The Signs of the Meal that is Holy

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:19-20).

Jesus… “earnestly desired to eat this Passover” (Luke 22:15) with His disciples. The letter to the Hebrews reminds us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). That means Jesus earnestly desires to meet with His disciples and share this meal with them in every age. Theologians and scholars have tried to understand the promise of the Lord’s presence at His table. I believe He gives some revelation into this mystery in the words He shared with His disciples around that first table. He told them He would not share this Passover meal again until its purpose was completely fulfilled… “I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:16). Jesus made the special bread and third cup of the Passover meal visible signs of sacred things that He was about to fulfill. In so doing He fulfilled the deep, prophetic meaning of this holy meal so that He could set His table and invite us to a sacred communion with Him through faith in the signs of the meal that is holy.

The sign of the bread. During the Passover meal Jesus took the Afikomen, the middle one of the three pieces of matzah that stood for the priest or mediator between God and the people. It was wrapped as he would be wrapped in linen for burial and hidden somewhere in the house as he would be buried. It was found and brought back to the meal as he would be resurrected. Jesus took this bread, gave thanks for it, and distributed it to the disciples, as a sign of redemption for all who will receive it in faith. In this, Christ was showing the disciples that this middle piece of matzah was the sign of His spotless body given for the redemption of His people. As the matzah is striped and pierced, His body would be striped and pierced, and by those wounds we are healed… “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Christ made this middle piece of matzah, the Afikomen, a sign of His bodily sacrifice and it has become our communion bread.

The sign of the cup. The third cup of wine was taken after the meal. It was the Cup of Redemption from slavery into freedom. It reminded the Jews of the covenant confirmed by the shed blood of a spotless, innocent Lamb that secured their redemption from Egypt… “The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13). Jesus intentionally took this third cup, gave thanks for it, and gave it to His disciples. He identified this cup as a sign of a new covenant sealed with His blood as the Lamb of God… “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Christ made this cup a sign of His saving blood, and it is our communion cup.

The sign of communion. It’s no wonder we have come to call this meal holy communion. It is sometimes called the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist, a word of Greek origin meaning thanksgiving. You see, Christ instituted a meal to invite us to withdraw from this temporal world and enter into intimate fellowship with Him. The Spirit inspired John to echo Christ’s invitation to commune with Him over a meal… “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). The key to experiencing the presence of the Lord at His holy table is faith in the one who gave us these signs of His broken body and poured out blood. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to confirm this truth… “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:27-28). When we come to the Lord’s table recognizing our deep need of a Savior and discerning and believing the signs of His broken body and His shed blood, He promises us a sweet communion with Him.

As we grow up into Christ, we experience communion with Him when we faithfully discern…

The Signs of the Meal that is Holy.