05/15/2022
In communion we consume the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, and as often as we do so, we are told to remember Him, but what are our remembrances? Do we recall His miraculous birth, the Sermon on the Mount, a particular miracle, his passion, death, resurrection, the moment we first embraced Him, or are our thoughts drawn to His return, and how we will become one with Him just as in marriage we become one flesh with our earthly spouse? Do we recall the thought of this ethereal spiritual reunion, and how He has brought peace to a relationship that was once marred by hostility, and by our rampant pursuit of sin?
“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility”
Ephesians 2:14 ESV
When I was a boy in Germany there was a girl who lived down the street from me. This is one of my first memories of being infatuated with a girl, and it was a moment of confusion for me. I wanted to sit near her on the school bus, and for her to notice me, but as I wrestled with my feelings the best I could do was tease her, and poke fun at things she did. Needless to say those things made her notice me, but not in a good way, and they certainly didn’t convey how I really felt about her… I was attracted to her, but showing someone of the opposite sex how I truly felt would take years to understand, and a great deal of suffering before I would come to know how to show that as proper love. But I did mature, and later understood what it meant to share my life, and be of one flesh with my wife.
“For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”
Ephesians 5:29-32 ESV
Our remembrance of how we first approached Jesus is a whole lot like how we mature and come to know one another; man and woman. We are drawn to Him but don’t really know how to approach Him with the maturity that comes from loving, believing, and a seasoned faith.
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV
Interestingly enough girls mature faster than boys, and perhaps that is because of the role that blood plays in their physical construction, maturation, and their sexual composition, but for whatever reason, it remains a mystery to men how they see, and understand the concept of oneness far earlier in life than their male counterparts, and employ tenderness and peace as they work to heal the hostility that is embedded in the nature of immature boys. By the blood of Christ we are healed as well, and the wall of sin that mankind once built, and now wrestles with daily; a wall maintained by a hostility inherent in our inability to express the need we have for God’s forgiveness, and our own inability to respond to His perfect love for us as mature men and women of faith, is broken down by Christ’s blood.
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility”
Ephesians 2:13-14 ESV
So now we consume the flesh and blood of Jesus, much as Adam and Eve consumed the forbidden fruit, and drank in the sin. Through Christ we undo what once was done. His flesh bringing to conclusion the death brought on by the fruit, and His blood making restitution for the resulting sin.
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 5:18-21 ESV
Is this how we remember Jesus as we take communion? Do we remember Him in some immature fashion… which is acceptable and good for the spiritual child that we all began as? Or, do we remember Him as mature men and women of faith who are awaiting our resurrection, our wedding day, and what it means to lovingly join Him as one flesh… made perfect for all eternity.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ, for the sacrament of Communion, and for every remembrance we have of Him. Thank you for calling us to Him, and for the promise of our resurrection, and joining with Him as one body. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who loves us as children, and as the mature men and women of faith you lead us to become. Praised be your name for the Cup of Christ, and the New Covenant that you have made with us. Help us Lord in our spiritual growth as we are made perfect in Christ, all doubt is removed from our belief, and our faith is strengthened. Merciful are you who raises us up into mature men and women of faith, into saints, and holy followers of Jesus in whom his remembrance never fades. Wash us again today in His blood, and remove every sin as you prepare us for eternity with you. Transform us into your children, your mature sons and daughters, in whom you are well pleased, and will welcome, and confirm in judgement, as you gather us before you for all eternity. Hear our praise, and be glorified by our worship forevermore.
Rich Forbes