Why Take the Lord’s Supper?
I’ve been around now for 16,646 days. That’s 2,378 Sundays. My parents took me to the assembly of the saints my very first Sunday on earth and I have only missed such an
But this past Lord’s Day, while partaking of the Lord’s Supper I thought of something that I have never really considered before. I asked myself, “Why did God decide to have us actually physically eat unleavened bread and actually physically drink of the fruit of the vine?”
I know the Bible answers. That’s not what I mean. I know what Jesus said as a prelude to the Lord’s Supper in John chapter 6. I know what he said in the gospels when he instituted the supper during the last meal before his crucifixion. I know what the New Testament writers have included by inspiration to explain the significance of the emblems and to command the proper observance of the communion. I know why we partake every Sunday. I’ve preached several sermons on this important aspect of worship. But today I was wondering, “Why physically eat and drink?”
As I was putting this tiny piece of bread in my mouth I was asking myself, “Why do I need this little crumb of bread?” And as I took that miniature cup I was asking, “Why this little sip of grape juice?” I understand that we are not here for a physical meal. I get the reason why the portions are small. It is not about sustenance or taste or any type of fleshly pleasure. Let’s face it, wouldn’t it be weird to have a large portion? We did not come to worship to eat and drink.
And yet eating and drinking is exactly why we have gathered. Jesus commissioned it. He commanded it. He wants us to remember. He wants it to be something that we physically do even though worship is a primarily spiritual activity. Somewhere in the middle of all these
When I look at the incarnation of the Son of God I am reminded that the humanity of Jesus is just another example of how far God is willing to go to be a part of His creation. I find that truth, that Jesus would take on flesh in order to bring us to God, to be incredibly amazing! God is great and we are nothing. The distance that God is willing to travel to reach us is impossible to describe. He came from eternity to time, from spiritual to physical, from immortality to mortality in order to be in fellowship with the human family. He did all of this even though we are the ones who broke the perfect fellowship we were originally blessed with because of our own selfish and willful disobedience. Our God is so good!
I don’t know about you, but I am sometimes very disappointed with myself when it comes to my inability to properly reflect on the death, burial and resurrection of my Savior while partaking of the Lord’s Supper. After doing the math, I had to ask myself out of those 1800 some odd times I have observed it, how many times did I observe it well? I’m afraid to know the true answer and I am thankful that God is patient and gracious to me. But I did learn one thing this past Lord’s Day, when I asked myself a question that I had never asked before on those other Sundays…
As I ate, and the bread was in my mouth…I wondered what it was physically like for Jesus to be nailed to a cross and hang there for me. What was it like for his body to take the on physical punishment sufficient for the sins of the world? As I
And I cried.
“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.’” – Matthew 26:26-27
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AUTHOR: Jeremiah Tatum
Photo background credit: Kurt Clark on Creative Commons
