TweetWe know from Acts that the early church had amazing success. The whole movement began with the baptism of the Spirit which is essential to Christian living. Yet when Luke records in Acts 2:42 how the early church was devoted to Jesus, these things must also have been considered critical: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and the prayers.” While adhering to teaching, fellowship, and prayers seem obvious ways to be faithful to Jesus, what is it about the breaking of bread – communion — that we could be missing?
Jesus calls himself the bread of life and in John 6 he says, “And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh … Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life … Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” With these words, Jesus invites us to participate in his very life. He is offering to live life with us and through us. Jesus wants to give us a life of purity, joy, peace, and love.
In communion, we commit ourselves to a total dependence on Jesus for an eternal and abundant life. We have no life in and of ourselves — we need Christ’s life. In communion, Jesus is calling us to complete allegiance to him, the risen one. This is a loyalty that outweighs all else including families, money, and all earth bound pleasures. In communion, Jesus fulfills his promise that he would always be with us and his real presence is there when we break bread. He did not just want to be with us, he wanted to be in us, the hope of glory (Col 1:27).
My friends, Christ in us is the key to the Christian life. Communion, then, is much more than a symbolic rite: In this act we yield our lives to Jesus as we remember, celebrate, and meditate on his life, death, and resurrection. In the breaking of the bread, devote your life to Jesus, fully surrender to him, turn your eyes to him, and draw from his life: Jesus is here!
Glad to see you’re back posting!
If I had my way our church would do this weekly rather than monthly. Thank you for your thoughts on the Lord’s Supper Rob. It’s a great and accurate perspective!