David Bahn – Reflections

And when the hour came, Jesus reclined at table, and the apostles with him. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. ¹⁸ For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹ 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.” ²⁰ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. ²¹ But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. ²² For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” ²³ And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

²⁴ A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. ²⁵ And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. ²⁶ But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. ²⁷ For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

²⁸ “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, ²⁹ and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, ³⁰ that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

We were at a national leadership conference in Chicago many years ago with our church staff. The strong Christian teaching, leadership insights, and bonding experience for church our staff was remarkable. The day before it ended we were told there would be communion as part of the closing worship. We were in a bind because the experience had been so good, yet we were not in a Lutheran church. That night we prayed that God would make it clear to us as to how we would respond to the opportunity the next day. It was immediately clear the next day when the leader said, as he held up a communion wafer, “We all know what this is. This is a representation of Christ’s body.” We knew better. We sadly refrained from participating.

On a mission trip to China our Lutheran missionary guide and friend took us to one of the Three Self churches in Kunming, a city in the Yunnan province. He told us about the pastor and his faithfulness to God’s word. When time came for communion, it was clear that we were with faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. Our guide told us the pastor was using the true words of Jesus in the celebration. We were deeply honored to have joined in receiving the body and blood of Jesus there.

When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper he didn’t say, “This represents my body.” He said, “This is my body.” Likewise the wine, “This is the new covenant in my blood.” Is means is. But let’s look even closer, Jesus says, “This is my body.” I think he is pointing out the fact that for 1400 years as the Jewish people celebrated Passover, they were celebrating Jesus, the Christ. He is the Lamb of God. He is the fulfillment of the Passover.

There are many other things going on that Luke records here. Arguments about who is the greatest. A sad revelation of coming betrayal. A coming glorious meal in the life of the world to come. But let’s focus now on this precious meal for the soul.

As we celebrate Holy Communion we’re not just doing a thing that Jesus told us to do. We’re participating in the celebration of all that God was and is doing through his Son, Jesus of Nazareth. We do well to believe Jesus’ words. We do better by not trying to figure out how to explain his words, or worse, explain them away. We do best when we “do this in remembrance of” all that Jesus has done, is doing, and will ultimately accomplish for us in the life of the world to come.