06/29/2018
This morning I contemplate the body of Christ as taken at Communion. This gift that is more than a passing thought, but something which becomes part and parcel of us mentally, spiritually, and yes, physically. When at the Lord’s Table, do you realize how perfect the remembrance of Christ should be to you? This is an act in which our being is joined perfectly with His through His blessing, and by His hand.
“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."”
Matthew 26:26 ESV
When I was a young man there was starvation in a certain African country. I don’t remember which one, but am inclined to believe it was Ethiopia. Even though I can’t remember the country today, I do remember a photograph of a mother who was only skin and bones... she was nursing her baby who was similarly emaciated. The impact of this picture has never left me... she was giving her child all that she had... her body.
Sometimes after taking Communion I think about that photograph, and the gift of Christ’s body, and as I do the tears flow. On the verge of death He gave all that He had left to us... Himself. He wasn’t giving us a word of encouragement, He wasn’t anointing us with oil, and He wasn’t giving us a little taste of bread and saying “When you eat dinner tonight think about me.” No, He was giving us Himself, and said as much... “This is my body.”
I recall the story of the road to Emmaus, and how Jesus walked with the two dejected apostles who didn’t recognize him. They were going home because they believed that Jesus was dead... gone. But Jesus spoke to them of Himself, and it began to spark a tiny light of remembrance, but when he joined them for Supper something amazing occurred... do you recall? He blessed and broke the bread then gave it to them. At that moment the tiny light became a roaring fire, and their eyes were opened... they recognized Him!
“When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.”
Luke 24:30-31 ESV
They didn’t just remember His face, they remembered everything they had ever known of Him. The quickening of Christ was upon them.
“They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?" And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,”
Luke 24:32-33 ESV
When we take Communion and the bread is blessed, broken, and passed, we too should have a miraculous remembrance, a quickening! If we don’t then what have we done, and of what use are our actions... our faith? Where is His body within us?
Many churches take Communion at the conclusion of their Sunday service. This is done in the hope that you will have been prepared spiritually for the body of Christ. When this occurs are you still in a spirit of worship, are you absorbed in the remembrance of Jesus, or are you already thinking about going home, or the meal you are about to eat with friends and family? Regardless of when we take Communion the power and holiness of this act should engulf us, and the remembrance of Jesus be complete in our body, mind, and spirit. How do you approach Communion? Do you prepare yourself as Jesus prepared the two on the road to Emmaus? Do you allow yourself to remember in fullness as they did? Does the Body of Jesus within you flare into a roaring flame? Do you know at that moment what it means to be in remembrance of Him?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ, I thank you for His life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, but Father I give thanks indeed for His body and blood that He shared with his disciples, and still shares with us in Communion. I thank you for this, the quickening of His very life force, that brings Him into our full remembrance. Holy Father, help me prepare myself for the ingestion of your Son; help me through your Holy Spirit to understand the holiness of Communion, and to be swept into full remembrance of Jesus. Let your Word rest upon me at that moment Father, and every footstep, miracle, teaching, lash of the whip, jeer, strike of the hammer, pain of the nail, suffering of sin, hopelessness of death, joy of resurrection, and glory of ascension that is the remembrance of your Son come to me. In this moment of quickening let me worship you, and find myself one with Christ. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my Father, the fountain of grace, the forgiver of sin.
Rich Forbes