The Christ in Prophecy Journal

A Better Communion

When Jesus first broke bread and presented the cup in the Upper Room, He was only hours from His crucifixion. For Jesus and His disciples it was a heavy, sad, somber affair.

Two-thousand years later, Communion continues to be a heavy, sad, somber affair every time believers participate in its remembrance. And rightfully so, for it is the time when we remember our Lord’s great act of love and mercy by sacrificing Himself brutally on the cross on our behalf. Participating in Communion is like attending a funeral. Each of us feels personally responsible for killing our loving God with our own sins.

The contrast to Communion is the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. More than a paltry meal of a bit of bread and drink of juice, it is a great banquet of unimaginable splendor. Everybody around the table sparkles with that fresh feeling as if having had an invigorating bath after working long in the fields. Jesus Himself will be there, not weighted down by a crushing sorrow, but exuberant at a soon expected triumph. The Feast is not tainted by the guilt of sinners, but by the shared glorification of saints. There will be happiness, love, praise and energy. It will be communion as it was meant to be — personal and joyous!

I hope that we will not have to have many more Communion services before Jesus takes us up to be with Him in Heaven. Our Savior has better ceremonies of worship and remembrance planned ahead.

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Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

7 CommentsLeave a Comment

  • Hi Nathan,

    I would like to say that I respectfully disagree with your premises that Communion for us should be “a heavy, sad, somber affair.” On the contrary, communion should be a celebration–a time of rejoicing as we give thanks for what was accomplished at the cross (the penalty paid for sin–represented by the wine, and the crucifixion of the old sin nature [Rom. 6:6]–represented by the bread). Now that, my friend, is a reason to rejoice!

    The Bible commands us to take communion “in rememberance of” Jesus–NOT “in rememberance of” ourselves. To me, this idea of focusing on how we were “resonsible for killing our loving God” seems like putting the focus back on us rather than where it should be–on Christ and His perfect redemption.

    Blessings,
    Gail

  • I mostly agree with the previous post. Communion has always been a time of giving thanks to a LIVING Jesus for His sacrifice on the cross having cleansed me of my sins. Communion has never been like a funeral for me. Do I feel guilt and sadness for my sins? Absolutely. But I never have been in a state of mourning during Communion probably because I never think of Jesus as being dead but rather as He is…alive and coming soon to take us to be with Him forever. So, Communion is a time of remembering Christ death AND resurrection which doesn’t make me mourn for Him but prayerfully thank and praise Him.

  • My last comment on this post was simply to move the discussion to how awesome it will be when we can commune with God in His very presence. Won’t that be an incredible way to remember Jesus – to see His scars on our behalf and talk with Him personally about His sacrifice?

    Billy, the post was removed because you took my last comment all wrong and I wanted to avoid others counter-commenting on a misinterpretation. Looking out for your back, Man! 🙂

    We can see on all the posts that there are a variety of comments and ideas about each post, so discussion is most encouraged. I’ll only remove comments if a flame war begins to keep a civil discussion. Since we’re addressing that question here rather than on the Ezekiel post, I’m going to remove that post, Billy, to avoid confusion.

    This blog welcomes everybody’s feedback.

    God Bless!

  • Thank you VERY much for your explanation. IF I know what I’m doing incorrectly then I will ABSOLUTELY follow your standards. Now I understand. Sorry for any errors, mistakes, etc. on my part.

  • this post is 9months old so i doubt anyone will even read this but i`m having difficulty sleeping so i`m scrolling thru old post, here is what i think: communion IS to be somber and serious remembering the sacrifice and examining ourselves AND taken with joy and expectation for when we "take it anew in the fathers` kingdom"

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