Communion: the Body and the Blood!
(7/26/08)

One central aspect of the Christian Life is the principle of walking by faith. There are many things in life and in the Word of God that we have a hard time comprehending with our mind. Yet, we accept what God says in His Word by faith, whether we understand it fully or not. This faith principle must be applied to the subject of Communion also. Whatever our Lord tells us about the Lord's Supper, we should see it and speak it the same way He does. We need to believe it and receive it in the way that He explains it.

In this teaching, I will be using the terms Communion and the Lord's Supper interchangeably. I think that most believers will agree with me on that point, but I do know that some ministers imply that these terms refer to different things. But it does seem to me that the way they are used in Scripture, they are basically referring to the same thing. If there is a difference, it is only that in the New Testament Church, they would have a full meal (supper) when they had their Communion.

First, let me share some background information, so you will understand where I am coming from. All my life, I have attended protestant churches, in which, I have been taught and have believed that  the elements of communion are symbolic. I also have been taught that rituals and traditions of men are to be avoided, because they decrease the power and effectiveness of the Word and the Spirit. Therefore, when I started teaching from the Word of God, this is exactly what I taught also. My expressed concern was that most churches have reduced the communion ceremony to a meaningless ritual. Anything that has become a ritual in our services, has lost its' effectiveness and importance.

Occasionally, I would hear about people having communion on a daily basis in the privacy of their home, or elsewhere. I would feel sorry for them, thinking that they have reduced the communion ceremony to a mere ritual, or that they must think there is some superstitious or almost magical power in it. Now, with new insight into the subject, I find myself taking Communion Ceremony nearly every day, not ritualistically nor superstitiously, but based upon what I have learned from the words of Jesus Himself. This is a radical change from my previous position on this subject.

In fact, when I was pastor of Living Faith Assembly, in Columbia, MD and then Covenant Life Church, in Alexandria, VA, I would only have our Communion Ceremony about three or four times per year. I would tell people that if they take it too often, they tend to forget the real significance to which it symbolizes. When I was pastor of Abiding Life Christian Center, also in Alexandria, due to the expressed desire of the majority on the leadership team, we followed the tradition that is practiced by most protestant churches, that of having communion on the first Sunday of each month.

The truth is, many believers do receive communion in a ritualistic manner. There are those who partake of the Lord's Supper religiously and ritualistically. But there also are many people who give very little thought to the significance and importance of this practice. Communion has become little more than a tradition, with little significance to too many Christians. To some it is the most holy time of the church service. To others it is very boring and repetitious.

Yet, the Bible has a lot to say about the Lord's Supper, which Jesus Himself instituted and Paul elaborated on. We see it in each of the four Gospels. We also see it in the Book of Acts and in Paul's writing. Something mentioned as often as this ceremony is mentioned must have a lot of significance to our Lord Jesus Christ and it is no doubt extremely important to the heart of God. Now, let's look at the very first New Testament reference to Communion.

Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

The most controversial part of communion, among most Christians and churches, is the meaning of our Lord's words when He said, "this is My body" and "this is My blood". Was this to be taken literally or was Jesus speaking metaphorically, presenting the elements as a type and symbol of a spiritual truth? The presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper is still a topic of debate 2000 years after that first communion ceremony. I'd like to share with you four views on this matter.

Transubstantiation, which literally means "change of substance", is the what we call the view that has been taught and practiced in the Roman Catholic Church, at least since the nineth Century. It teaches that when a Catholic priest consecrates the elements of bread and wine, they are mystically converted into the real body and blood of Jesus Christ. On the grounds of Jesus' statement, "this is my body", Catholicism holds that the bread and wine completely change into the physical body and blood of Jesus Christ.

One objection that critics of Transubstantiation will express is that Jesus, standing before the disciples in th flesh, couldn't very well say that He had His literal physical body in His own hands. Another objection expressed is that the partakers are suppose to receive Christ literally through the mouth, entirely apart from faith.

Consubstantiation, which literally me "with substance", is what most Lutheran congregations believe and teach. Martin Luther taught that while the bread and wine remain bread and wine, the whole person of Christ, body and blood, is present in, under, and along with, the elements. Lutherns teach that there is a real, but mystical partaking of Christ. This however is not apart from faith, but is the unexplainable mystery of the sacrament. Luthern theologians say that when Christ had the bread in His hand, He held His body along with it, and therefore could say, "this is my body". With this view, everyone who receives the bread also receives the body, whether he was a believer or not.

Symbolic views are expressed in most protestant denominations and independent churches. However, there are varying details in the various symbolic views. But the bottom line is that they believe Jesus was speaking metaphorically when He referred to the bread as being His body and the wine as being His blood. They see the communion ceremony as mostly a memorial feast.  Most protestant churches believe that the communion elements are simply symbolic, and are just a way to remember what Jesus did on the cross. They will say that Jesus was speaking metaphorically, just like He did when He said He was the Door or the Vine.

What I've come to believe doesn't fit neatly into any of the above three views. But I have now come to a new understanding of what Communion is. I am not saying that I have the full revelation of this subject, because I believe there is more that God wants to reveal to me on this and other subjects. So this certainly is not meant to be a final word on the Lord's Supper. But a more biblical view would be what we could call the Faith View.

The Faith View can be seen if we take a look at everything that is said and written in Scripture on this subject. One thing that I began to meditate on was the fact that this practice, which we have come to refer to as Communion or the Lord's Supper, is referred to in six of the first seven books of the New Testament. Repeatedly, we see reference of Jesus clearly stating, "this is My body" and "this is My blood". In none of these references does He even imply anything about symbolism. Jesus nor Paul implied in any of these passages that He meant anything other than exactly what Jesus said, "this is My body" and "this is My blood".

Certainly, this is hard to grasp with our finite mind. But we know  that everthing in Scripture has significance because Heaven and Earth will pass away before anything in His Word passes away. We also know that Scripture tells us that "out of the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established". So, if it is in His Word once, it is important. If it is repeated two or three times, we can know that it is very important. But if it is there as often as this is, it tells me that God is wanting us to pay special attention to what communion is, it is extremely important to the heart of God. In at least four of these references He clearly tells us, "this is My body" and "this is My blood", with not a hint at symbolism.

So, what was Jesus saying here? Whatever He was saying, I am convinced that He wasn't saying, "this symbolizes My body and blood". If that was His intent, we'd gain that understanding from at least one of those five references. So, if I don't fully understand it with my mind, I have to believe that what Jesus said is true. I have to accept it by faith, even if I don't understand it with my mind. This is true with everything in Scripture, it is a matter of faith. Though, with my eyes I see bread and wine, I believe in my heart that I am receiving the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Does this mean that the bread and juice somehow change into flesh and blood? It is less of a matter of change within the elements and more of a change within me as the partaker of communion. The change is in the way I receive the elements, as I am lifted into a spiritual mindset. It is very important that we not take the Lord's Supper lightly. We must enter His presence with an attitude of reverence and worship before we partake of communion. It is important that we ponder and meditate on His words and what He intended this ceremony to be. When we pass from the natural to the spiritual mindset, we are on our way to receiving it the way He intended.