Mark 14:22-24

As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.” And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many.”

There are many different ways to convey a message. The most obvious is to use words, but there are times when they are not enough. In the Old Testament, we often see the prophets acting out their message. One such dramatic moment was when Ahijah tore his robe into twelve pieces and gave ten of them to Jeroboam to demonstrate that ten of the tribes would make him king (1 Kings 11:29-32). Jeremiah also used dramatic actions to emphasise his messages. He fastened a yoke to his neck with leather straps to show how the Babylonians would conquer the land (Jeremiah 27:2). Nobody could have misunderstood his message.

In our reading today, Jesus shared a special meal with His disciples. Using the powerful imagery of the broken bread and the wine, Jesus told His bemused disciples that these symbols spoke of His own body and blood. Jesus had already clearly told them that He was going to die, but now He demonstrated it through sharing a simple meal with them.

I wonder what the disciples made of that meal. At the time, it must have been very confusing. Alarmingly, it began with Jesus telling them that one of them was going to betray Him. They knew that there was an increasing tide of opposition to Jesus’ ministry and must have been nervous. In the midst of it all, they met Jesus their friend, their master and their Lord.

When we celebrate Communion, we are in a very different place from the disciples. We know that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that on the third day He rose again and is still alive and in heaven. But just as the disciples shared that last supper with the Lord in an atmosphere of tension, so too we meet with the living Jesus in a world in which there is still much brokenness, violence and sin. Jesus meets with us where we are, just as He met with His disciples long ago in that Upper Room.

Question

What does the service of Communion mean to you?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You that You meet with me day by day in the midst of the challenges and opportunities of life. Amen