Communing With Jesus
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Straight to the Cross
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GUEST ARTICLE
Communing With Jesus
By Roger E, Dickson
On the first day of the week, Sunday, Christians
bring their worshipful spirits together in order
to praise God as an assembled group. They come
together to remember Jesus and the grace of God
that was poured out for them when Jesus died on
the cross (Titus 2:11).
An important part of this Sunday assembly is the
communion of Christians with one another and with
Jesus around the Lord's table. Early Christians
came together on the first day of each week in
order to partake of the Supper (Acts 20:7), and
Christians today also participate in this memorial
feast which was instituted by Jesus. Matthew
26:26,28 states: "And as they were eating, Jesus
took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it
to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is My
body.' 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.'" Concerning the bread of the Supper, Jesus
revealed that Chris-tians must remember Him when
they eat of the bread. "Take, eat; this is My body
which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of
Me" (1 Cor. 11:24).
Concerning the fruit of the vine, Jesus said that
it represented the blood of the new covenant that
Christians have made with Him. He said, "This cup
is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often
as you drink it, in remembrance of Me" (1 Cor.
11:25). The bread that Jesus used when the Supper
was instituted was unleavened, that is, without
yeast. It was unleavened because Jesus and His
disciples were at the time eating the unleavened
bread of the Passover Feast of the Jews (Exo.
34:25; Lev. 7:17). The fruit of the vine was juice
from vines, specifically the juice from grape
vines (Mark 14:24,25). The New Testament does not
say that either the bread or fruit of the vine
turn into the literal body and blood of Jesus.
Neither does it say that Jesus' body and blood are
present in the elements.
The bread and fruit of the vine represent Jesus'
body and blood. Jesus used these two physical
things — bread and fruit of the vine — to
represent two spiritual truths of Christianity.
These truths are that He gave His fleshly body and
poured out His blood for our salvation. When we
partake of the Supper, therefore, we remember
Jesus. We proclaim that He died for us. In doing
this, we examine ourselves. The Bible says, "For
as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes" (1
Cor. 11:26). Christians must search their hearts
at the time they eat and drink of the Supper. "But
let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of
that bread and drink of that cup" (1 Cor. 11:28).
Remember the Unity of the Church Another important
remembrance involved in partaking of the Supper is
to consider the oneness of the body of Christ. The
Bible says, "The cup of blessing which we bless,
is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not the communion
of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one
bread and one body; for we all partake of that one
bread" (1 Cor. 10:17). When we partake of the
bread, therefore, we must remember the unity of
the church. We are one church, one spiritual
family, because we have obeyed the one Gospel by
immersion into the body of Christ. The Bible says,
"For as the body is one and has many members, but
all the members of that one body, being many, are
one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we
were all baptized into one body…" (1 Cor.
12:12,13).
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