Sharing a meal with other believers involves an intimacy that goes beyond merely meeting together. The willingness to sit down and share food naturally brings with it a deeper sense of relationship. Maybe it is because of the work done to prepare the meal or the sacrifice of one or the other party paying for the food. Maybe it involves the natural joy of eating that God has given to us which adds to the experience of being together. Whatever the reason may be I feel it is safe to assume that sharing meals with each other is a display of love for one another and care for each other.

Now to take on the partaking of the body and blood of Christ in holy communion. I love the two-way nature of the Lord’s Supper. In one sense we remember Jesus, how his flesh was torn and his blood was shed for the remittance of our sin. We remember the sacrifice, the pain, the great love that he has in his heart for us to endure the greatest pain experienced by a man in all of human history. We also get to remember that the grave could not keep him and that he rose again and that through his resurrection we also may have new life.

In the other instance, we see the prophetic nature of the Lord’s Supper. We are not only remembering but we are proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes. We joyfully announce the coming of our Lord as we take of his flesh and drink of his blood.

Course: Ecclesia (Module 2) | Topic: Early Church Principles | See All Categories & Topics