To Communion, Or Not to Communion

When we think about the modern aspect of communion what are we actually looking at? Are we following the traditions of men, or are we looking into this the way Apostles did? Or do we really know what the Apostles thought about communion?

Alas…here is what is written.

Matthew 26 tells us the words of our Lord when this was first done. We first see what I call the “Order of Breaking Bread.” Every time Jesus has bread, He follows the same pattern. He takes it, He blesses it, He breaks it, and He gives it. It is the order of qualification for every person’s life.

Then we read Jesus’ words in Luke 22 and they are telling us to do this in remembrance of Him. He is not actually asking us, He’s telling us, “you will do this.” The question is then not if we should, but when we should?

 There are several schools of thought. Seventy percent of the modern church take communion once a month. While there is no definitive reason as to why, it seems most believe it is lengthy and therefore cuts into the pastor’s preaching time. The other thirty percent of the church split several times a week to zero times a week depending on their belief.  

What does Paul say? Paul says the cup and the bread are sharing in the body and the blood. He says there is one loaf that represents one body and a cup that is sharing in the blood.

Paul goes on to rebuke the Corinthian church because there are factions among them that are separating the church by those that have, and those that have not. Those that have are using the Lord’s Supper to gorge themselves and become drunk on their excess, while others who do not have anything are going without. The issue with this is that Paul is using the word eat for both the Lord’s Supper and dinner. Paul tells them they do not need to eat when they all gather, that they should be eating at home. This was not in reference to the Lord’s Supper but gathering together and eating a big meal as the Lord’s Supper while some went without and could not partake due to lack of wealth.

He goes on to remind them this is about the bread and the wine, nothing more, nothing less.

Here is where Paul really excels in this explanation. Some will say this was a Seder and it was to be done on Passover. This explanation tries to mix the Old Covenant into the New Covenant. The Passover was part of the law, and this was filled full in Christ. So trying to take Christ back into the shadow is a pointless task meant for children who are searching for their Father because they have never found the relationship with Him.

While Jesus did eat the Seder for Passover, this was due to Him, and everyone else still being under the law of Moses. Nowhere do we ever read again that the Seder was to be followed in this manner. Not in the bible, and not by the church fathers that followed the first century.

Paul points to Jesus’ words that the blood IS the New Covenant. He then says “do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me.” Paul says “as often” as you eat the bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes again. That also being said, it is a possibility to drink this cup in an unworthy way. If you do, you are guilty of the body and the blood of Christ.

So, what does this all mean? It simply means this. Neither Paul nor Jesus are very clear about when a person should take communion. They both just say, “as often.” But Luke gives us a little more insight in Acts 2. He tells us that people devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. Where did the term breaking of bread come from? It came from the last supper. Remember there was actually a dinner that night as well. It wasn’t just bread and wine. Luke says they were breaking bread from house to house and taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. Are the apostles “breaking bread” every time they ate? It is not clear.

But the Didache tells us in 14.1 that “on the Lord’s own day gather yourselves together and break bread and give thanks, first confessing your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure.”  The Lord’s Day would be the first day of the week, or the resurrection day. It says here that it should be once a week. Justin Martyr says Christians meet on Sunday to partake of communion. (Apology I, 67)

Paul while meeting in Troas broke bread with believers 12 days after Pentecost on the first day of the week. This should do away with the once-a-year Seder Dinner theory.

After reading Justin Martyr, Clement, Tertullian, Polycarp, and Irenaeus there are no demands placed on how often communion should be given. It appears that most of the church believed it should be done every Lord’s Day.

Why? This is a little more complex. All of those mentioned above were writing in arguments for one cause or another. Arguing against Docetism, Gnosticism, or some other form of heresy of the day.

I believe we need to look at the words Jesus himself said if we are going to find the truest meaning in the bread and the cup of communion. He said “this is My body, which is being given for you, do this in remembrance of me….this cup which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood.”

There are two aspects. His body was given for us, and His blood was poured out for us. This shows His body was sacrificed and His blood flowed out. This was done for the new covenant which He said He was making with His people. This was in reference to Jeremiah saying He will establish a new covenant with His people and write it on their hearts.

To understand what Jesus did, we need to understand this was about making covenant with His people. Whether it is the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, or Davidic covenants, each of these were made between at least two parties. In order words a covenant is between at least two people coming to terms about a subject.

For this example, we are going to follow the Abrahamic covenant because it is this one that shows us what Jesus was actually doing. When God makes a covenant with Abram he tells him to make 5 sacrifices and then cut the heifer, goat, and ram in two. This was done as a blood covenant between two parties. But when Abram was done with the sacrifice, God caused a deep sleep to fall upon him. When Abram awoke he found God passing between the pieces by walking in the blood. Here we see God made covenant with Abram and did not allow Abram to take part in it. God took both parts in the covenant and walked in the blood for Abram. Which is why we read, “when He could swear by no greater He swore by Himself.” The Abrahamic covenant was sealed in blood and God did it all by Himself. But He then accounted it as righteousness to Abram because Abram believed. It is from this covenant that the rest of the covenants are established. Mosaic, Davidic, and New.

Now enter Jesus and the last supper. Jesus said His body had to be broken for us just like the sacrifices with Abram when the bodies were broken in two and the blood was poured out. It is here that we see Jesus is about to do the same thing He did with Abram. Jesus is about to make a blood covenant with His people, and He alone is going to take part in it. This covenant is not going to require your blood or participation. It is only going to ask the same as Abram, that you believe! When this belief is real in your hearts, it will be accounted back to you as righteousness, and you will be a partaker of the blood covenant.

Therefore, when communion is taken it is not merely you remembering what Jesus did when He died on the cross, it is about remembering your side of the blood covenant that you have aligned with and have received. It is from this viewpoint Paul says if you take of the cup of Christ unworthily you take sickness and death upon yourself. Why?

It has nothing to do with the loaf and the cup being magical. Or that you have sinned against God and therefore He is mad. It has to do with a lack of knowledge and understanding in the body of Christ. This understanding is the blood covenant. Meaning when someone enters a blood covenant it cannot be broken unless the one who breaks it sheds their own blood. We as a church and converts to Christianity have misunderstood, misapplied, misrepresented this blood covenant. We haphazardly take this on and at any given moment we cast it off because it does not meet our current lifestyle. We live in a curse because we have not discerned the Lord’s body and His cup! Our lives reflect the same as those that are not in the church. We are just as sick, die just as often, and live with the same tragedies. This is absolutely about the blood covenant that the church knows nothing about.

Several days ago I was awaken by the Lord saying, “I have made a covenant with my people, they just don’t know it, and therefore don’t get it.” In a brief moment I saw this light and it felt like everything in the world made sense. As I was waking up, it all came together in that moment for a brief second. Then I woke up and it was all gone. But what He showed me was the possibility that we can have this covenant and walk in the fruits of it. We no longer have to be like all the other nations and cry for a king other than Him.

Begin to pray that the Lord will show you what this covenant looks like. Ask Him to show you how you can apply this covenant to your life right now. For me, it was as simple as stating I see this covenant, I desire to walk in it, and therefore everything I am I give to Him. I confess that I am part of this covenant with Jesus Christ and my life is no longer my own, but His. I ask for the strength to walk in this new understanding even when my flesh tries to call me back to what I used to be.

I thank you Jesus for showing this and making this a reality for me, right now!