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The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper, at its core, is a remembrance of Jesus.  But, remember what?  By my count, the New Testament gives 15 different ways.  Each topic may be more or less significant to different people at different times.  If we were to rotate through them, week by week, we would focus on each one about 3.5 times each year – hardly often enough to get stale.  Today, I put proclaiming His return at the top of my list.  Every time we break bread and raise our cups together, we remind each other and those who may observe that we mean it when we say, “Come quickly.”

The second of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is self-examination.  As a parallel, if we began to think about the material on a school test as the papers were being handled out, we would not do well.  Rather we bring the result of a week of preparation.  Since the faithful participate collectively, not individually, I am to bring the result of examining how I fit into the body.  I must rise above what has become a traditional moment of individualism and instead communicate my merger into our common goal, being the body.

The third of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is our participation in Jesus’ sacrificial meal.  A parallel is drawn with the meals under the Law in which most of the sacrifice became the entrée for a big family meal in which they celebrated forgiveness and reminded God that they were still on board.  We do not simply observe Jesus’ sacrifice, but consume it as a family in the presence of God, celebrating and re-affirming our group, not individual, commitment.

The fourth of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is fellowship; we are declaring the connection between our spirits, and by extension our connection with the faithful around the world.  The international component is particularly important to our faithful friends in the Muslim world who are small in number and in danger daily.  We gather to revitalize this eternal connection as a reminder of what is by far the more important: the unseen.

The fifth of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is unity.  “For we, though many, are one bread and one body, for we all partake of that one bread.”  The faithful are all different parts of the same body, working in concert, differently but to the same end so that all parts arrive together.  God promised to work out the differences in understanding.  The divisive do not have the Spirit.

The sixth of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is singleness of purpose.  The big religion word is sanctification, reserved for God’s purposes.  We cannot dabble in different worlds on different days.  But why is this a group declaration?  Can I not do this one by myself?  Theoretically, yes.  Practically, no.  And God is all about practical.  As we re-affirm our total commitment, we rejoice with those who have overcome and are models for us, and we comfort, encourage, and build up those still struggling as I am.

The seventh of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is that the bread, which Jesus called His body which the faithful are to take into themselves, a sacrifice to pay the debts to justice of all people, offered exactly once, also represents manna for the spirit provided for the people of God daily, miraculously.

The eighth of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is that the bread is unleavened, representing purity, sincerity, and truth.  Although individual remembrance also is appropriate at all times, this facet is a community remembrance in that we insist on these qualities in our relationships, our fellowship.  We are affirming to everyone else that we will deal with them truthfully, with pure motives, and that we trust them to do the same.

The ninth of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is that the bread is from the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in which the faithful celebrate their escape from slavery to sin, their affliction during this journey on earth, and their haste to reach the promised rest.  This is a group effort because our individual baggage and trials make us grumpy.  The faithful overcome by building up the others, which is one of the several one-another activities.

The tenth of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is that the fruit of the vine represents the blood of Jesus which sealed the everlasting  contract in which He promises not only to be the God of those who know Him, but also to enable them to know the mind of God.  This is part of a group memorial because an essential provision is that we are not independent contractors who reproduce as identical single-celled organisms, but rather part of God’s people who develop as a body with diverse functions but a single purpose.

The eleventh of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is that the fruit of the vine represents the blood of Jesus which was shed for the remission of sins.  The letter to the Hebrews highlights that this sacrifice happened once, not repeatedly.  The thrust of the reminder is that we have been redeemed from the right-and-wrong economy and transferred to the faith economy.  The faithful recall as a group that all sorts of people are rescued from diverse hopelessness.  We rejoice together for the successful faith of others.

The twelfth of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is that drinking the fruit of the vine represents drinking the blood of Jesus, an illustration Jesus used in John 6:31 – 58.  The Law specifically forbade the drinking of blood (Leviticus 17:10 et al), as did the apostles (Acts 15:29).  Jesus’ image of drinking His blood represents taking the character of Jesus (His life) into ourselves.  The faithful do it together to reinforce that the same blood is in all as we are one body.

The thirteenth of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is that “Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed.”  Picture the Israelites in Egypt, painting their doorposts and lintels with the blood of their Passover Lambs, confident of being passed over by the death angel.  We, as the kingdom of God rather than as lone believers, act a little strangely based on our boldness in believing that certain death is no longer ours.  But our selflessness raises terror for those with unpainted doorposts, so we are motivated to persuade others.

The fourteenth of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is that Jesus is an all-encompassing umbrella, not a few minutes taken out of a busy schedule.  The Passover began with preparing both the sacrifice and offeror.  The Passover meal, which was the backdrop of the original Lord’s Supper, was not just eating lamb, matzos, and salad.  It included teaching history, singing, and praying.  The Lord’s Supper is not a crumb and a sip with a prayer or two, but a meal for both body and spirit.

The last of the 15 facets of remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper is that we repeat it, not as a commanded ritual but as a meaningful illustration which Jesus believed to need regular reinforcement.  Our repetition demonstrates that we are confident that Jesus’ educational objectives are sound, even if we think less frequency might achieve the same goal.  If we find ourselves tending to ritual or being bored by endless review, the problem is not with the illustration but with our lack of recognition and application of its many facets.