musings on the Lord's Supper

  Gathering on Sunday morning and eating the Lord's Supper has through the years become the very high point of my week. Christians for almost 2,000 years now have been observing this sacred time. What the Supper means is important to me, Jesus in the form of a meal has explained the meaning of His death.
  The death of Jesus was "for our sins" the Bible teaches, and in the "sacred meal" we can grasp how that his death was "for our sins", in what way his crucifixion affects our sin.
  First, the Lord's Supper speaks of the "incarnation", that God partook of the human condition in Jesus."Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity" ( Hebrews 2:14). The bread speaks of his body, that he partook of a physical body and lived among us. The fruit of the vine in the Supper speaks of his blood that he shed for us at the cross. This was all God's initiative on our behalf to bring us out of sin. Because sin, in one aspect, is a breakdown in our relation with God, we may say that is the vertical aspect of sin. Yet the Supper says this has been healed in Jesus, our time of eating the Lord's Supper is a time of communion with Jesus, he is present at the meal. Our relation with God is restored, sin is taken away, and we come to the "table" for fellowship with Him.
  Secondly, sin is internal in its consequences, we break down a relation with ourself because of sin, in many cases we begin to deceive our own self, hence lie to our self. Yet the "Lord's Supper" is a time to be real with our own self, to "examine ourself" and fix what isn't right, "examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup" (1 Corinthians 11:28).
  Thirdly, sin is we may say, horizontal in its results. It breaks down community, it has its effect on our relationships with others and harms them. Again the Lord's Supper speaks of this being healed, we gather in a assembly and eat at the same table, the table furnished by Jesus, and we are all fellow partakers of Him. (1 Corinthians 10:17) says "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread". The Supper should be eaten with a realization of unity, a sense of community because it is as much a fellowship with Jesus as it is with one another.
  I hope today you are able to come to his table and enjoy this communion.