Preface
I am excited to release this as is, and to keep working on it, refining it as I go over it again and again. The goal is to clarify – to get rid of the fluff and to add structure – before I take this to the Good News Aces site… and eventually, put it all together as a PDF.
In exhortation, it is recommended that you end with a quote – another scripture, a famous line, and/or a song lyric.
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew 26:26-28
And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Mark 14:22-25
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
Luke 22:14-20
Putting all of these accounts together, we could make a sort-of compilation of what Jesus told His disciples regarding the bread, and regarding the wine.
First, the bread. If we were to put the accounts of Paul and the apostles, we’d have the following line: “Take this, divide it among yourselves, eat; This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
To be honest I wanted to give a little time towards Christ’s words: ‘Take this, divide it among yourselves, eat;’ but I feel as if the more pressing focus should be on the rest of what we have compiled – that is, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’
We eat the bread in remembrance of Jesus Christ, who offered His body for us.
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Hebrews 2:14-15
Through this Scripture we are brought to remember that Christ gave His body to take the death we deserved, and consequently to ‘destroy the one who has the power of death’. Matt Maher wrote that Christ ‘trampled death by death’.
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”
When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 10:5-10
It appears that through the body of Christ given for us, He has established the will of God. The way I read this is that Christ offered His body in place of ‘sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings.’
And so far I understand that when we eat the bread, we remember the body of Jesus Christ, and we remember that through His body, we have been saved from death, and only through His body has God taken pleasure; As such, we have been sanctified, more than any sacrifices and offerings we could make.
And I see how we could consider that the bread was broken for everyone in attendance to partake, to signify that Christ’s body was offered for all.
Putting it all together, we eat the bread in observance of Communion, to remember that Christ gave His body to die so we would be saved from death, and for us to be sanctified absolutely, more than any sacrifice or offering could do for us – ALL of us.
Now we come to the wine, or the grape juice, depending on where you attend service. If we take all of the Scriptures quoted above, we have the following composite account:
“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Take this, and divide it among yourselves. Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Truly, I say to you, from now on I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God or until the kingdom of God comes.”
We drink the wine or the juice in remembrance of Jesus Christ, whose blood is of the New Covenant, which implies the forgiveness of sins.
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Going back to Hebrews 2:14-15 we see that Christ offered His body to destroy death, and we see that the role of His blood was to ‘deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.‘
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Hebrews 9:22
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
Leviticus 17:11
It is through Christ’s blood that we have the forgiveness of our own sins, and by the life in the blood are our souls atoned. And it appears that we have much more than just forgiveness and atonement:
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.Ephesians 1:7-10
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.Colossians 1:13-14
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Colossians 1:19-20
And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.1 Peter 1:17-19
Friends, it appears that we have so much, all because of the blood of Jesus Christ. We have forgiveness of our sins – that is not only to say that we have been washed clean as robes ‘made white’ (Revelation 7:14), but we have also been ‘ransomed’ (released, rescued) from ‘futile ways’; Another perspective of what it means for us to be delivered from ‘lifelong slavery… through fear of death’.
We have atonement of our souls. By the blood of Christ we have been redeemed – that is, we have been reconciled to God. If the blood of Christ testifies of our forgiveness and freedom FROM sin, atonement implies that the same blood testifies of our redemption and reconciliation TO God.
And if we’re unclear on what the New Covenant is exactly, we can refer to the blood of Christ for an idea; The blood of Christ set us free from sin, and reconciled us to God.
In conclusion, at least for this time spent on looking into worshipping by way of Holy Communion, we can say that when Christ commanded us to partake of the bread and the wine in remembrance of Him, this is what we remember:
By the bread, we remember Christ’s body given to us, that has saved us from death, and has pleased God more than any sacrifice or offering.
By the wine, we remember Christ’s blood shed for us, that has set us free from sin, and reconciled us to God, unto eternal life.
I’m not exactly sure how to make this more ‘congregation-friendly’, but I’m just glad I got this far. We have a whole bevy of Scripture for anyone and everyone to exhort from.
Let me wrap all this up with an obscure sort of Communion song by the good folks over at Hillsong:
Hillsong – Remembrance
I take the bread of life
Broken for all my sin
Your body crucified
To make me whole again
I will recall the cup
Poured out in sacrifice
To trade this sinner’s end
For Your new covenant
Hallelujah
I’ll live my life in remembrance
Hallelujah
Your promise I won’t forget
I’ll walk salvation’s road
With fear and trembling
Your way borne as my own
As Christ is formed in me
Hallelujah
I’ll live my life in remembrance
Hallelujah
Your promise I won’t forget
If ever I should lose my way
If ever I deny Your grace
Remind me of the price You paid
Hallelujah
I’ll live in remembrance
You’ve been so, so good to me
You’ve been so, so good to me
Oh to think where I would be
If not for You
If not for You
As far as heights reach from the depths
As far as east is from the west
So far Your grace has carried me
Until I see You face to face
Until at last I’ve won my race
Remind me You’re not finished yet
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
I’ll live in remembrance
Until the next post, God bless you.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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