First B Update
March 11, 2010

What is Communion?

Once a month, we as a church family observe a tradition that has been passed down to us, directly from Jesus. We eat a small piece of unleavened bread and we drink a cup of grape juice, pausing from our normal pace to remember the sacrifice of our Messiah. But what is it that Jesus intended us to reflect on as we remember?

From the text in 1 Corinthians, it seems obvious that we are to reflect on the sacrificial death of our Lord. Even so, understanding the historical roots and images that Jesus used as He instructed us to remember Him will spark in us even greater gratitude and affection for our Savior.

A very important element in fully embracing the meaning of communion (or “The Lord’s Supper”) is our understanding of the setting of the first communion. Jesus and His disciples were celebrating the Passover feast (Matt. 26:17-30). This feast was a very important part of the Jewish year. It was a time when families gathered together to remember their ancestors’ redemption from slavery in Egypt. God had plagued the land of Egypt in order to convince Pharaoh to release His chosen people. But because of Pharaoh’s hard heart, he would not let them go to worship their God.

God’s final plague of judgment on Egypt was to be the death of all first-born children (and animals). The only way for a family to escape God’s wrath was to slaughter a flawless lamb and paint their doorposts with its blood. On the night of the first Passover, the families of Israel did this, also making a meal of the lamb along with unleavened bread. The wrath of God fell on every household, killing every first-born whose doors were not marked with the blood of a lamb. The families of Israel who had trusted God’s command were covered from His wrath and thus “passed-over” (Exodus 12). The grief in Egypt was so great that Pharaoh set the Hebrew captives free. Every year following this, the Israelites commemorated this passing over of wrath by eating the same meal, made from the meat of the slaughtered lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread.

It was at this meal, commemorating the Passover that Jesus introduced the Lord’s Supper as something that all believers in Christ should do, remembering Him until He returns. That Jesus used the Passover meal to begin this new tradition is no coincidence. As His disciples were remembering the lamb that was slaughtered to cover the people of Israel from God’s wrath, Jesus took the bread and wine of the Passover meal, saying that they were His body and His blood.

Jesus is the ultimate and final sacrifice covering us from God’s wrath. It is His blood that pardons us and ushers us into freedom. Jesus wasn’t merely borrowing images from Jewish Passover tradition; He was showing His disciples what the Passover had ALWAYS pointed to: His sacrificial death on the cross.

In 1 Corinthians, we see that Jesus called the cup “the new covenant in My blood.” Just as the Old Covenant of Law was ratified with a blood sacrifice (Exodus 24:8), so the New Covenant of Grace was ratified by the ultimate and final blood sacrifice – the blood of God the Father’s firstborn, Jesus.

As we remember Christ together through Communion, may it never become dry religion or tradition. Every time we eat the bread, may it remind us of the horrific death Jesus endured to set us free. May we be reminded of the seriousness of our sin, and that Jesus, blameless in every way, took the punishment that should have been ours. And every time we drink the cup, may our hearts overflow with gratitude that Jesus’ blood, the New Covenant of Grace, has covered us eternally so that we are “passed-over” by God’s wrath.

It is because of the cross that we stand before God, righteous, spotless, forgiven and adopted. Communion is surely a sober time of remembrance, but may it also be a source of unspeakable joy and affection as we reflect on the freedom that was purchased for us by the sacrifice of another–our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Good news!

We now have a room dedicated to prayer. The new prayer room is upstairs in the Office Building in room 212. The room is exclusively set aside for prayer, and is quiet and well-equipped. Enter through the church office on the corner of 12th and M streets during business hours. In the future we hope to have a way to open the room in the evenings, but for now, we’re simply very glad to announce we have a prayer room!

The Weight of Truth

by Chris Hansen

Have you ever heard it said that for those who believe no explanation is necessary, and for those who don’t believe, no explanation will suffice? I have. When I was not a believer, I was given the impression that the wise need not apply. I had this impression that you had to park your brain at the door in order to be allowed into God’s Kingdom. We have the same impression today that the rich of this world need not apply either. I admit that wealth makes it harder to need God and that intelligence makes it easy to talk oneself out of God altogether.

One of my Bible college professors discussed 1 Corinthians where Paul says that not many noble or wise were called. Then he said, “You can’t argue someone into God’s Kingdom.” Without thinking, I blurted out, “Oh yes you can!” (Yes I do speak without thinking. I’m working on that one.) The teacher was understandably annoyed and said, “Excuse me!” I quickly recovered and said, “Please excuse me, Sir. I didn’t mean to contradict you. It’s just that ... well ... it happened to me. I mean, someone argued with me and persuaded me that the Christian faith was reasonable.”

My professor paused and then said, “Well, most of the time, you can’t argue someone into the Kingdom of God. But there are obviously exceptions, and I’m not one for putting God in a box. Paul said, ‘not many.’ He didn’t say ‘not any.’ ”

Have you ever heard news reports of snow that causes a roof to collapse? That’s similar to what happened with me and my reasons for believing in the Bible. Each little piece of evidence by itself might be ignored, but as they began to stack up, did I have to believe every single piece of evidence was wrong? That seemed unlikely. Why, I wondered, did such intelligent men like C.S. Lewis embrace the Christian faith? Why, I wondered, was Jesus able to survive being crucified by professional Roman executioners and appear to His disciples like a resurrected Messiah and not like a patient who needed a physician? Why, I wondered, would hundreds of people swear they had seen Him alive and then die for this wild story? How, I wondered, could so many passages in the Old Testament predict events in the life of Jesus with such uncanny accuracy? God’s snowfall sent the roof of my doubts crashing down. Am I ever grateful that God actually let me argue with Him and brought me to a place where I know I will live forever.

I used to be terrified of death. Now I look forward to it! My mission is to show the world that the Bible is reasonable, and has incredible good news for those who will believe it, and very bad news for those who refuse to listen to its message.

Time Change is Just Around the Corner!

Don't forget to set your clocks ahead an hour this Saturday night.