Why We're Still Taking Communion 2000+ Years Later

Have you ever tried to be on the cutting edge of a new trend? Maybe you were hoping to get in early on something you thought would for sure last forever; investing in the latest crypto (hope it wasn't FTX), building a massive following on social networks like MySpace and Vine (Tik Tok may be next... RIP), or perhaps like me, in middle school, you devoted lots of time trying to invent new slang words that would eventually take off to become the next addition in Webster's Urban Dictionary. No matter how hard I tried, the phrase, "That's sharper than gillette!" just never took off.

Trends and fads reveal just how fragile time is and how quickly we are to move from one thing to the next. Even in within the Church we've seen trends come and go over the centuries, from indulgences in the middle ages (bleh), to hymnals, and even the cringey 90's youth group trend of forcing kids to eat disgusting things before inviting them to give their lives to Jesus (thank you Fear Factor).

Hear me out, I don't think there's anything wrong with change nor with trends, I actually think we should be conscious of how to move with the times. And it's actually the trends that have a way of revealing the most beautiful aspects about our faith in Jesus: the sacraments which haven't changed for centuries. One of them being communion.

THE WORD

When the hour came, Jesus and His apostles reclined at the table. And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. -Luke 22:14-20

With Easter Sunday fast approaching, communion is sure to be a part of weekend events for many. This is perhaps one of the more perplexing practices within the Church for those outside of the Church who are seeking to understand. It's pretty amazing to think that this discipline started over 2,000 years ago and still continues to this day.

In Luke 22 Jesus instructed His disciples to eat the bread and drink the wine with the intention of remembering His sacrifice. He intentionally created a moment that He wanted to be remembered. To add to the significance, He did this as a part of the Passover Feast. Therefore, understanding the full scope of the Passover is key to understanding the full scope of communion.

Passover refers to when the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and God sent Moses along with ten plagues to deliver them, the last of which was the death of the firstborn in every household. "Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well." (Exodus 11:5)

Unlike the other nine plagues, which in large part spared the Israelites and afflicted only the Egyptians, God made it clear to Moses that this final plague would affect everyone; from Pharaoh's house, to the slave's house, to the cattle in the field. No one would be exempt from the tenth plague.

It may seem pretty dark, but it drives home a key point to the Gospel. All have sinned (Rom. 3:23) and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Mankind is sinful, death is the default, therefore no one gets away for free. But God gave these three instructions to Moses that help us fully appreciate the sacredness of communion.

THREE PASSOVER INSTRUCTIONS THAT PUT COMMUNION IN PERSPECTIVE

1. Sacrifice the lamb. (Ex. 12:7)

They were to find a lamb without blemish or defect and apply its blood to the doorpost of their home. The angel of death would then come, see the blood on the door, and pass over because the death that was owed had been paid for by an innocent lamb. This was obviously a foreshadowing of Jesus' death for our sins. He is the spotless lamb, the only one who was without sin, and therefore His death applies not to His own debt but to the debt of those who believe on Him.

2. Eat the lamb. (Ex. 12:8)

We don't talk about this much but I think it's absolutely powerful. Why was it so important to eat the lamb who spilled its blood? Because what SAVES you also SUSTAINS you. Jesus did not die just to take our sins away and to get us out of Hell. He also died to give us NEW LIFE. He doesn’t just want death to pass over you, He wants life to FLOW OUT of you. In the same way, we eat the bread to connect the brokenness of His body to the emptiness of our stomachs (really our souls). Just as He broke the bread before feeding people with it, He was broken so we could be filled.

3. Remember the lamb (Ex. 12:14)

The final command God gives Moses for the Passover is to commemorate this event. For generations to come this was to be an annual celebration. You know what it means to be DISMEMBERED? It means to be separated or taken apart. Therefore, to RE-MEMBER means to come back together. God basically tells Moses, "every year I want you to come back around the table, around a lamb or a meal, and remember  the night you were spared from death.

Now, centuries later, Jesus sat with His disciples on the evening of the Passover REMEMBERING the lamb so that they would also remember His sacrifice on the cross. We no longer have to wait for the Passover festival nor Easter Sunday to take part in this practice. His death broke open the calendar! What's most important is not how often, when, or where we take part in the Eucharist (Lord's Supper) but rather how sacredly we treat it.

CONCLUSION

There are a lot of factors that influence our memory. Age, sleep cycles, health. But the biggest influence on memory is VALUE. Your memory is most attached to what you VALUE. The most valuable things in life are worth revisiting and remembering intentionally.

You will REMEMBER FULLY what you REGARD HIGHLY.

As we head into this monumental weekend for the Christian faith, I want to encourage you to REMEMBER to REMEMBER.