Passover
Death was in the air. The young boy stood outside with his father, watching him splash blood onto the doorposts of their humble home. “Why, dad, why?” Comes the plaintive question from the lips of a terrified youngster. “This is to keep you alive, son. Let’s go inside to share our last supper in Egypt together.” The Passover meal – the last supper in Egypt – eaten with a sense of foreboding, not being quite sure what tomorrow would bring. Later that same Passover meal would become a celebration of the deliverance that night in Egypt – deliverance from the death of the firstborn and deliverance from slavery for the nation.
Lord’s Supper
Death was in the air. As Jesus sat at the table with His disciples, He knew what was coming. Tomorrow He would be hanging on a cross, dying to save the world, and here were His disciples, bickering over who should have the favoured seat; who would be the greatest. They were together with Christ at the table but as far from one another as they could possibly be. This was Christ’s Last Supper with His disciples, the Passover meal commemorating God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt 2000 years earlier. Together – but far from being one. And death was in the air.
And so, the Last Supper becomes a commemoration of the death of Jesus. A celebration of the deliverance from the slavery of sin for humankind.
Paul
Paul, sharing it with the church members of the Church at Corinth, writes to them about it in this way:
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way, after supper, He also took the cup and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” 1 Corinthians 11:24-26 ESV
Paul refers to the Lord’s Supper found in Matthew, Mark, Luke. John also talks about the event, but with a different focus; the Passover supper with the washing of feet and the command to do the same. John goes on to recount Jesus’ heartfelt prayer – Father that they may be one.
In recording it in I Cor, Paul shows that it had become part of the Christian faith and practice very soon after the resurrection of Christ and the establishment of the church.
Early Church
One of the early apostolic church fathers who ministered concurrently with Peter and Paul was Ignatius of Antioch – a disciple of John along with Polycarp, another early church father. Writings of Ignatius a few years after John’s death refer to the Lord’s Supper – the Eucharist – the giving of thanks. More specifically, giving thanks to God for the life of Christ and salvation that came through His death on the cross.
The Passover – the Lord’s Supper – the Eucharist.
Initially, the Eucharist was very much like the Passover and the Lord’s supper – a gathering of the believers together to share in a meal and give thanks to God for the gift of Salvation through Christ. With the fledgling religion meeting in the houses of its members, this was very easily done – meeting daily to break bread and join in thanksgiving. Sharing in fellowship, community, a shared belief and a common celebration. Together as one.
But slowly, as the faith grew from a persecuted religion meeting in houses to the official religion of the empire meeting in cathedrals, the service of thanksgiving and sharing of a meal gave way to only the bread and the wine being served as a commemoration of the new covenant made in His blood. The thanksgiving, the fellowship, the communal rejoicing—together as one—had gone, replaced by a solemn, formal service in which emblems of the body and blood of Christ were solemnly passed out by sombre priests in elaborate vestments.
The Eucharist today
2000 years down the road, we find various teachings around the Eucharist.
Some faiths – the event in which the bread becomes the actual body of Christ, and the wine becomes the actual blood of Christ, conveys grace within itself.
Others – Christ enters the bread and wine
Others – including our church – view the Eucharist – the giving of thanks - as a memorial, a commemoration of the death of Christ and a foreshadowing of the Supper of the Lamb in Revelation. We partake in communion with fellow believers in the presence of Christ, who has promised to be with His people through His Spirit.
Communion
Passover, Lord’s Supper, Eucharist, Communion.
So, where does the term Communion originate? – Koinonia
In the 14th century, the term began to be applied to the Eucharist.
In an article on Crosswalk.com, Jessica Brodie says that “while there is no exact translation in English, koinonia is a Greek word most closely associated with concepts of a holy, covenantal fellowship. Joseph Henry Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament defines it as “fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation.” Its origin is in the Greek word koinonos, which means partner, sharer, and companion. In short, it is a shared community that involves deep, close-knit participation among its people.”
Communion: Together as one – tied together with the bonds of a common faith, a shared experience of redemption in Christ, a common hope in the 2nd coming of Christ – Together as one.
Bromiley’s International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia describes the four main ways that koinonia is used in the bible:
Common life in general (only in Acts 2:42)
Communion between particular groups, the most remarkable instance of which was that between Jews and Gentiles
Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ
Sharing in divine revelation and with God himself (1 John 1:1–7).
And so today, we come together to celebrate the communion service – the time for fellowship, joint participation, community, communion; the Eucharist – a time of thanksgiving, rejoicing, and celebration. Together as one in Christ.
At the Passover, death was in the air; at the Lord’s Supper, the tension and foreboding were palpable – you could cut the tension in the air – the division amongst the disciples – with a knife.
But as the Christian church, we come to celebrate the communion service, not with death hanging in the air, but joining in fellowship in remembrance of His Death which paid our debt and the punishment of the second death.
Ellen White, in commenting on this event, writes: “The Passover was ordained as a commemoration of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. God had directed that, year by year, as the children should ask the meaning of this ordinance, the history should be repeated. Thus the wonderful deliverance was to be kept fresh in the minds of all. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper was given to commemorate the great deliverance wrought out as the result of the death of Christ. Till He shall come the second time in power and glory, this ordinance is to be celebrated. It is the means by which His great work for us is to be kept fresh in our minds.” DA 653, 654.
Conclusion
So let’s celebrate – let’s gather around the communion table, symbolising our common bond as brothers and sisters in Christ because He died for us all. Together as one – not striving for supremacy; not arguing over the favoured seat; not jostling one another to get to the top; not looking down our noses at those whom we consider ‘inferior’ to ourselves – but together as one.
Let’s celebrate as we remember what He has done, is doing and will do—taking us home to join in the supper of the Lamb.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way, after supper, He also took the cup and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” 1 Corinthians 11:24-26 ESV
