March 28, 2024

Celebrating Communion

Treasures

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The Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.—1 Corinthians 11:23–26

Communion is a simple illustration of the Lord’s last supper with His disciples. It is the only religious ceremony that Jesus Himself instituted and commanded His followers to continue to observe until He comes again. It is meant to be a ceremony of remembrance and thanksgiving, and a witness.

Communion is a remembrance of Jesus and His death for us—the sacrifice of His life for our salvation, the breaking of His body for us. It is a thanksgiving celebration of His gift of eternal salvation. It is a witness and testimony to others that Jesus died for us, to proclaim His death until He comes. It is also a time for believers to come together in unity, showing that we believe as one. It is a time to renew fellowship, confess sins, make things right, thank Jesus for His salvation, and witness to His goodness.

Each year at Easter, hundreds of millions of professing Christians around the globe—be they Catholic, Protestant, or nondenominational—celebrate the last day of Christ’s life on earth before His death, as well as the Last Supper that He celebrated with His disciples at the Passover. The Feast of the Passover was a celebration in which the Jews commemorated their deliverance from slavery and exodus out of Egypt with joy and thanksgiving.

This particular Passover would be sad for the disciples, who were sharing the Lord’s Last Supper. Jesus Himself had found them a place to have their Passover meal by a miracle (Luke 22:9–13). Then they celebrated what has come to be known as Communion or Eucharist.

After they partook of their Passover meal, the Lord told His disciples about His coming suffering and death, and solemnly led them in a ceremony, one of the few that He commended His followers to observe to commemorate His death. “As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of Me.” Paul said that in so doing, “You proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:25–26).

The Gospel of Luke tells us: “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me’” (Luke 22:19). Jesus was illustrating for His disciples what He was about to do. That night His body was going to be broken, pierced, lacerated, abused, His blood shed, and finally His life given. His body was going to be broken for you and me.

He suffered pain and agony of the physical body by His death on the cross, and the shedding of His blood for our salvation and our healing. God’s Word says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

“Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins’” (Matthew 26:27–28). If you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have already partaken of His blood for salvation, which the wine symbolizes. As you partake of the wine, you are testifying of having received the blood of Christ for your spiritual salvation. As you partake of the bread, you are testifying that you are receiving the body of Christ which was broken for you.

“As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of Me.” Communion is a manifestation of your love for Him and appreciation of the sacrifice He made for your redemption. Jesus didn’t say how often we should celebrate Communion, but to do so in remembrance of Him and as a witness for Him.

Partaking of the Communion wine does not save you, because you have already received His salvation by faith. But this ceremony should encourage and affirm your faith, and it is your witness that you have received the blood of Christ for your atonement, His sacrifice for your sins.

What can wash away my sins?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

O, precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
—Robert Lowry, 1876

We should never forget the resurrection when speaking of Jesus’ death. If it hadn’t been for His resurrection, His life and death would have meant nothing. “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:17–19). But thank God He is risen!

Let’s not just remember the death of the cross or just picture a Christ on the cross, the suffering and the death. Jesus is no longer on the cross. We don’t have a Christ in the grave—He is risen! “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).

We don’t have a dead Christ hanging on a crucifix; we have a live Jesus living in our hearts!

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a victor o’er the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
—Robert Lowry, 1874

The passage in 1 Corinthians on Communion goes on to provide a sober warning: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:27). What does it mean to partake of Communion in an unworthy manner? If it was meant in the sense of undeserving, nobody could ever be worthy or deserving of the death of Christ. You can’t earn it or work for it and deserve it by your own merit, your own goodness, or your own righteousness. You can’t deserve His death, His body, or His blood shed for you.

None of us are worthy of salvation, but there is one thing we are required to do, and that is accept Jesus’ sacrifice, and proclaim Him our Lord and Savior. “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). The only way to be worthy of partaking of Communion is through having experienced salvation yourself.

Jesus has done all the rest. He did the suffering, dying, and the shedding of blood. Now we are called to proclaim His death until He comes. What is the duty of every Christian? To witness to others, to be a testimony of their faith. And you are only able to do this through His worthiness, His salvation.

“Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28). We can know we are taking Communion worthily through Christ’s worth because we know we are saved and have spiritually drunk of the blood of Jesus and eaten of the body of Christ in salvation.

Paul again warns, however, that “anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself” (1 Corinthians 11:29). If the unsaved partake of the holy Eucharist without being saved, they are drinking judgment to themselves. The celebration of Communion is reserved for those who have received salvation in Jesus.

Jesus, thank You for Your sacrifice, Your blood shed for the remission of our sins, the new testament in Your blood that we commemorate every time we partake of Communion. We do this in remembrance of You—of Your suffering, Your love, that You died for us in our place, that You took upon Yourself the punishment for our sins, and that You rose from the dead.

We now attest and witness our faith in You and Your death for us and Your sacrifice of Your blood for our salvation to wash away our sins. Thank You for Your precious gift of salvation, eternal life, and that we can partake of everlasting communion with You.

From an article in Treasures, published by the Family International in 1987. Adapted and republished March 2024. Read by Reuben Ruchevsky.

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