The Ordinance of Communion
Communion, like baptism, as another ordinance of the church, also has a long history of various methodologies. The same preface I made about baptism would also apply to the practice of communion. So what then is the theology of communion and what is the most biblical practice? In communion we remember the body and blood of Jesus through bread and wine representing his sacrificial death for us. The first instance of communion occured in the context of celebrating the Passover meal (Lk 22:7). In the very first Passover, a lamb was sacrificed and its blood put over the doorposts so that the angel of death would passover the house and not take the life of the first born son (Exodus 12:13). In the years going forward Israel was to remember how God provided for their salvation that night by sharing a meal together. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was about to become the Passover Lamb for us and once again reminded the disciples of his impending death. Jesus did this by taking two elements of the existing Passover meal and repurposing them. First, Jesus took unleavened bread. The bread was a reminder that Israel had prepared unleavened bread on that first night so that they would be ready to travel. There was no time to bake the bread. In Exodus 13:8-9 Moses told the people, “You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.” The bread was a reminder of what God had done and that the people should respond in obedience. Jesus, who was about to be obedient to death, “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). The bread was now repurposed to be a reminder of Jesus’ body given as a sacrifice for us.
Then after the meal (Lk 22:20) he took the cup of wine in the same way. Mark 14:23 says, “when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.” They shared from one cup after already eating the bread. The following is a composite of the three gospel accounts (Mt 26:27-29, Mk 14:23-25, Lk 22:20) and 1 Corinthians 11:25-26. Jesus said, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink this in remembrance of me. Truly I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” In this we see that the wine represents the blood of Christ as he was about to shed his blood on the cross paying the penalty for our sin so that we could be forgiven. He says that it is also the blood of the covenant. In a traditional covenant if one person broke the covenant they would have to die for their sin. When God established the covenant with Abraham he himself passed through the sacrificed animal indicated that he himself would one day die to pay for the sins of his people if they broke the covenant (Genesis 15:17). This is now being fulfilled in Christ and Jesus is subsequently establishing a new eternal covenant purchased by his blood whereby all who place their faith in him can enter in. The wine would also be a reminder going forward of the coming wedding feast of the Lamb in which the saints will once again drink the cup with the Lord (Rev 19:9).
In 1 Corinthians 11:28-29 Paul writes, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” Communion is meant to be both somber and celebratory, but always reverent. We are called to examine ourselves to make sure that we are in a good place and have in mind the very thing we are to be remembering. The entirety of the act is symbolic and done for the purpose of remembering how our salvation was accomplished. There is no miraculous transformation of the elements into the literal body and blood of Christ as Catholics suppose (transubstantiation). Jesus is also not present in a special way any more than he already is as the Lutherans suppose (consubstantiation).We are also to be obedient in observing it often. The pattern indicated by the above passages shows the use of unleavened bread eaten first by itself followed by a single cup of wine shared among the disciples. This pattern would be the most authentic to the Biblical account as opposed to the numerous other forms taken.