Food and Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23-27
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

Jesus wants us to remember him, and he uses food as a means to connect with him. The Lord’s Supper is a celebration of Christ’s victory over sin and death, and over Satan and his allies. Engaging in this meal is a powerful testimony to the world that Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings.

How can eating a small piece of bread and drinking a little wine do that? Back in the Garden of Eden, an act of eating plunged the world into sin. One bite of disobedience led to death for Adam and Eve—and for us. It caused conflict between Adam and Eve. It caused thorns and weeds to grow in the garden. It caused pain in childbirth. It led to sibling rivalry between their sons Cain and Abel. All this came about through the act of eating and the rebellion against God that it represented.

And behind the forbidden fruit was the whispering of the devil. As Tony Evans says, “They got devilish consequences because they were eating at the devil’s table.” But sin and the devil do not have the last word.

Jesus, the Son of God who became human and gave up his own body and blood for our sake, has made new life and restoration possible for us. Eating at his table signifies our participation in what he accomplished on the cross on our behalf. He has fully paid for all our sin. We celebrate by eating the meal by which he calls us to remember him