Matthew 26:26-28 NIV
While they were
eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his
disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered
it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is
poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Why Have the Lord’s Supper?
Perhaps you have wondered why we have the Lord’s
Supper. Of course Jesus commanded us to
hold the Lord’s Supper and so we do it but that does not explain why He wants
us participating in it. Christian and
quasi Christian groups have a variety of explanations for its regular
practice. Some believe that we literally
eat the physical body of Christ when we take the bread. Others say it is just a symbolic ritual that
helps us reflect on Christ and what He did for us. Many think that you gain salvation by eating
the bread and drinking the grape juice.
So is it just a religious ritual without any real benefit to us other
than getting us to think about God or does its practice have eternal
consequences for those who do or don’t participate?
Let us for a moment reflect on the actual words
Jesus used when He told His disciples to eat the bread he offered them and
drink from the cup. "Take and
eat; this is my body." Then he took
the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all
of you. This is my blood of the
covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Consider the two parts to this: 1. Take and
eat. This is my body. 2. Drink from it all of you. This is my blood of the covenant which is poured
out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
In the supper, it is the body of Christ and the blood of Christ that is
at the center of it. What are we told to
take into ourselves? It is the body of
Christ and the blood of Christ.
Lest we get confused in this, we are not physically
eating Jesus’ flesh or swallowing His blood.
That would be a grotesque violation of God’s law as even after the
crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, the Church is commanded not to drink
blood. Eating human flesh is just as revolting. Yet consider what the body and blood
are. The body is the substance of Christ;
what makes Him who He is. It is Jesus
Himself…His personality, His character, His way of life. If you want to know how that looks, what His
personality and lifestyle is, go no further than the Sermon on the Mount. There you find how He thinks, the way He does
things, His habits and approach to every relationship and task He
undertakes.
The blood is the life of Jesus. When God commanded His people not to drink the
blood of any creature, He insisted, "You must not eat the blood of any
creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it
must be cut off." (Leviticus
17:14 NIV) It is the blood that keeps
you alive, what makes you alive. Without
the blood, there is no sustaining force to empower you. The blood is how you are able to live and
thrive.
So what does Christ give us with His body and
blood? We have Him: His personality, His
character and the force of His life.
Consider this statement of the Bible.
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ
lives in me. (Galatians 2:20 NIV) What
an amazing assertion! Christ can
actually live in us. Not figuratively or
symbolically but in reality He becomes a part of you when in faith you accept
His entrance into your life. Jesus made
the promise that, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My
Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John
14:23 NIV) We have here the spectacular declaration
by Jesus that as close as the Father and the Son are, so are the Father, Son
and any of us who love Christ and obey Him.
This is a real union within the Christian; all God possesses in His
nature, His holiness, goodness, faithfulness and love becomes the believer’s. Remember what Jesus taught in John 15? He is the vine and we are His branches. His life flows through ours and empowers us
in every way. Remain in me, and I
will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the
vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If
a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you
can do nothing. (John 15:4-5 NIV)
Jesus made the promise that His people would do the
same kinds of things He did. I tell
you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. (John
14:12 NIV) He was not pushing for
imitation. He was describing how we
would look if we are connected to Him as branches are attached to a vine. He is comingled with us so that it results in
the impossible circumstance of in any way being able to separate where we end
and He begins. We become one. Consider this declaration in the Bible. But he who unites himself with the Lord is
one with him in spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:17 NIV) Could this be any clearer? Much like how bread and grape juice become
inseparable from the body once it is digested, so too, when we unite ourselves
with the Lord, we become one new being that cannot split into two. One in spirit is much more than just some
sort of fraternal partnership, it is the actual joining of Christ and you into
a new creation.