I was running late leaving Arkadelphia for an 11 o’clock appointment in Little Rock. As my van rolled smoothly onto the superslab heading north, I started munching on a mid-morning snack of mixed nuts and some of that tasty pub mix that we had gotten at Sam’s Club. At that moment I remembered Jesus’ teaching right before he left this earth realm.
Jesus used eating and drinking, the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the cup, to illustrate that his body was going to be broken for people and his blood was going to be shed. He used something we do every day to help us remember what he did for us on an everyday basis. In fact, he said we are to be remembering him as we do this (Luke 22:19, 20). After his resurrection he was not recognized by some of his followers until he ate with them and broke the bread and gave to them. At that point they recognized him and he vanished from their sight (Luke 24:30-35). So he was known by those followers through the breaking of bread together with him. Obviously the early followers remembered him in this way, referring to the meals they ate together in their homes as “breaking bread” (Acts 2:46). Our personal fellowship and communion with the Lord, and our remembering to draw on the benefits that he has provided for us, is to be daily and constant just as eating and drinking is a daily thing that provides constant benefit. The corporate eating and drinking together that we have labeled as “Communion” is a corporate reminder that his body is broken for us and his blood is shed for us so we can draw on those benefits provided. His benefits to us are personal forgiveness and the putting away of sin through faith in his shed blood, and personal healing and health through faith in his broken body. Corporately his followers are called “one body”, and corporate communion is to serve as a reminder for corporate healing that if there is any unforgiveness or division, it is to be dealt with so the Spirit of God can flow through the church with power (Acts 2:42, 46, 47; 4:31-33). So, let’s remember him when we eat and drink on a daily basis.
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