THE COMMUNION TABLE
1 Corinthians 11:23-29
It is a given that you are not a stranger to the Lord’s Supper. In this ministry, we partake of the Communion table on a regular basis. We are firm believers in the power of the table and we are not unmindful of the reasons for the Holy Communion. One of the reasons the Lord’s Supper was inaugurated by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is revealed in verse 24 of our text. “And when he had given thanks, he brake it and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me”.
The Lord Jesus wants the communion to bring to our remembrance his mission, his passion and the salvation he brought us. When Jesus Christ says we should observe the Holy Communion often in remembrance of Him, it is because He wants us to really know what it took to die for His friends; He would not want that feat to be forgotten. There is the tendency to forget the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ which led to His death and resurrection.
If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. – (Hebrews 6:6)
The reason for backsliding may not be unconnected with a believer’s loss of memory concerning the agony of death which the Saviour suffered for our salvation. The Bible says: “If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained”. (1 Timothy 4:6)
The Holy Communion should be taken as frequently as possible to enable us remember the death of our Lord Jesus Christ and the reason for it. The Bible says we should not be forgetful hearers but doers of the word (James 1:25). We announce the death and resurrection of our Lord without having to preach it when we gather to commemorate it through the Holy Communion. Everyone is compelled to examine himself or herself so that he or she does not eat to damnation, according to our text of today. Paul the apostle wrote further that we should remember that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead after His passion and death; that if we also endure as He did, we shall reign with him (2 Timothy 2:8-12). May the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ avail for us through eternity in Jesus’ name.
MEDITATION: Examine yourself to know whether or not you are still in the faith.
