We are instructed by Scripture to think of this meal in multiple ways. It is not just “one thing.” And four of the central aspects of this meal should be treasured in our hearts regularly.
First, it is a commemoration. Jesus Himself established this pattern when He said that we were to observe the meal as a memorial (Luke 22:19). This memorial works in two directions—it reminds us and, like the rainbow, it reminds God.
Second, it is a confession. This is not to be understood as a confession of sin, but rather as a confession of our faith. As often as we observe this meal, we proclaim the Lord’s death (1 Cor. 11:26). This meal is a confession of gospel faith.
Third, it is communion. When we come to this Table in evangelical faith, we are privileged to commune with Christ, to partake of Him and of one another (1 Cor. 10:16). The word for this is koinonia, and the Lord’s Supper is how God knits us together.
And last, it is a covenant. Again, the Lord taught us this when He called this cup the cup of the new covenant (Luke 22:20). This does not mean that the meal is somehow obliquely related to the covenant. Rather, it means that the entire covenant is in the cup, and that you cannot drink it without taking the most solemn oath known to man.
In all these aspects, the Lord’s Supper is the complete fulfillment of the Passover meal, first given to the Israelites on Exodus Eve. But remember that pattern. First the meal, then the actual deliverance, and afterwards the series of meals looking back in gratitude. The Lord did the same—instituted the meal, accomplished the actual salvation, and then invited to look back in true Eucharistic gratitude.
So you have bread and wine before you now. But also remember you have been delivered from your sins—a wall of water is on either side of you. When Jesus was transfigured on the mount, and He was there communing with Moses and Elijah, that communion was with two men who had parted the waters, just as He was going to do at Jerusalem. The word used there for what Jesus was going to accomplish is the word exodus (Luke 9:31).
So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.
Argh Passover was the corporate of “body” version of the rivalry between Hagar and Sarah. Since the Seed has come, there is no longer any Passover, and no longer any race to have more heirs via polygamy because there is no longer any Jew-Gentile divide. The massacre of the innocents by Herod was all about the offspring of the womb. But communion isn’t about that at all. Our communion is not tribal and it is not genealogical. To make it so is to claim that the Seed has not come in the flesh. If our sacraments are a demarcation of… Read more »
Huh?
It’s like he’s trying to speak to me. I know it!