From what I have observed, and reports I have heard, there seems to have been something of a falling away from sharing communion since the pandemic first led to lockdown last March.
As the crisis forges ever-tighter screws on the shutdown of society, with a degree of panic striking at the heart of government, it’s surely incumbent upon Christians to demonstrate as never before where their hope comes from. Much as we thank God for the science that seeks to bring our collective misery to an end, no vaccine will prove an ultimate solution to our woes as a nation.
Communion is vital
Practical considerations may well have caused many pastors to put regular sharing of bread and wine on temporary hold, but we are denying a crucial element of our faith in doing so. The technology that has enabled us to ‘meet’ online surely doesn’t prevent us from taking communion, even if it does mean ‘bringing our own’.1
Communion is essentially a memorial feast inaugurated by Christ himself at the Last Supper – the continuation of a festival initiated 1,500 years earlier, with Jesus clearly showing how he was the perfect fulfilment of the Passover which ended 400 years of slavery in Egypt for his forbears.
Because Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go, it took ten terrible plagues before he finally, and reluctantly, relented. The death of the first-born was a step too far for the tyrant, but the people of God were spared through the blood of a spotless male lamb, which they were told to mark on the doors and lintels of their houses before tucking into the feast.
For God said: “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” (Exodus 12:13)
The blood of Jesus saves us
We are not to fear Covid; we are to fear the awesome power of the living God who, through Christ, will set us free from death and disease. Notice how the health, future and freedom of the ancient Israelites depended on trusting in the lamb’s blood they were commanded to mark on their doorposts – the Lord’s solution to their problems.
In the same way, Christians today are commanded to celebrate and remember the sacrifice of their Passover Lamb whose precious blood has paid the penalty for the sins of all who have ‘marked’ it on the door of their hearts. This memorial shouldn’t really be seen as an optional extra to our services, but as a regular meal we share together to acknowledge our unity in Christ, and in the body and blood that bought our salvation.
Notice how the health, future and freedom of the ancient Israelites depended on trusting in the lamb’s blood – the Lord’s solution to their problems.
Yes, we came to know Jesus by asking him into our lives, but we could never have done that unless he had first died that cruel death at Calvary for our sakes. Christians overcome the enemy of our souls through the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony (Rev 12:11). We trust implicitly in his saving blood, without which we have no spiritual life, either here on earth or in eternity.
It is with his blood that he struck the new covenant (1 Cor 11:25). And it is through communion that we proclaim his death until he comes. The Lord commands us to do this in remembrance of him.
A prophetic declaration
As author and missionary Dr Fred Wright says, “It is a prophetic declaration to the world, the flesh and the devil that we are in a living covenant with the living God.”
The symbols of bread and wine are a sign – not only to God, but also to angels, demons, principalities and powers – of our trust in the sacrificial death of Christ, whose blood defeats every plague and pestilence.
And in renewing the covenant Jesus made with his blood, we are re-enacting the Passover. But if we partake of the communion in an unworthy manner – such as while living immorally or being at loggerheads with fellow believers or even our spouse (see the context of 1 Corinthians) – then we are guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord (1 Cor 11:27), and may well end up sick and dying under the Lord’s judgment (v30).
The symbols of bread and wine are a sign – not only to God, but also to angels, demons, principalities and powers – of our trust in the sacrificial death of Christ, whose blood defeats every plague and pestilence.
Yes, Pharaoh and the Egyptians were punished for their obstinacy. But in the end God allowed his own beloved Son (and indeed Joseph and Mary’s first-born) to die for us all – in order that we might look to him and live.
Remembering the past for assurance for the future
The Jewish feasts – not only Passover, but also Pentecost and Tabernacles – were lasting ordinances reminding them of God’s miraculous provision in the past while also assuring them of his continuing sufficiency for the present and future.
So it is with communion – and other Christian festivals. We need to be constantly reminded of God’s awesome deeds because we are naturally very forgetful. That’s why Holocaust memorials are held each year, because people forget the horrors past generations have suffered and need to be reminded of man’s propensity for this kind of evil, lest it should happen again.
Memorials are key to the Judeo-Christian faith as a whole and we ignore them at our peril. They have not ‘passed over’. All the Jewish feasts are fulfilled in Jesus and offer significant insight into our calling and mission, especially to the Jews (Romans 1:16).
Feasts (particularly the Sabbath) have bound the Jews together like glue over millennia. But some churches have sadly dropped even Christian feasts like Pentecost – no wonder many have lost connection with the source of their power, thereby diminishing their witness and effectiveness.
Memorials are key to the Judeo-Christian faith as a whole and we ignore them at our peril.
According to Kevin DeYoung, participation in the Lord’s Supper is one of the key ways of developing our communion with Christ. “It is not only a visible reminder of the gospel; it is a spiritual feast where Christ is present as both the host and the meal.”2
In sharing communion, we are declaring our faith in Christ’s atoning death, a fulfilment of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), another lasting ordinance, when amends were made for the people’s sin. Christ is now “the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 2:2), that are washed away by his blood (Isaiah 1:18), which bought us life, health and immortality.
Endnotes
1If you are unable to partake of communion with your church online, Premier Christian Radio have a full service, including communion, each Sunday morning.
2The Hole in our Holiness, by Kevin DeYoung, published by Crossway