Communion Service - Pastor Johnny Marten
Luke 22 places Jesus at the table with bread in his hands and a cup before him, and Jesus says, “This is my body given for you” and “this cup is the new covenant in my blood.” Bread becomes the picture of nourishment, because the physical body needs food pretty much daily, and the spiritual side of a born again person also needs nourishment. Jesus himself says, “I am the bread of life,” and that means he is not talking about a stomach that never growls again, but about the spirit that can finally be satisfied.
John 1 takes that further and says that Jesus is the Word who was with God and was God. Genesis shows God creating by speaking, with the Spirit hovering, and John says that all things were made through the Word. Sin then entered the world and caused a separation between God and mankind. That separation left some kind of void, an empty space inside humanity, and people have tried filling it with money, possessions, houses, farms, trucks, women, alcohol, drugs, and all kinds of things. None of it has been able to satisfy that deep craving. The Word became flesh, and Jesus says that he is the one who fits that empty space.
Faith becomes the starting place. Jesus says whoever believes in him will never be thirsty, and the stories of healing show that faith makes people well. A person does not need to know a whole lot of Scripture before putting faith in Jesus, but once faith is there, the living Word must be taken in. Jeremiah says, “When your words came, I ate them,” because God’s words become joy and the heart’s delight.
The cup points to the new covenant in Christ’s blood, and wine often serves as a picture of the Holy Spirit. Fermented wine can make the spirit happy for a little while, but the Holy Spirit gives peace and joy that do not fade away like that. Acts 2 shows people acting different and talking different when the Spirit comes, and those on the outside may think it is strange. Ephesians says not to get drunk with wine, but to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 53 shows why this new covenant is possible: Jesus was pierced for transgressions, crushed for iniquities, and the punishment that brought peace was on him. Communion therefore remembers what Jesus has done. First Corinthians also calls each person to examine the heart, not the person in the next row. Communion is not for people who have everything perfect, but it does call for a heart that honestly asks, “Where’s my heart at?” and looks back with gratitude at what Christ has done.