Communion – Breaking Bread - The Eucharist – who do we celebrate?

I have noticed a current trend in churches naming communion (Eucharist – breaking bread and wine, ‘holy communion’) services in honour, or to celebrate various apostles, evangelists, Bible characters or so called ‘saints’.

How should Christians view this, what should we think about it?

The real heart of the matter is not ‘what’ is communion for so much, but ‘who’ is it celebrating and remembering, and why?

Accounts of the Last Supper appear in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and 1 Corinthians 11. But let’s take a brief look at Luke 22:7-22 – entitled in the NIV, ‘The Last Supper’.

This passage in Luke 22 describes firstly the miraculous way provision was made for a room for Jesus to eat the Passover meal with his disciples, and then the meal itself when Jesus takes the bread and the wine, symbolically sharing it with his disciples, saying in verse 19, ‘do this in remembrance of me’.

The 16 verses of the account are full of the Lord Jesus Christ 😊 He is the focus and centre, just like in John’s vision of heaven (Revelation 5:6) with the lamb, standing in the centre of the throne, the object of worship and praise.

Scan through the verses Luke 22:7-22!

Jesus is named by Luke and quoted as using his personal pronoun and messianic titles a total of 23 times!

‘I’ – 7 times, ‘me’ – 2 times, Jesus – 3 times, ‘my’ – 3 times, ‘teacher’ – once, ‘he’ – 3 times, ‘mine’ – once, ‘Son of Man’ – once, ‘him’ – once, ‘Passover Lamb’ – once

We are left in no doubt at all.

There is one, Jesus, fully God and fully Man, that the communion celebration is all about. One mediator between God and men, the Man - Christ Jesus.

Communion is not about celebrating other apostles, Bible Characters or so called ‘saints’.

Communion is a ‘remembrance’. This is the ‘why’. An act of worship where we declare and stand in the assurance of sins forgiven and reconciliation with God, through Jesus Christ. It is about celebrating the substitutionary atonement and Lordship in our lives of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As the old hymn ‘There is a green hill far away’ puts it:

There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin;

He only could unlock the gate of heaven, and let us in.

Cecil Frances Alexander (1848)

Communion is for us - publicly and corporately as his church – to celebrate and remember the Lord Jesus Christ, until he comes.

Communion is not a ‘top up’ of goodness or an act of some sort of merit that contributes to our salvation. It is not intended to be like a physical meal that will ‘keep you going’ until the next time you eat and drink.

It is by grace that we have been saved, through faith, not by any works so that we can not be found boasting…. Not even in communion.

I can not recommend myself to God based on the number of communion services I have either held or attended. Just like Bible reading, prayer, church attendance, financial giving, charity works, ordination, eldership or wearing my Sunday best clothes.

So, if you see a communion service being advertised and other names are being suggested to celebrate, but Jesus’ name is not there…? My advice is to flee … fast!

This will not be a popular message to share with those celebrating other apostles, Bible characters etc… at the communion table.

Back in the nineteenth century the great evangelist and minister Charles Haddon Spurgeon similarly called out those in his day that he considered were ‘downgrading’ the truth of the gospel. To use Spurgeon’s words, he challenged those who were ‘softening conviction to keep pace with modern tastes.’

But… this is the stand we take… as the hymn writer so eloquently puts it:

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

Chorus

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand: all other ground is sinking sand;

all other ground is sinking sand.

Edward Mote (1834)

When we celebrate communion next at Williams Pantycelyn Memorial Chapel be assured, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ alone, will be the focus, object of worship, praise and remembrance.

‘For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.’