“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” 23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Mark 14.22-26
Much controversy has arisen over whether Jesus’ invitation that night to his disciples was in the form of his actual body and blood. My Catholic friends swear that it is indeed his true body and blood, while my Orthodox and Methodist friends, for example, believe it becomes his body and blood in spirit.
But in much of our arguing, I fear we shift the focus from the true meaning of the sacrifice. Which is this: Jesus gave up his life for the sins of the world, and through his offering, we might be made whole and redeemed.
Jesus gave what we call the Lord’s Supper, Eucharist, or Communion during a meal. “While they were eating…” Jesus added incredible significance. While they were feasting, reclining around a table, remembering the Passover, and hearing strange talk from Jesus about his own demise, they received a great gift—the blood of the covenant as represented in the cup, and the bread which “he broke and gave to his disciples” as his body. Just as the disciples were invited to share in this communion with the Lord, so are we, saints and sinners alike (for Judas and Peter, for that matter, were still at the table).
Isn’t it intriguing that Jesus would offer up himself as the sacrifice? He was the only spotless and blameless lamb available. Nothing else or no one else could complete the sinless gift of blood that God required for the remission and forgiveness of sins. “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). In addition to blood, Jesus gave up his body, as represented in the bread, as a gift to all.
While I was in Italy, I took the Lord’s Supper. The church where I attended only gave out the bread, but it was the priest who drank the wine (i.e., blood) given for all people. It was meaningful, special, and the presence of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit was with me in that thousand-year-old church.
The gift was offered and I received. The gift was first offered in the Upper Room two thousand years ago for the sins of the world. Will you, have you received? Have you said yes to Jesus? Have you invited his Person into your own body? Have you welcomed the Great I Am into your very existence and being?
As the song by the same name goes, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!” He bore our sins and welcomes you in. Receive the gift and allow his blood to wash away your sins and his body to make you whole this day.
“O Lord God, you are faithful to the faithless. You draw all people to yourself. You invite us to your throne. When my love fails, your love remains steadfast. Come now, Holy Spirit, fall upon me. Fill me with your peace and love that I might be yours and you mine. For you are good and your love endures forever.” Amen.