“I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29).
I am continuing to read Bob Martin’s book, God, Our Father. Again he forces me to think deeper and sometimes differently about spiritual things. I’m reading the chapter about the Lord’s Supper or Communion, as we sometimes call it. I think both terms describe some part of what we do. It is the Lord’s Supper because he is the Host. It is also communion because of our close relationship with the Host. It is a remembrance of Jesus’ death for our sins and his resurrection which promises resurrection for us, as well. But it is more. Look at what Mr. Martin says in this quote.
“Anticipating His resurrection, Jesus could assure His disciples of His ongoing presence at ‘the breaking of bread.’ For this reason He spoke of eating and drinking with them ‘in my Father’s Kingdom’ (Mk. 14:25). Here, as elsewhere, ‘the Kingdom of God’ and ‘the Church’ are to be understood synonymously. That Jesus will be there to eat and drink with His disciples in my Father’s Kingdom’ is His promise to be present as both Host and Food whenever and wherever the Church gathers together ‘to break bread.’ Consequently, to ‘break bread’ with Him is not only to remember His death, it is also to celebrate His resurrection and His presence” (p. 163).
It’s easy to remember His sacrificial death when we think about “the body and the blood” but I sometimes fail to remember He is hosting the meal and is the meal. As Mr. Martin points out later in the chapter, Jesus’ body and blood were separated at His death. They are reunited when we partake of His body and blood (i.e., the bread and the fruit of the vine).
His Body (The Church) must have the blood to be alive. It’s a transfusion, Mr. Martin says. It is renewing Jesus’ life and presence into our life. It is what sustains our relationship with Jesus. His “blood type” is exactly what is needed to renew and sustain the Church. What an amazing event to look forward to every week!
If God’s people experienced communion in this way, would it not bring unity to the Body?
“Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf” (1Corinthians 10:15-17).