Tollgate Evangelical Church

We will follow what Paul has to say in his letter to the church at Corinth. Reading from verse 23 of chapter 11 we find this:

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.

‘The Lord Jesus, on the night 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’

This verse tells us that the practice of taking bread and wine together is one that Jesus Himself instituted. Paul tells us that He did this ‘on the night that He was betrayed’ that is after having entered Jerusalem to a rapturous reception He and His disciples gathered together in a room to celebrate the time of passover1. During that meal together Jesus warned His disciples that one of them would betray Him to the authorities. He knew full well that within hours Judas would have ‘sold’ Him and that He would be handed over to the authorities and a chain of events would take place which would lead Him to the cross - that most foul instrument of torture and death.

With all this in mind, Jesus took some of the bread they had at the table and held it up before them. He gave thanks to God for it and then broke it so that the disciples could see. He broke it into many pieces so that each one present could have a piece. As He did this He said ‘this is my body’. What Jesus was doing was leaving the disciples with a vivid visual aid. Jesus body was going to be hanging on a cross soon. That was not going to be the end of His ministry - but the beginning of it. His body - His life - was going to be offered up to God as a sacrifice for His people, that is why He said ‘which is (broken) for you’.

Jesus said ‘do this in remembrance of me’ and so we take bread and break it, each taking a piece to remind us of the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. Nothing happens to the bread we use - it is not special in any way, it doesn’t become pieces of Jesus’ body when we eat it - there is nothing in Jesus’ or Paul’s words to suggest that in any way. But it is for us a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross- for us - that is - in our place - instead of us.

‘In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’

When they had all eaten the bread - their minds focusing on what Jesus was saying to them - He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for that. He then passed it round to all the disciples and told them that the wine represented ‘the new covenant in (my) blood’. Clearly, the wine was a symbol of the blood that would flow out of Him when He was nailed to the cross and when His side was pierced by the spear and when the ‘crown’ of thorns was forced onto His head. That much is easy to understand - but what about this ‘new covenant’ ?

The disciples, being faithful Jews, would understand what Jesus meant by a covenant. The blessings of God towards His people were conditional - that is they depended on the obedience of the people to God’s commands. The problem is that people can never keep God’s commands. In the letter to the ‘Romans’ Paul writes that ‘We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ 2. God had also said that the consequences of sin is always death. In the Old Testament we read that in order to maintain their special relationship with God, the people had to make sacrifices of animals or birds. These sacrifices were ‘substitutes’ for themselves and were supposed to be offered with faith that God would accept them. God had always promised that one day He would provide the ultimate sacrifice - not a sheep or a bird, but someone who would be able to fulfil all His commands and laws perfectly and who would offer up His life in the place of everyone who put faith in Him.

Here, in the wine we share together we see the fulfilment of God’s promise. The perfect sacrifice was Jesus Himself - God’s own Son. This is the new covenant. Jesus’ sacrifice was acceptable because He was sinless and perfect in very way. In fact - so great and powerful was His sacrifice that it was enough for everybody that would believe in Him - for all time. We read this in the letter to the ‘Hebrews’ ‘for by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified’ 3.

This means that ‘communion’ itself is not a sacrifice - that has been made and accepted for all Christians by Jesus. It is simply a time to remember what He has done for us. When we break the bread and share the wine we are not offering a new sacrifice - but remembering the perfect, once and for all sacrifice Jesus made in our place. The wine does not - as some insist - change into Jesus’ blood as we drink it - that makes it another sacrifice. The wine simply and powerfully brings to our memories the blood of Jesus which poured out on the cross.

How can we be right with God? How can we know that our sins are forgiven? The bread and wine say it all - everyone who believes that Jesus died in their place on the cross, took that punishment instead of them,  suffered for sins which were not His but theirs and shed His blood to wash away their guilt can be right with God and know the joy of sins forgiven.

‘For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes’.

Taking communion does not only remind us of Jesus death 2,000 years ago but Paul tells us that it points us forward as well - to a time when He will come again. This is important as we must remember that Jesus death was not the end. The story did not finish there - His lifeless and bruised body was taken down from the cross and placed in a grave - a cave. A large stone was rolled across the mouth of the cave and soldiers were posted by the authorities outside the grave to make sure that Jesus’ followers did not steal the body and concoct some story about Him being alive again.

But when the women went to take care of His body on the third day they found an amazing thing. The soldiers had fled - terrified for their lives - and the stone was rolled away from the tomb. The grave clothes were rolled up neatly inside and Jesus’ body was gone! In the following days, Jesus appeared to His disciples and many other believers before being taken up into heaven where the Bible tells us, He is now and from where He will one day return.

Communion points us to the empty tomb, the risen and ascended Lord and helps us to look forward to His coming again.