“Communion”, or “The Lord’s Supper”, is the remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice through the taking of bread and wine. This is celebrated regularly by Christian churches worldwide with only a few exceptions. The early church called this “the Eucharist” (taken from the Greek word, eucharistia meaning “thankful” or “grateful”). It has been a Christian practice since the Last Supper.
The Protestant church has represented communion as an ordinance – a prescribed religious rite. At the Last Supper, Jesus commanded us to do this in remembrance of His sacrifice (1 Cor. 11:25). It is symbolic. The Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches celebrate the Eucharist as a sacrament, a practice that bestows grace on the participant.
To most Protestants, Communion is symbolic of Christ’s sacrifice. He gave His blood as a ransom for us (Rev, 5:9). He bore our sins upon His body at Calvary (1 Peter 2:24). So, communion is a serious practice, a time when we remember what Christ gave up for us so we might qualify to spend eternity with Him.
There are those who see more than a remembrance in the Lord’s Supper, though. Lutherans, for instance, believe in “consubstantiation.” This is the doctrine that the substance of the bread and wine remain bread and wine, but Christ is somehow present “in and around” the elements.
The Orthodox and Catholics believe in forms of “Transubstantiation” which is the belief the “host,” the elements of bread and wine, actually become the flesh and blood of Christ but not in form. The elements still appear as bread and wine. There are some minor differences between the Orthodox view and that of the Catholic Church, but not enough to go into here.
The Bible doesn’t describe the bread and wine as anything more than symbols of Christ’s sacrifice. When Jesus held up the bread and broke it, He said “This is my body . . . ,“ was that really His body? No. When He held up the cup and said “This is my blood . . . ,“ was that His blood? No. Jesus was giving us a practice we were to repeat whenever we ate bread and wine to remember what He has done for us.
The early church was actually accused of cannibalism due to many Christians quoting what Jesus said in John 6:53-56: “ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.”
This was just one of the misunderstandings the world had about Christians even then. The Romans also believed Christians were incestuous since we would marry a “brother” or “sister” in the faith. All this helped the Roman leadership influence the citizens against the Christians.
So, Communion is a simple thing but certainly not a meaningless practice.
Why is this important?
As the church has always understood, communion is a time for reflection on what has been done for us, for the grace which has been bestowed upon us through Christ’s sacrifice. It is a time to be thankful, a time for gratitude.
Let us remember that cup of juice and the cracker mean more than just a habit we perform every so often. It is a physical remembrance of a spiritual reality.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 