Communion in the Bible.
It is Jesus’ last evening before His death. His heart is full of anguish about what He will soon suffer. He wants to spend His time with His beloved disciples. They gather in an upper room to celebrate together one last time the Passover meal.
The Passover meal consisted of unleavened bread, grape juice, bitter herbs, and roasted lamb.
It was a celebration of Israel’s liberation from the bondage of Egypt. Jesus is about to die to accomplish an infinitely grander liberation, from the bondage of sin. He uses the context of the Passover meal to institute a celebration of this grander deliverance.
The Lord’s Supper. Communion.
Jesus removes the lamb for it symbolized Him. Now that the true Lamb would die, there would be no longer a need to sacrifice and eat lambs.
He also removes the bitter herbs. The slavery of Egypt, and the slavery of sin, are bitter. But now that Jesus was about to die for our sins, there would no longer be a need to eat bitter herbs. The bitterness of sin has been defeated.
He keeps the unleavened bread and pure fruit juice. And adds one more element.
In this
study, we will learn about this beautiful Christian ordinance - communion in the Bible.
“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body’” (Matthew 26:26).
“And He took bread, gave thanks and 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 unleavened bread symbolizes the body of Jesus that was nailed to the cross for our sins. By eating it, we remember His sacrifice for us.
But there is more to it. “You are what you eat,” says a well-known adage. By eating the bread which symbolizes Jesus, we declare our willingness to conform into His likeness.
“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children” (Ephesians 5:1).
“And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?” (1 Peter 3:13).
“My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).
By partaking of the communion bread, we remember the death of Jesus and declare our desire to be like Him.
“Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters” (Exodus 13:7).
Leavened bread was forbidden during the Passover. Therefore, the bread with which Jesus celebrated the first communion was unleavened.
Leaven can be a symbol of sin.
“He began to say to His disciples first of all, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy’” (Luke 12:1).
“Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:6-7).
“Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28).
“Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many’” (Mark 14:23-24).
Jesus shed His blood on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. The grape juice symbolizes this. Therefore, it should be red grape juice.
Grape juice and only grape juice!
The fermentation that turns grape juice into wine, is a type of leaven. Remember, all leaven was forbidden at Passover. Note how the evangelists describe it:
“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom” (Matthew 26:29).
Jesus calls this drink, the “fruit of the vine.” Vines do not produce wine; they produce grapes which in turn produce grape juice.
Some think that because Jesus died in spring, and the grape harvest had taken place six months earlier, that it could not be grape juice because grape juice does not last for six months.
This is wrong thinking. We know from ancient writings that they knew how to keep grape juice from fermenting – they would boil it, put it while hot in new wineskins, and seal the wineskin with a little olive oil (which floated to the top and prevented air from coming into contact with the juice) and then tar to keep air out. The same technique is used today in many countries, with the difference that instead of wineskins they use glass jars, and instead of sealing with olive oil and tar, they just use caps that are airtight.
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” (John 13:3-5).
Before the meal, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet.
It is for us too. By washing their feet, Jesus left us an example to follow:
“You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. ‘If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you’” (John 13:13-15).
Before we take communion, we wash each other’s feet.
Threefold:
A. Humility
When the disciples entered the upper room, they were arguing who is the greatest amongst them (Luke 22:24). They all thought very highly of themselves. Part of the preparation for the meal was the foot-washing. This was usually done by the lowliest of servants. But since there were no servants, nobody wanted to volunteer to do it.
By washing their feet, Jesus gave a greatest example of humility.
“Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28).
B. A Type of Cleansing
When Jesus went to wash Peter’s feet, Peter felt ashamed and objected. Then Jesus said: “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (John 13:8). Peter then asked that Jesus would wash all of him, to which Jesus replied:
“He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you” (John 13:10).
When a person took a bath, he was clean. If he were to walk to his friend’s house, his feet would get dusty in the dusty streets. But the rest of the body would still be clean. So, the custom was that when a person entered the house, water would be offered for the washing of the feet.
Jesus takes this everyday reality and gives it a deep spiritual significance. A person who has been baptized, has been washed of sin.
“There is also an antitype which now saves us -- baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21).
“Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:25-26).
When a person is baptized, the sins are washed away, just like a person who has bathed has been cleansed from physical filth.
But as we walk the dusty streets of life, the dust of sin contaminates us anew. In which case, just like the washing of feet in Jesus’ time removed the dust from the otherwise clean feet, likewise the foot-washing before the communion service symbolically cleanses us from whatever sins we may have committed.
In a sense, foot washing is a repetition of the cleansing of baptism.
C. Divine Hospitality
In Bible times, washing of the feet was the first thing a host offered to guests. When the pre-incarnate Jesus and two angels visited Abraham in his tent, he rushed to offer hospitality and said:
“My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree” (Genesis 18:3-4).
Before he offered food, he offered water for their feet.
Similarly, when Lot met the two angels in Sodom, he offered hospitality by offering water for them to wash their feet:
“Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way” (Genesis 19:2).
The woman who anointed Jesus’ feet, first washed them with her tears:
“She began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil” (Luke 7:38).
That Jesus would wash the disciples’ feet is a beautiful indication that God honors us and loves us much more than we can ever imagine and welcomes us into His family.
Good question. Some think it should be done every week. Some think it should be done once a year because Passover was celebrated once a year.
The Bible does not say how often.
“In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:25-26).
Notice that twice the words “as often as” appear. “As often as” gives us the prerogative to determine how often it should be done.
Every week is not advisable since for communion to be truly meaningful and to include the washing of feet, considerable preparation needs to take place. Doing it every week could lead to the ordinance becoming trite.
Once a year seems too far apart. We need the spiritual washing that foot-washing symbolizes more regularly.
In the Seventh-day Adventist church we do it once a quarter and on an ad hoc basis on special occasions.
Absolutely!
Jesus declared: “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom” (Matthew 26:29).
Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father now, awaiting the time when He will come to take us to heaven, and there all together, with Him, we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper once again! What a day that will be!
So, whenever we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are affirming our faith in the soon coming of Jesus.
10. Can anyone participate in communion?
In the Old Testament only the families whose males had been circumcised, i.e., believers, could partake of the Passover meal (Exodus 12:48).
Concerning the foot-washing, Jesus told Peter: “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you” (John 13:10). So, the washing of feet is offered to those who have already bathed, i.e., been baptized.
It is therefore advisable for baptized persons to take part in communion.
Communion in the Bible is a beautiful ordinance to remind us of the great sacrifice of Jesus for our salvation.
The foot-washing prepares us to receive the bread and grape juice which symbolize the broken body and shed blood of Jesus.
I will gladly celebrate with my spiritual brothers and sisters here, and with the Lord Jesus at His kingdom! Amen!
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