More Than Bread

While wondering through the desert Satan tempted Christ by appealing to his hunger.  Satan said to the Lord, "Turn these stones into bread and so you do not have to go hungry!"  It may not sound like much of a temptation, but the real point was to get Christ to rely upon himself, instead of trusting that the Father would provide for him what he needed.  Christ responded by quoting Scripture and standing against Satan saying, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."  We have to eat to live, but if all we take in is bread, then while we may continue to exist, we are far from having full lives.

This was part of the problem that the church in Corinth dealt with.  Instead of taking in the Word of God, they were more concerned with the bread and wine of the Lord's table.  Paul condemns the church noting that some come and feast, and others are left to starve.  Instead of sharing love and compassion for one another they became selfish gluttons.  To partake of the Lord's supper is to share in Christ, to eat and drink of his memory and in obedience to his words, it is not just to fill our stomachs, but to live on the Word of God.

Christ promised his presence always, and proclaimed of himself that he is the bread of life.  Obviously there is metaphor involved in that statement.  Christ is not literally made of bread.  Likewise, as much as I respect those Catholics who take seriously the traditions that have been handed down, as a protestant and one who adheres to solo scriptura, I find nothing in Scripture that makes me think that the bread literally becomes the body of Christ and the wine becomes his blood in some metaphysical way.  But, despite the fact that the bread is not literally Christ, when we partake of the bread and the wine, we are joined to Christ in his presence, as we partake of the feast that he is preparing for us in heaven.

To eat of the Lord's Table is to partake of a heavenly feast.  Consider this: Christ began and ended his ministry with food and wine.  When his mother asked him to help with the situation at the wedding feast, Christ turned the water into wine.  When Christ gave his last instructions, before his death, to his apostles, he did it over a feast including bread and wine.  And, when Christ brings all things to completion, we will once again sit down to a feast with him, at the wedding supper of the Lamb.  When we eat of the bread and drink of the wine of the Lord's Table, we are participating in feasting with Christ, joining with him in faith to the Father, believing that one day we will eat at the wedding supper of his Son.

This is why Paul was so severe with the church in Corinth, and why he says that when we eat of the Lord's Table and fail to recognize the body of Christ, we eat and drink judgment on ourselves.  When we partake of the Lord's Table, if we do not recognize that we are eating a fellowship meal, a celebration of Christ and the feast that will join all believers together, then we are not acting in faith, but faithlessly.  We turn the admonition of Christ on its head: instead of living on the Word of God, we begin to treat the feast of Christ as nothing more than bread and wine.  Any church that treats the Lord's Supper lightly, not realizing the significance of what it means to partake of the body of Christ is asking for the same judgment that Paul says was already being poured out on the church at Corinth: weakness, sickness, and premature death.

It ought to be born in mind that death, weakness, and sickness, do not necessarily have to be upon individuals.  Those who sit in the congregation, who are ignorant of the reality of the Lord's Supper, while certainly responsible for failing to take seriously the Word of God, are not as accountable as those who teach them.  Thus as James says, "Not many of you should desire to be teachers, knowing that we who teach will be judged more strictly."  In this way, because those who teach from the pulpit have failed to properly teach the Word of God, and because those who sit in the congregation have failed to hold them accountable to what has been taught, everyone brings judgment upon themselves for their faithless living before God.  So, particularly in congregational churches, no one has excuse, and no individual can claim innocence if they have not been faithfully warning their brothers and sisters of the coming wrath of God.

Because Churches do not take seriously the Word of God in what it teaches about why we should do the things we do, the churches get weak.  The churches grow sick.  Eventually, those churches who fail to be faithful to God, who no longer reflect a healthy image of his body, die.  And no amount of man made emotion and passion can change what God has already said will be the judgment of those who take the Lord's Supper lightly.  But it does not have to be this way.

Our God is a God who forgives, who restores, who wounds and heals.  If we will turn back to him and seek him, then he has promised us blessing in Christ.  We, who are in Christ, do not need to fear that God will hold our sins against us, for we are already forgiven, covered by the blood of Christ.  If we seek to partake of the blood of Christ at his table, then we must be sure that we are covered in the blood when we are away from the table.

God is faithful to himself, and he will exalt himself through judgment, and through mercy.  Thus, we have great reason to pray to God for revival, if we are willing to embrace the discipline of God in our lives.  We do not need to continue to eat and drink judgment to ourselves.  If we will learn from the Word of God, and understand what it means to be a part of the body of God, then we have great reason to hope in God.  Our God is full of grace, and he speaks to us if we will be listen to his admonitions.

Let us eat of the Lord's Table with joy and with sobriety.  Let us recognize that what we do here prepares us for a feast we will share there.  But, let us also remember that when we eat and drink of the elements of the table, Christ is present with us, partaking with us as we are his body.  We eat and drink not simply in his memory, but also in his presence.  There is great reason to rejoice for those of us who rightly recognize the body of Christ when we come to the Lord's Table, so let us rejoice!