Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-23; 1Corinthians 11:17-34

 

Eating together is something that God ordained in order to bring people together in unity:  unity with each other and unity with Him. The feasts that God ordained for Israel, especially Passover and Succoth (the feast of Tabernacles) brought together family and friends around food. In Exodus 24:9-11, there is an amazing account of Yahweh hosting a meal with Moses, Aaron, two of Aaron’s sons, and the 70 elders of Israel. They saw God, and they actually ate with Him.

In the New Testament, it was during the Passover meal that Yeshua (Jesus) instituted what we call Holy Communion or the Eucharist. The New Testament Greek word for communion is KOINONIA. It means to share together something which we have in common. Eucharist comes from the Greek word EUCHARISTIA, which means “thanksgiving.” The Lord’s Supper is to be a time of God’s people coming together in thanksgiving for Jesus death for all of us.

Records of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples are found in the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Matthew 26:26 tells us, “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.” Luke 22:19 says, “Do this in remembrance of me,” and verse 20 says, “In the same way, after the supper, he took the cup, saying,

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

In the Old Testament in Jeremiah 31:31 God says, “The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel…” In verse 34 the LORD says, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” When Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood,” he is saying that his death will bring in the promised new covenant and forgiveness of sins. He tells his disciples (and us) to eat the bread and drink the wine in remembrance of his sacrificial death.

In 1Corinthians 11:17-34, the Apostle Paul writes to the Christians in the city of Corinth about the way that they were taking communion. Verse 21 says, “for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk.” It is implied that the rich were getting together early so they could share their good food with one another, and then there was not enough for the poor to eat. This is important in order to understand Paul’s words that follow.

In verse 27 Paul warns against taking the “bread and the cup in an unworthy manner.”  Verse 29 says,

“For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment to himself.”

Many today teach that we have to be worthy in order to take communion. I want to remind us that no one is worthy to stand before God in his own righteousness. Paul is not saying that we must be worthy, but that we are to take communion in a proper way.

Verse 29 tells us that we must recognize the body of Christ. The words “body of Christ” can refer to two different things. First there was the physical body of our Lord Jesus, which was broken for us. Secondly, there is the church, which is spoken of as “the body of Christ” (1Cor. 12:27; Ephesians 4:4-16). When we take communion, we are to remember the body of Jesus our Savior which was broken for our forgiveness and our healing (Isaiah 53:4-5; Matthew 8:16-17). We are also to remember our brothers and sisters with whom we eat and drink. As we learned earlier, communion (KOINONIA) is sharing together what we have in common. We are all recipients of eternal life, forgiveness, healing and blessings freely given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Rich or poor, clean or dirty, we are all saved by grace. We must be considerate and respectful of all.

Again, the word Eucharist means “thanksgiving.” Yes, the Lord’s Supper should be a time of self-examination. It would be a good time to confess sins, but we need to remember that the Greek word for confession means to agree with God. We can say, “Lord, that was really stupid. Help me not to do that again! Thank you that I am forgiven by the blood of Jesus!” Communion, the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist should be a time of thanksgiving to God that our sins are forgiven. As you eat the bread and drink the cup, remember the Lord’s death and rejoice that you are forgiven of every sin!