The TRUTH about COMMUNION
Posted by: revival4 <revival4@...>
-by Andrew Strom.
A lot of us have been taught that Communion is largely a
"symbolic" thing - or simply an act of 'remembrance'. But it is clear
from the New Testament that the early Christians saw it as being
much more than that. Otherwise, why would they have taken
communion EVERY DAY from "house to house"? I mean, a
symbolic ritual wouldn't be THAT urgent, would it? And also, if
it was only 'symbolic', why did Paul say that a wrong attitude
towards it was causing some of the Corinthian Christians to
become weak and sick - and some even to DIE?? (1 Cor 11:29-30).
I mean, how can a mere "symbol" have the power to actually make
people that sick when it is mis-used?
The fact is, just like Baptism, the Lord's Supper is no "symbol"
at all. It is a very real partaking of the "LIFE" of Jesus afresh. And
it is very clear from all the New Testament writings on the subject
that the apostles were very aware how powerful and important it was.
Now, we need to be careful not to go too far with this. -Because the
Catholic church has a very strange understanding of Communion.
They believe that it actually becomes the real PHYSICAL FLESH
and the real PHYSICAL BLOOD of Jesus. -Which is kind-of surprising,
when you think about it. Can you imagine eating real human flesh
and drinking real human blood? No wonder the Protestants ran a
mile in the opposite direction! However, based on the Scriptures it
is obvious that what we are really partaking of in Communion is
SPIRITUAL LIFE of the most potent kind - an actual refreshing
within us of the "Bread of Life" and the cleansing "Blood of the New
Covenant" that washes us from sin. We are supposed to partake of
it by FAITH - a fresh impartation of the very essence of Jesus
himself. You could even describe it as a kind-of refreshing of the
"born again" experience, in a way.
Now all of this sounds pretty dramatic. But is there really proof for
all of this in Scripture? Let's take a look:
Remember Jesus' words when he first partook of the Lord's Supper
with his disciples: "Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and
gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; THIS IS MY BODY.'
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying,
'Drink from it, all of you. THIS IS MY BLOOD of the covenant, which
is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'" (Mt 26:26-28, NIV).
Notice that he did not say, "This is a SYMBOL of my body or blood."
He said: "This IS my body, This IS my blood." And that is clearly the
way his followers were to treat Communion from that time on. It was
to be a REAL partaking of all the empowering and cleansing found in
the spiritual body and blood of Jesus. It was to be taken in FAITH,
receiving from God a fresh impartation each time.
Remember, Jesus had said these dramatic words: "I tell you the
truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his
blood, you have no life in you... For my flesh is real food and my
blood is real drink" (John 6:53-55). In the same passage he had
spoken of himself as the "bread of life" - the "bread that came down
from heaven... He who feeds on this bread will live forever" (Jn 6:58).
Now we know that Jesus is also "the Word of God" as well as
the 'bread of life'. This is the very essence of what we are partaking
of here. And we know exactly what the 'blood' is all about too. All
the way through Scripture we are told that "the LIFE is in the blood"
and we are told that the blood of Jesus "cleanses us from all sin".
My friends, are you ready to partake of Communion as a fresh
impartation of these very things to you? If you are, then you are
ready to partake if it just as they did in the Book of Acts. This is
clearly why they partook of it every day. It was THAT important.
They used Communion as a means of "abiding in Jesus" and
partaking of his LIFE once more. It was like the Children of
Israel who partook of the 'manna' in the wilderness each day to
stay alive.
In modern times, I have heard of cases where people have actually
been physically healed through partaking of communion in this
deeper way. This is not surprising, because they are partaking of
the very life and cleansing of Jesus by faith. We really need to be
doing this all the time - just like the early church.
So what was it that the Corinthians were doing that actually
seemed to turn the power of Communion against them? If you read
the whole passage (1 Cor 11:17-34) you will see that the main
problems seemed to be (1) Divisions amongst them, (2) Not
"preferring" one another, and (3) Partaking of Communion in a very
fleshly and carnal way.
Remember, communion is all about partaking of the "one body"
of Christ. So it is not just 'oneness' with Jesus, it is also oneness
with our brothers and sisters as well. It is a thing of true heart unity.
This is why Paul says, "A man ought to examine himself before he
eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and
drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks
judgement upon himself." (1 Cor 11:28-29, NIV). So "heart unity"
amongst the brethren is very important. If you have something
against a brother or sister, it is important to go and make things
right before taking communion.
To really get the most out of Communion, I believe it is important
when praying a blessing over it to actually bless it publicly and
openly as being the "body of Jesus" to us (-the 'bread of life') and
also the actual "blood of the New Covenant". To pray these things
over Communion is important so that when people partake of it they
can have FAITH that it will actually BE THAT to them. -Then they
are truly able to enter in.
Remember, we are ALL "kings and priests", therefore any one of us
can pray and break bread amongst ourselves in our own homes
and gatherings.
In our Kansas City home-fellowships lately, we ourselves have begun
sharing a meal and also communion together, and then moving into
a time where everyone flows in spiritual gifts. It has been wonderful
so far, and I can see why this simple way of meeting worked so well
in the early church. Sometimes you really feel like you could be in
Acts. I am convinced more and more that the Holy Spirit wants
to flow far more than He is allowed to in a lot of our meetings today.
-He is just waiting for the invitation.
This kind of fellowship around 'communion' is the very essence of
Early Church life. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and
experiences, my friends.
God bless you all!
Kindest regards in Christ,
Andrew Strom.