God and Man in Communion

The Lord's Supper, otherwise called the Eucharist or Communion has critical significance in the Christian faith. Communion has an 'all time' perspective as well because we "do this" and "show forth" in the present His death which is in the past, until He returns in the future. Jesus took the most familiar element of a Jewish meal, bread, and said, "This is my body." One point made is the universal availability of Jesus (His body). So, first Jesus' body as our sin substitute is immediately and completely available. Jesus then took a familiar element, wine, and identified it with an element, blood, that would never be at any Jewish table. To offer blood to a Jew was traditionally and morally repugnant. Blood represents life, and man was not to merely ingest by mouth such a sacred thing. The followers of Jesus are specifically to remember Him by symbolically partaking of His blood... His life. Partaking of the cup, pointed to the sacrificial death of Jesus and the life-giving purpose of His ministry. The truth is our lives are temporary and by partaking of His life we have the assurance of eternal life. Our celebration of His death is acceptable because His death provides us with life, and further proclaims the benefits of His death to the world. Communion emphasises fellowship, gratitude, worship and proclamation.