“Take, eat, this is my body… Drink this all of you, this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many.”
Every Sunday many churches offer Holy Communion, also known as the Lord’s Supper. We receive it, but do we really reflect on what it truly means?
Today is Maundy Thursday. The word “Maundy” comes from the latin Mandatum Novum. Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment that you love one another as I loved you.” (John 13:34) Jesus says this at his Last (perhaps first true) Supper with his disciples. They celebrate it right before Jesus is to go to the Garden of Gethsemane. There he will be arrested to be crucified. Maundy Thursday therefore begs two enormous questions we each must answer.
First, do we really understand what it means to receive Holy Communion? Of course to answer this question we need to remember the context of what really took place. Jesus is celebrating the Passover feast with His disciples. That is, he is celebrating the remembrance of the exodus from Egypt when God passed over the first born Hebrew children so they lived. However, God winds up not sparing God's own Son from experiencing brutal torture and death. In the process, Jesus becomes the new Paschal lamb. He redefines the Passover meal to eternally benefit all who will receive it. Thus, to receive Holy Communion is to ingest Christ's sacrificial love. Jesus is always truly and mysteriously present in Holy Communion. Over the centuries Christians have argued about what becomes what and when while celebrating Holy Communion. This is a futile argument, and it can actually wrongly shift the focus away from how Christ is actually present. Receiving Holy Communion is not about mental gymnastics, but about rejoicing in true life-giving grace. Further, the truth of Christ's presence is experienced in the heart of the believer. “Take, eat, this is my body… Drink this all of you, this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many.” My heart always feels lovingly blessed every Sunday afternoon after I have received Holy Communion. It is more than just having a small piece of bread and a sip of wine in my stomach. Holy Communion is, “food for the heart and soul." It can only be this because of the real eternal presence of Christ's sacrificial love.
Second, do we realize our hunger for what Jesus truly offers? A few years ago I was fortunate to volunteer with a youth group at a community food bank to pass out food on a Saturday morning. There was a huge long line that kept going and going and going. I passed out more potato bags than I can count. It was a gift to participate in serving others. There are many hungry people in the world, and we all need to be physically fed. However, there are even more people who are spiritually hungry. Everyone has a deep hunger for God. Of course there are many ways to try and understand God in our world. Moses transmits God's law. Muhammad teaches submision to God. Confucius offers wisdom. The Buddha points to Nirvana. These are not bad paths to take. However, Jesus invites everyone into a deeper intimate relationship of love with God. This invitation is received by being caught up in Christ's way, truth, and life through the gift and grace of His sacrificial love. At his last earthly supper with his disciples, Jesus called them friends. He said, “I give you a new commandment that you love one another as I loved you.” He exclaimed that, "no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." Are we really hungry for the depth of this kind of love? Do we really receive this invitation from a God who sacrifices all? I pray we might! Amen.
