Participation in Christ’s Body and Blood

This week on Things Unseen, we’ve been reflecting on some of the New Testament words that help us to understand and to enjoy the Lord’s Supper, words that help focus our minds when we come to the Lord’s Table. And we’ve thought about proclamation and benediction or blessing. Today’s word is participation, or if you prefer, communion.

You remember Paul’s question to the Corinthian Christians, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation, or communion, in the blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a participation, or communion, in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body because we all partake of the one bread.”

I’m sure you know that the Greek word that lies behind the word participation or communion is koinōnia. It’s the word for fellowship, communion, sharing in something. So, Paul is saying that when we receive the Supper, we are sharing in—we’re having communion in—the Lord’s body and blood. But what does that mean?

Well, he’s obviously echoing here what Jesus said when He instituted the Lord’s Supper. He gave the disciples the bread and the wine and said: “This is my body . . . this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:26–28). And what did He mean by that?

I think the best way to think about this is not to leap to conclusions—something we’re tempted to do because this question has proved to be controversial—but to build up our answer step by step. So first of all, I think it should be clear at the outset that Jesus wasn’t identifying the bread and wine with His body and blood. His body and blood were present at the table. The bread and the wine were in His hands. It must have been obvious to the disciples that they weren’t one and the same. So then, what He was saying was something like this: “Here at this table, what I give you expresses My love for you. This bread and wine represent Me. They express Me as incarnate in flesh and blood. And so, when I offer you this bread and wine, I’m offering you nothing less than Myself. And correspondingly, when you eat and drink, you are accepting Me, receiving Me, taking Me, trusting in Me, the incarnate Son of God, and doing that because you know I’m the one who sheds this precious blood for you to bring you forgiveness of sins.”

So what Jesus was saying was this: “Listen, loved ones, in this ritual, in this little drama, just as by eating the Passover lamb you expressed your share in the exodus, so now by taking the bread and the wine, you’re expressing your share in the new exodus I’m going to accomplish. You’re actually expressing your share in Me. In the old Passover, you took the exodus as your own, but now in the supper, you’re taking Me as your own.” Remember how in John 6 Jesus said that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we have no life in us? And He had earlier explained what He meant by eating and drinking as coming to Him, believing in Him, having communion with Him. And it’s exactly the same here.

So, how does that help us understand what we’re doing at the Lord’s Table? Well, I think the New Testament wants us to understand that we’re not just eating bread and drinking wine, nor are we just trying to remember what Jesus did for us. The bread and the wine are not merely aid memoirs to us, helping us to think about how Jesus died for us. If that were the case, then the supper should really have been described as a time of reflection. But it’s more—it’s a time of communion. It’s Jesus offering Himself to us by means of these love-gifts of bread and wine and saying, “Come to Me, and you’ll find rest. Receive Me. Trust Me. Love Me. Enjoy being with Me. Have communion with Me.’

So, just as a man may take a ring out of a box and offer it to a woman as a way of saying: “I love you, body and soul. I love you, and I offer myself to you to be your husband. Will you receive me and welcome me?” In the same way, Jesus Christ meets us at the table. And when we take the bread and the wine as His engagement ring of love, then we’re receiving Him and having communion with Him. And yes, there’s even more, and we’ll come to that tomorrow. And I hope you’ll join us then.