Thoughts on communion

So at the women's retreat this past weekend, the worship team and I led communion. What a privelege! Had I not been asked to lead, I might not have delved into the Word to discover a layer of this act of remembrance that I hadn't given much previous thought. So we start with the standard reading, Paul's instructions to the church to continue what Christ began the night He and His disciples celebrated the Passover:

1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.[f] Do this to remember me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.

I went back to the gospels, reading through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John's takes on the Last Supper. I love how the different authors focus in on different aspects of the same events. My ears perked up at Matthew's rendering:

Matthew 26:28-29
28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant[e] between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. 29 Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

So we are remembering Christ's death, yes, but there's more. We are looking ahead to the future kingdom, when Christ will drink wine again with us. Scriptures written both before and after Christ's time on earth point us toward this day.

Isaiah 25:6-9 6 In Jerusalem,[a] the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. It will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat. 7 There he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. 8 He will swallow up death forever![b] The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The Lord has spoken! 9 In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”

Revelation 19:7-9
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. 8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.
9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.”

The typical mood of communion service, in my experience, has been somber and reflective. This is not without warrant, for we are remembering Christ's death, mourning what He had to (but chose to!) go through to save us. But there comes a sweet in the bitter, a glorious celebration to come! The Israelites, Jesus and the twelve among them, were no stranger to celebration. God commanded them to feast and rejoice on a regular basis! As the cup was passed from old covenant to new, these commands for celebration were not passed on to the redeemed in Christ. He left us with just one feast, what we now call communion. The New Testament believers celebrated communion as an actual feast, as the context of 1 Corinthians 11 indicates. Why not us? Maybe we don't need a literal feast, but it is a time to celebrate what is, what was, and what is to come! When I picture myself, a member of the church, the bride of Christ, at the wedding feast of the Lamb, I can't help but rejoice! "Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!"