Communion, the breaking
of bread.
Bible
Reading: Matthew 26:26-29.
“As they were eating,
Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to
the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it,
for this is my body.” And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God
for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you
drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms
the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive
the sins of many. Mark my words—I will not drink
wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
Communion.
Communion or the
Table of the Lord, is one of the Sacraments instituted by Christ Jesus Himself recorded
in Matthew 26:26-29. Christ only
celebrated this once with His disciples on the eve of Gethsemane and Calvary. The
story of the first communion is told in all four Gospels, and the gospels set
it out like the following:
1. The
disciples gather at the table, but their fellowship was marred by an argument
as to who was the greatest among them, Luke
22:24-30.
2. As
a rebuke Jesus washed their feet John 13:1-20.
3. Jesus
then declares that one of them would betray Him, Matthew 26:21-25.
4. This
arouses great excitement and each one asks, “Lord is it I?” Matthew 26:21-23.
5. Jesus
says that the traitor is eating with them, John
13:21-22.
6. Peter
makes a sign for John to ask the question, who it is, John 13:23-25.
7. Jesus
gives the sign. The one that receives the sop, Matthew 26:23.
8. Judas
leaves to the surprise of all, John 13:26-30.
9. Jesus
takes bread, blessed it, broke it and give it to then, Luke 22:19.
10. Jesus took the cup, blessed it and gave it to
then, Luke 22:20.
11. They sang a hymn and went out to the Garden of
Gethsemane, Matthew 26:30- 36.
1.
Is
it possible to conduct a communion service today exactly like the first one?
If
we were to follow the pattern of the first “communion” these would be necessary:
1. It
would be in the evening, Matthew 26:20
“When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the Twelve.”
2. It
was held in the upper room, Luke 22:12
“He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That
is where you should prepare our meal.”
3. They
eat unleavened bread, Matthew 26:17 “On the first day of the Festival of
Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us
to prepare the Passover meal for you?”
4. The
bread must be broken, Luke 22:19 “He
took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and
gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which
is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
5. They
used only one loaf and one cup, Matthew 26:26-27
“As they were
eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and
gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my
body.” And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to
them and said, “Each of you drink from it.”
This was common practice in the Middle East.
6. They
were in a reclining position, John 13:23-26,
because John was the leaning on Jesus chest.
7. It
was held after the meal, Matthew 26:26
“As they were
eating,” the Passover meal.
8. There
were no women present, only the Lord and His disciples.
2. The purpose of a
communion service.
We
do not partake of communion to receive forgiveness of sins, for there is no
power in the Lord’s table to give the partaker forgiveness. We partake in communion
in obedience to the command of Christ 1 Corinthians
11:24 “And gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces
and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do
this in remembrance of me.”
We
partake in anticipation of His soon return 1
Corinthians 11:26 “For every time
you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until
He comes again.” We
partake to show forth the Lord’s death, 1
Corinthians 11:26.
No
one partakes of this meal because he/she is worthy, it is all His grace that we
have been born into the family of God, no one sits in pride at this table. Our
coming together merges two things, our unworthiness and our confidence in
Christ. If we are the true children of God, we can come boldly for fellowship
and strength.
Let
us not draw back in fear from a Heavenly Father’s table, He bids us to come and
we ought not to deny Him the pleasure of our fellowship. At the communion table
He will draw near to commune with us like on the Emmaus road.
3.
Who may partake of communion?
Only
those which are born into the family of God have the right to sit at His table
in fellowship with the Lord. We also welcome members in good standing from
other churches in partake communion with us.
But
the unbeliever and natural man belongs outside of this table 1 Corinthians 10:21 “You
cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You
cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too.” These are strong words against those that
have no love of God but partake of communion.
Members
that are being disciplined by abstaining from the Lord’s table, those under
discipline are to stay away from the table of communion, even if they are from other
church until the proper time.
4.
Self-examination
is essential before partaking of communion.
That
is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup 1 Corinthians 11:28. See also 2
Corinthians 13:5; Psalm 26:2; Psalm 139:23. To examine oneself means to
scrutinise, investigate carefully, and search and test oneself.
1. Whom
am I to examine? The pastor? The preacher? The elder? My partner? My family?
No! Myself.
2. Why
must we examine ourselves?
a. Because
it is the direct command of the Word of God.
b. To
eat unworthy brings judgement, weakness, sickness and an early death. It must
be an examination that finds sin and deals with it in confession and
forgiveness.
3. How
am I to examine myself? By asking these questions:
a. Do
I really and truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Acts 16:31 “They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus
and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.”
b. Am
I really born again into the family of God? John 33:3-7.
c. Is
there any unconfessed sin in my life? Self-pity? Pride? Greed? Spiritual
laziness? Disobedient? Love of sin? Love of the world?
d. Do
I completely repent of my sins? Confession without repentance is mockery.
e. Do
I promise in my heart to live a more holy life?
f. Do
I love God with all my heart, all my strength, all my soul, and all my mind? Luke 10:27 “The man answered, “‘You must
love the Lord your
God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’
And, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.”
g. Do
I love my neighbour as myself Luke 10:27?
h.
Have I forgiven those who
have sinned against me? Matthew 6:14-15 “If you forgive those who
sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to
forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
i.
Am I obedient in my heart to the
commandments of God to me personally? To tithe? To witness? Etc.
j.
Have I been obedient in my preparation
for communion?
5. Requirements for communion
service.
Bread
and wine are the only two substances used as symbolic signs of the body and
blood of Christ, the elements continue to remain merely elements, for there is no
mystical change in the bread or the wine. The bread is an unleavened, signifying
in that sin is put away with, in this we refer that after communion we ought to
live clean, holy lives.
6.
The results of the communion service.
The
believer is cleansed and purified as he has examined himself and claimed the
blood of Christ to remove not only the sin in his life, but the desire to sin. The
believer it is strengthened by the fellowship with the Lord and fellowship with
other believers. The Believer is edified as he meditated on the death and
return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Conclusion:
Where
do we go from the communion table?
To
advance in our Christian lives to a place of daily victory in Christ. Let us go
deeper into the blessings of God. Let us partake of the Lord’s supper, with an
air of expectancy “Till He comes.”
