"Meaning of Communion"


**1. Four different views of the communion table.**

a. Roman Catholic (Transubstantiation)

b. Lutheran (Consubstantiation)

c. Presbyterian (Sacramental Memorial)

d. Baptist (Memorial- primary to remember)


**Luke 22:15, 19-20**


15 And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;


19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.



**2. The Passover was to be practiced to remember three things.**


**A. The Passover meal was a celebration of God’s deliverance of Israel.**

**Exodus 13:3 --(Passover to remember God’s deliverance of Israel)**

3 Moses said to the people, "**Remember this day** in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the Lord brought you out from this place. And nothing leavened shall be eaten.

**1 Cor 11:26**

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you **proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.**


**Heb 6:4-8**

4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

7 For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.


**B. The Passover served to remind Israel of God’s care and deliverance during times of hardship.**

**Deuteronomy 7:17-19 –(Remember God when you face your enemies)**

17 "If you should say in your heart, 'These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?' 18 you shall not be afraid of them; **you shall well remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt**: 19 the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.


**Romans 8:31-35**

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

32 **He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?**

33 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? **God is the one who justifies;**

34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?


**C. The Passover served to remind Israel of God’s provision during times of abundance.**

**Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 17,18**

11 "**Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God** by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today;

12 **otherwise**, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

17 "Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.' 18 "But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.


**Hos 13:5-6**

5 I cared for you in the wilderness,

In the land of drought.

6 As they had their pasture, they became satisfied,

And being satisfied, their heart became proud;

Therefore they forgot Me.


**3. Different names describe different aspects of the communion table.**

**a. Ordinance**

**b. Sacrament-**

**1 Cor 11:27-28**

27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in **an unworthy manner**, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.


**c. Communion-**

**1 Cor 11:29-30**

29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not **judge the body rightly**. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.

**Eph 4:4-6**

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.


**d. Eucharist—it is Greek in origin meaning to give Thanks**

**e. Lord’s Table/ Supper--- (Celebration)**


**1 Cor 11:26**

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death **until He comes**.