Several weeks ago communion was being served at our church. At our church they use the all in one grape juice topped with a cracker sealed by a thin layer of plastic. -Why am I telling you this?
Because I want to talk about communion from another perspective beyond the physical act of eating and drinking.
COMMUNION:
The sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level. OXFORD Dictionary
A thought hit me as we were listening to the leader talk about communion and what it represented. The leader said, "this bread represents the body of Christ which has been broken for you". At that moment I had thought, what does that really mean since not one bone of Jesus' body had been broken?
Then I thought about how we are the representation of the body of Christ and we are a broken people. Hmm...where was all of this thinking going?
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 1 Corinthians 11:24 KJV
Then I came across this verse to that seems to conflict what Jesus had said...but if we expand our thinking, we will discover that it actually doesn't conflict at all...
These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken", John 19:36 NIV
How can a body be broken without bones being broken? As I explored this question I actually found that there are many ways...skin, a heart and spirit (emotionally), teeth, blood vessels, etc.
In fact, if you remember the scene at the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was in such emotional distress that his blood vessels broke and he sweat drops of blood.
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Luke 22:44 KJV
If there's one thing I want you to take away from this, it is that...
JESUS KNOWS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE BROKEN
In our brokenness; our hurt, our pain, our shame, our sin...we are not alone.
You are not alone.
this is my body, which is broken for you...
He went through it all for us. He wanted communion and he still does.
This year, 2020, be encouraged.
There's a God who loves you, he suffered and died so that you could be connected to him again; the way you were created to be.
He can heal your brokenness if you allow him to.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 NIV
I know I'm not the only one who has broken areas that still need healing...let's do this together and make 2020 A Year of Spiritual Intimacy.
Beautifully written