the cross, and then He was crucified.

When you drink the wine which represents Christ’s blood, what are you doing?
(See v25) ________________________________________________________________________

In this verse Paul says that by shedding His blood Jesus has initiated a new covenant. A covenant was a binding agreement, a contract or promise made between people. In ancient Times it was often sealed by shedding the blood of an animal and eating a meal together. Jesus was saying that because He was going to die for the sins of mankind, He was making a new covenant between God and man. As a Christian you are a beneficiary of the new covenant, and the meal that celebrates it is ‘the communion.’ It’s a meal we enjoy regularly.

So ‘the communion’ directs your thoughts back in history to the cross, which is the source of all the blessings we enjoy here and now. It reminds you of the awful cost of your salvation, paid willingly by Jesus out of love for you. God never intended ‘the communion’ to be a mournful occasion. While Christ’s suffering on the cross was appalling, you must never forget that Calvary was followed by an empty tomb. Hard on the heels of death came resurrection! So ‘the communion’ service should be a joyful occasion as we realise He is alive!

So the communion is a reminder of Christ’s death at Calvary. The bread that we break reminds us of His body, broken in crucifixion for us, and the wine is a picture of His blood shed for our salvation. Whenever you partake in ‘the communion’ you remember and proclaim Christ’s death (v26)

Looking Around and Within

One of the reasons why we use the word ’communion’ to refer to this event, is because we take it in the company of other Christians. In v27-32 Paul talks about the importance of making sure that our relationship with one another is in good standing.

From v27, what should you not do? ____________________________________________________________________________

In v29 Paul talks about the danger of taking the communion without ‘recognising the Lord’s body.’ What do you think this means? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From this same verse, what is the result of eating and drinking without recognising

the Lord’s body? __________________________________________________________________

The ‘body’ Paul refers to here is not the physical body of Jesus but the body of Christians in the local church with whom we take the bread and wine. In
1 Corinthians 12:12-31 Paul talks about this concept. The church is often called the body of Christ. It is through this body that He operates here on earth. As a Christian, you are part of the body of Christ. Notice what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:27. As you eat and drink with your spiritual brothers and sisters you need to thank the Lord for joining you to them and you need to make sure your are in fellowship with them.

What happened at Corinth because people took this service lightly? (See v30) _______________________________________________________________________________

What should we do to make sure we don’t do the same? (See v28) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How is this described in v31? What should we do? We should _______________________________________________________________________________

This is where we need to look within and be careful that our attitude to our brothers and sisters is right. Why? Because it’s dangerous to share ‘the communion’, which declares to them, ‘I’m with you and for you’ if in our hearts, we are saying. ‘I’m against you.’ We also need to make sure that if we are doing anything we know to be wrong that we confess it and ask God’s forgiveness. To continue taking the communion when you are not right with your brother or sister or to continue doing that which is wrong without being willing to turn from it will invite God’s judgement, and in some cases this can be very severe. (See v27-30) It is essential that we make sure our relationship with God and our brother and sisters is good. If we need to repent and forgive we must do.

A good prayer to pray before we take part in communion is found in (O.T) Psalm 139:23-24. Write it here _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Looking Forward

From v26, for how long should we remember the death of Christ by taking the bread and wine? Until when?___________________________________________________________

This reminds us that the present state of affairs won’t continue for ever. Each time we partake in the communion it is both one time more and one time less – because Jesus is coming back.

From (N.T) Matthew 26:26-29, when will be the next time Jesus will drink wine with us?_____________________________________________________________________________

Who will be with Him on this day? ___________________________________________

When we take the communion we are looking forward to Christ’s return in glory. We won’t always look back to the cross and remember Him with bread and wine. One day we shall see Him face to face and be with Him for ever.

The love and fellowship you enjoy here and now is just a foretaste of the unspeakably wonderful love and fellowship that awaits you when Christ returns. The Bible describes this in terms of a marriage. Christ, the bridegroom, will be at last united with the church, His bride. And that’s us! The ‘wedding supper of the Lamb’ (See Revelation 19:6-9) will be the meal to end all meals, a great heavenly banquet that will last for ever.