I was recently in a conversation that brought up communion.  My friend expressed that they understood it as a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice for us, His body the bread and His blood the wine, but they didn’t understand the symbolism of eating it.

With Passover and Easter coming up this week, I thought I’d share on the significance of Communion and what Jesus really did.

Communion is symbolic, yes. Specifically, the act of communion is recognizing, accepting, and receiving Christ’s covenant with us. “Covenant” is not a word used very much anymore, however, so it has lost its meaning for many simply due to lack of understanding.

Long ago, people had a deep knowledge of “covenant” as an unbreakable bond to a promise. Their ceremonies and symbols pointed to it. It is the most weighty oath that can be made, and in the time Jesus walked the earth its significance was well understood. A people group could come into covenant with another people group to benefit one another, usually for protection and provision, but could not do so lightly because it meant forever. Their people would have to honor that bond with their lives and teach their children to for generations. The promise would become part of them, like part of their DNA – hence why there was always blood involved in the ceremony (this is also reflected in the covenant of marriage, when two people enter a covenant promise and become one).

The craziest thing is that God Himself chose to make this kind of promise – covenant – with us!!

Communion is an expression of us taking His promises and giving ourselves in return. The covenant becomes part of us. He is in us and we are in Him (1 John 4:13).

But God is pure, therefore His promises are also pure. So instead of using animals as a symbolic sacrifice of blood, He gave HIS OWN blood to seal His promise with us forever. And the wonderful thing about our lord is that He never breaks his covenant. Even if we fail, He covers us with grace. He is always faithful even when we are not.

In fact, knowing that we ourselves were not faithful enough to keep this eternal and perfect covenant bond, He came to walk the earth as a man, so that in Him the covenant is complete – flesh, blood, and spirit, both God’s and Man’s. This is what he was pointing to when Jesus constantly called himself the Son of Man. He offered Himself on behalf of us all.

This is why our salvation is not from our works, but was freely given through the work Jesus already completed on the cross! His own earthly body that was given for us in unity with heaven, and His blood poured out for us to complete the unbreakable bond that Heaven made with us!

Within him, Christ Jesus, the law is completed and the new covenant is forever sealed!

When we receive communion, we are remembering and declaring that we receive this promise into ourselves – that it becomes part of us, and that we don’t take it lightly but honor Him with our lives and teach our children to honor Him after us (John 6:53, John 15:4).

Glory!! What a wonderful God!! God is so much bigger and His goodness so much more than we could ever imagine…