Hello! I was wondering, what exactly is a Communion. Detail and all! Thanks!
My Reply:
OK, this is going to be long...
1) In the culture, people mostly just ate w/ friends (often peers)...but Jesus' friends weren't peers. And the fact that He ate with sinners and such outcasts expresses Jesus making friends with them at meal-fellowship. It also points to the eschotolical age, when the outcasts will be (are now) invited to eat with the Lord, as friends.
2) In Old Testament days, when a nation wanted to wipe out somebody completely, they'd make it so that their name wasn't remembered…but at communion, Jesus is to be remembered.
3) Taking communion is not only partaking with other believers, but also with Christ...the Last supper was the last time Jesus would eat food on earth...the next time He'd eat is in Heaven. So it's suggested that when we partake in communion in remembrance of Him, we're actually eating WITH HIM at the table, as His friends…everybody, together.
1) In the culture, people mostly just ate w/ friends (often peers)...but Jesus' friends weren't peers. And the fact that He ate with sinners and such outcasts expresses Jesus making friends with them at meal-fellowship. It also points to the eschotolical age, when the outcasts will be (are now) invited to eat with the Lord, as friends.
2) In Old Testament days, when a nation wanted to wipe out somebody completely, they'd make it so that their name wasn't remembered…but at communion, Jesus is to be remembered.
3) Taking communion is not only partaking with other believers, but also with Christ...the Last supper was the last time Jesus would eat food on earth...the next time He'd eat is in Heaven. So it's suggested that when we partake in communion in remembrance of Him, we're actually eating WITH HIM at the table, as His friends…everybody, together.
4) The thing about calling it "Eucharist": Charis (Caris) means "Grace" in Greek. So the Greeks couldn't say the word "Eu-Charis-t", without saying "grace": we are joined together as 1 body by God's grace.
5) Also, back to #1, even if we have enemies...we make them friends w/ us when we have fellowship w/ them at the table, because it's sharing at the table with them in the presence of the Lord, as HE eats w/ us, too. The Apostles' only thing in common was Jesus (well, Peter & Andrew had the same parents). Really, when you look at what a motley crew the apostles were...(band of outcasts who'd never get along…not the best of people, really...trouble makers…misfits)…I mean, you had fishermen, a tax collector, a Zealot (believed in forceful conversions & killing with daggers those who opposed them), 2 guys w/ really bad tempers, and a thief…they're indeed a bunch of trouble makers…if not for Jesus, you'd never see them together. So the only thing they had in common was Jesus. And after Jesus' resurrection and ascension, it was Jesus that held them together as friends. So in the same way, taking communion together brings us together at the table as friends, as we join the Lord at meal fellowship.
---Pastor Andy
Anybody want to add more to this answer? Drop me a comment!
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