Back to Basics 2Намуна

‘When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”

Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”

He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:14-19)

Humans tend to quickly forget things – big or small, simple or profound. Communion is a beautiful way to remind us that Jesus’ sacrifice stands throughout time and that, as His followers, we get to be a part of it.

How do you take communion?

Now that we’ve discussed what communion is and why we take it. Let’s practically look at the components that make up communion.

Bread - The bread represents the body of Jesus that was broken for us. We eat a small piece of bread from a loaf (or a cracker). This symbolises our part in the faith and our accepting and remembering the sacrifice of Jesus’ body on the cross.

Wine - Similarly, wine represents Jesus’ blood. Without the shedding of His blood on the cross, we would not have salvation. We typically drink a small sip of red wine or grape juice as a symbol of the blood.

Scripture - To accompany the taking of communion, it is common practice to read a portion of scripture such as the title scripture above, reminding us of the extent of the sacrifice made for us and the reason behind communion. It is always so powerful to take communion, having heard the recounting of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

And that’s it! That’s communion.

Some Christians quibble over how often we should take communion.

I don’t believe the frequency of communion is as important as the heart behind it. If you were to take communion several times a year or several times a day, God would see your heart in remembering His Son’s sacrifice and honour it.

It’s best not to get too religious about any spiritual discipline but to allow the authentic worship of taking communion, reading your Bible, praying and so on to overflow from a heart that loves God and wants to honour Him.

Tomorrow we will look at another discipline that is a big part of the Christian faith in most churches – home groups.