In this meal we eat family style. We both receive the food and we pass the food. In addition to this, because it is a covenant meal, we consume the food that is made up for all the others, and we offer ourselves to be consumed to all the others. We are enabled to do this because the Head of the church is seated at the head of the Table, and He is simultaneously the food offered, the Host offering, and the guest receiving it. Everything we do here is modeled for us by Him.
This makes no sense if we are thinking of it mechanically, or even magically. This can only make sense if we have been shown the secrets of the covenant. Covenantal realities overlap in ways that other realities do not.
Let us start with the fact that Jesus is the Host. He is the one who invites us here. In the establishment of the meal, He fulfills the role of the Host, perfectly, wonderfully. He is the one who has His disciples make arrangements for the room (Mark 14:15). He is right at the center of all that happens in the meal—He is definitely the host.
The element we are perhaps most familiar with is found in how He offers Himself as the food. “And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body” (Mark 14:22).
And last, a guest. It is not often remarked that Jesus Himself ate at the Last Supper. For example, Jesus identified Judas as His betrayer by saying that the treacherous man would be the man who dipped “with me” in the dish (Mk. 14:14). Jesus was, and is, a full participant in this meal. That is the only way that we can be full participants in this meal. Without Him, without Jesus, this is all meaningless mumbo jumbo.
But He is here. He is present. He is ready to bless. The blessing will be at its fullest when you imitate Him in what he is doing. Pass the food as though you were the host. Receive it as though you were the guest. Offer yourself to God and to your neighbor as though you were ready to be consumed for the sake of the others.
So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.
There is nobody like Jesus.
Excellent. Thanks Doug.
I attended my first Reformed service last Sunday. There was that awkward moment after I took the bread when I didn’t know if I was supposed to eat it right away or wait for everyone else. Waiting was the proper choice. We eat the bread and drink the wine together as one body. Even though we are baptised one by one, we enter into the covenant made for many, and as such it is good that we do this together. I was raised in the church to be afraid of orthodoxy and liturgy, but there is a depth and richness… Read more »
I know some churches emphasize our united fellowship by practicing simultaneous reception, and I’m glad there was a blessing for you in the fellowship practice there. However, at least with regard to the cup, the disciples in the upper room did not drink “together,” as in “simultaneously.” It was a common cup, and it was passed among them. The communion service displays our unity even if we don’t eat or drink at the exact same moment.
Thank you, john k. I appreciate your additional insight.
I was just happy for the way it played out and to be able to partake with others in unity. I didn’t partake with a concern that one way is better or worse or more or less Biblical.
Thank you for the clarification. If we go to a different reformed church, I’ll set my expectations accordingly.