One level of worship is communion, or a personal relationship, with God. This is a personal encounter that builds the relationship between a believer and God. The sacrament of communion is similar in that it brings us to a remembrance of what Christ did for us. I believe that for many, unfortunately, the practice of communion has become a religious ritual and it isn’t given much more thought. We should explore the depth of communion.
I’ve heard it said that the rabbis taught that the Word of God has seven layers for every scripture. The Hebrew letters are also numbers as well as pictographs. Depths of a story can be told. I have referred to things in the past as the Sunday School lesson, a basic teaching, and the deeper truth, a more in depth explanation. Jesus knows the depths of all things and He sent Holy Spirit to us to reveal all truth.
I encourage believers to participate in communion daily, and for the Ekklesia to partake in the sacrament at every gathering, either with/as a meal, or as a stand alone remembrance. Remembering the work of Jesus on the cross is one aspect, with another being thanksgiving to God. We should always be in an attitude of thanksgiving to God. The spirit of thanksgiving brings us into a more intimate position of communion with our Creator.
Body & Blood
And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.
Mark 14:22-24 KJV
Wheat / Bread
“This is my body which is given for you” Luke 22:19b
The bread represents the body of the Lamb of God.
Communion
“This do in remembrance of Me.” Luke 22:19c
Jesus is recognized and remembered by us as we participate in the sacrament.
Grape / Wine
“This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”
Luke 22:20b
The wine or the juice represents the blood of the Lamb of God.
And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.”
John 12:23-25 KJV
Death to Life
Jesus let the people know that He was about to face His crucifixion in this form of code or parable. The Son of man was about to be glorified in fulfilling the purpose of His coming into the earth, His death and resurrection for our sake. He let the people know that He was going to go into the ground and die, and in that death He would bring much fruit. We are that fruit, the product of His work on the cross and the power of the resurrection.
The Seed > The Wheat > The Bread > The Body
The seed goes into the ground, dies, and rises again to produce a stalk of wheat with more grain. The grain goes through the mill, being refined, to be useful in the process of baking. The grain, or flour, is combined with other useful ingredients and then put through the fire, the oven, another refining process. The bread is produced for nourishment to the body of the one who eats it.
Jesus goes into the tomb after He dies on the cross. He rises again the firstborn of many brethren. He was the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice on our behalf.
The Seed > The Vine > The Grape > The Juice > The Blood
The seed goes into the ground, dies, and rises again to produce a vine that has branches bearing the fruit from which the juice, or wine, is produced. The sap (or blood of the vine) flows through the vine into the branches and produces the fruit, or grapes.
The juice is the blood of the Lamb, which flows through the body of Christ for health and strength. The blood of the Lamb was shed for the forgiveness of our sin. The body is empowered to produce fruit.
The Man > The Death > The New Life > The Body of Christ
Men and women must die to self, casting away the old life and turning away from the ways of the world. Being born to a renewed spirit, the new life is not used to satisfy selfish desires and lusts, rather, to glorify God. This new life is as the Body of Christ, of whom, Christ Jesus is the head.
So, Jesus tells of the need to die in order to produce fruit as in John 12 above. He also tells of the need to be in communion with Him if we want to produce fruit in the Kingdom.
We see here the need for communion with God, and specifically in this case with Jesus.
He is the vine providing the life force to us, the branches, without which we can not produce fruit that glorifies God.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
John 15:4-6 KJV
In the Parable of the Sower, or of the soils, we are the good soil into which the Word of God is sown, then producing good fruit. Here again is the necessity of communion with God. We must be connected to God in an intimate relationship in order to bring forth good fruit which will glorify God and produce our reward.
But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Matthew 13:23 KJV
The Apostle Paul asks a rhetorical question of those at Corinth.
I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
1 Corinthians 10:15-17 KJV
Here is my standard communion practice nearly every morning or if I lead a group, with thanksgiving and praise.
Thank you Father for having so loved the world that you sent your only begotten Son for our restoration and redemption, unto everlasting life.
Thank you Father for these elements, the bread and the juice, produced from seeds that went into the ground and died, coming back to life to bring forth the wheat and the vine and fruit. Power flowing from the vine to the branch.
Thank you Jesus, that for the joy set before You, You left the majesty of heaven and came into your creation, humbling yourself and giving yourself for our sake, for our redemption.
Thank you Jesus for laying down Your life for us both in the living and in the dying.
In the living of it, showing us how to live in communion with Father, following the leading of Holy Spirit, and sacrificially loving one another. We do this as we surrender to You as our Lord.
In the dying, giving your body for us, bruised for our iniquities, wounded for our transgressions, and beaten, battered, and bloodied, even to the piercing of your body, to the shedding of your blood, for the forgiveness of our sins. And by your stripes, we are healed.
I receive this now with thanksgiving as I look forward to the day of my transfiguration when I will have the fullness of the Seven Spirits of God and the mind of Christ, co-laboring with You for the sake of the Kingdom of God to the glory of the Father. Amen.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJV
And he took bread, and gave thanks, Luke 22:19a KJV
John 15:4-6 KJV (above)
[Jesus] who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, Hebrews 12:2b KJV
A multitude of verses.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5 KJV