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TAKING COMMUNION

BY DON BANTUM

 

Exodus 12: 1. The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2. "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9. Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire—head, legs and inner parts. 10. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.”
12. "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”
14. "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD - a lasting ordinance. 15. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. 16. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat—that is all you may do.”
17. "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 18. In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. 20. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread."
21. Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. 23. When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.”

Why, because of the Blood of the lamb. God sees the blood, and declares those with in, clean. Jesus is our "Passover" Lamb, because of His blood we are clean. Not because we are good, or do good things, good works or bad. But because He honors the blood of his one and only SON. Praise God, and may his mercy endure forever.

24. "Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25. When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26. And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' 27. then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.' " Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28. The Israelites did just what the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. 29. At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

This was the first time the Feast of Unleavened Bread was celebrated. When God liberated the children of Israel from their BONDAGE to Egypt. It was also the first time for the celebration of “Passover.” When the destroyer came upon Egypt, did he “pass over” the houses of the children of Israel because they were so wonderful, righteous and good? NO; the Destroyer saw the “BLOOD OF THE LAMB” that had been slain, and he passed over their houses. It didn’t matter how good the people in those houses may or may not have been; the ONLY thing that mattered was the BLOOD OF THE LAMB. Thus began a “Celebration” for the people of Israel that continues to this very day. When God spared the firstborn among the house of Israel, it was a reason to praise God. Yes, a reason to praise God, not to fear God’s judgment or God’s wrath. Now, consider the following:

Matthew 26: 17. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
18. He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.' " 19. So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
20. When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21. And while they were eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me."
22. They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?"
23. Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
25. Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?"
Jesus answered, "Yes, it is you."
26. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
27. Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."
30. When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

And again in Luke's account;

Luke 22: 14. When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."
17. After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. 18. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
19. And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
20. In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Again this was to be a celebration commemorating the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Celebration of the Passover. It was a time when all Israel celebrated their freedom from slavery to Egypt, and celebrating the Passover of the Destroyer, because of the Blood of the Lamb.But once Jesus who is our "PASSOVER LAMB" was slain, we do celebrate "Communion with GOD." Through offering of the very LIFE and BLOOD of God himself, in our place. And this offering is Jesus. So we do celebrate what Jesus has done for us, till he returns for us, on the last day.Now do you detect anything here concerning God’s judgment on the people, or their fear of God’s possible rampage of death and destruction on those “celebrating” this Passover? No you do not. Celebration isn’t about fear; it’s a time of “…happiness and rejoicing toward a loving, caring God.” But for some reason certain members of the clergy want to strike fear in the hearts and minds of people during the Celebration of Communion, inferring that if celebrants are unworthy, God will judge them ever so harshly. Nothing could be further from the truth. Listen to the inspired words of the apostle, Paul…

1 Corinthians 11: 17. In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. 20. When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21. for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22. Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!
23. For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24. and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."

As you can see, this Celebration is about what Jesus did, and we are to remember what HE did. We are not to be focusing on ourselves and what we are doing. We are not to be preoccupied with ourselves, but rather with Jesus and what He has done on our behalf. Continuing…

25. In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the NEW COVENANT in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Do you see anything here, that causes you think this is about YOU or ME? Dear friends this is the Blood of Jesus. This is the New Covenant in HIS BLOOD; not yours or mine. Why do we so often tend to make such things about US, rather than taking part in this celebration of Jesus who has taken away our sins by going to the cross and dying there for the sins of the whole world? Instead of recognizing that fact, religion has somehow made this all about us again, so we can live in fear rather then thanksgiving. Let’s keep going here…

27. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.

To what “unworthy manner” is Jesus referring? Didn’t he just say in verses 20. and 21 that the people weren’t waiting on anybody else to arrive? They were going ahead of everyone else, as if it were every man for HIMSELF! Whoever got there first, ate all the food and drank up all the wine they could hold. They ate until they were sick, and drank until they were drunk, not caring about anybody else. That’s the unworthy manner he is addressing here. He isn’t talking about whether or not we have any sin in our lives. God knows, there isn’t a person on the planet that doesn’t have any sin in their lives. You see, this whole celebration is about JESUS, not YOU. Worthy is the “Lamb that was Slain” not the sheep. We are the sheep, none of us are worthy, we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. Otherwise, there would not have been ANY NEED FOR THE CROSS, of Christ in the first place. Let’s move on…

30. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
33. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
And when I come I will give further directions.

We see in verse 30 that they've eaten so much they're stuffed and sick as a result, while some have become drunk and passed out. Does this sound like they really cared about Jesus’ sacrifice? No, this is just another opportunity to party. Does it appear as if they were concerned about the rest of the body? Not at all; it was all about them. So they were eating and drinking judgment on themselves. Was this judgment coming from God? Of course not; all the judgment for their sins (and ours) had already fallen upon Jesus when he went to the coss. Is God simply waiting for us to err and stumble so he can punish us? NO; let’s not overlook what we’ve already learned. This is a celebration of the fact Jesus died for the sins of the whole world; never to see them again and never to be counted against us. So here we are in the midst of celebrating the forgiveness of sins, under a brand NEW COVENANT, between God and man, wherein God says, “…their sins and lawless acts I will remember NO MORE, and where these HAVE BEEN forgiven there is no longer any sacrifice for sins.” On what basis, then, are we being “judged?” Are we being deceived by Satan and being made to live in fear of the only true God, who gave up his very life to take away our sins, and was raised to life again, so that same everlasting life could be given to us as a free gift? Yet in the midst of this most wonderful of all celebrations, Satan has people afraid to even partake of the wine and the bread that represents the blood and body of Jesus on the cross on our behalf.

The only people who were condemning those who drank up all the wine and ate all the food were the others in the body; the Body of Christ, which includes all believers. Our judgment is this: “You’ve consumed all the food and wine!” Wow, that’s scary isn’t it? If we don’t act like gluttons, we won’t fall under judgment from the rest of the body.

The “Communion Table” isn’t a time for fear, or a reason to spend time thinking about all the sins we’ve ever committed. If it was, no one would have time to ever take part in it. This is a time of celebrating what JESUS has done for us, not the other way around.Some so-called church and religious leaders want you to think this thing is about YOU; which, more than likely, is why you feel so guilty. Try to remember this:

1 Timothy 1: 15. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

That was Saint Paul speaking to Timothy. Jesus didn’t come to save the righteous, there aren’t ANY righteous, except Jesus, who was and is the Lamb of God we honor and remember during the celebration of Communion. Please don’t allow any self-righteous person, whether they are a priest or pastor to put a guilt trip on you and keep you from taking part in the “Celebration of Communion, and LIFE” commemorating that Jesus offered himself up for us all. We thank Him and Praise His Holy Name for all he has done on our behalf, for he truly is the “PASSOVER LAMB” that was slain from the foundation of the world -- for us, because HE loves us. Because He loves YOU.

John 10: 10. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

There is no life apart from Jesus; so start praising Jesus. He purchased your life with his very own blood.So, how do we participate in Holy Communion?” What's it all about? What is it showing us today? Our source concerning this ongoing rite of the Church is Christ himself as recorded in;

Matthew 26: 26. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
27. Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many forthe forgiveness of sins.

Once again in Luke.

Luke 22: 14. When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."
17. After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. 18. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
19. And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
20. In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Communion is a picture of what Jesus did for us in real life. In order to make this a good depiction of what he did, we must take it according to his words, which clearly show us, what took place.

Jesus and his disciples have a single loaf of bread. That bread represents the body of Jesus. Jesus breaks the bread, as his body is about to be broken for us, and passes it around the table. Each of them eats of that spiritual body of Christ. And when they finish eating the bread, the bread is gone. Where is it? It's gone, you can no longer see it, because it is inside those who have partaken of it. It is in those who have eaten of the spiritual loaf of bread. When we partake of his spiritual body, he comes to live his life in us.

It's a beautiful picture and hard to miss seeing when recreated correctly. The wine, like the bread, is to be completely consumed; there is to be none left; because his body and his blood were not wasted. All of it was given for us. As often as we do this, we are doing it in remembrance of Christ's sacrifice for us. We can do it as often as we like. We aren't supposed to only remember his sacrifice for us once a year, or based on some predetermined regimen, but it is to always be in our hearts and minds, and we are to give thanks and glorify his precious name for dying in our place. He paid a debt he didn't owe to take away the debt we couldn't pay.

We could never repay such a debt on our own. The sacrifice had to be of such value, and consist of a Lamb that was without spot or blemish, One who is holy and blameless, and without sin, in order to meet the requirements of a Holy God. So Jesus paid that debt in our place. Then he raised himself from the dead, so that the very life that raised Jesus from the dead could live in us, and raise us from our spiritual state of death to live a new life; Christ's life in us. That life is everlasting, for Jesus is eternal.

How do we take communion? We do so with thankful hearts toward God. We do so recognizing Christ’s death for us and his life in us. We praise Jesus, always for the life he has given us by God’s matchless grace. Such life constitutes the Second Birth, also known as the New Birth; over which hell and death have no power.

Now is that something to praise God about? Is that something we want to share with everybody we know? You bet it is. And I say, thank you Jesus! It’s called a celebration, so let’s celebrate, and give thanks. Amen? Yes, I say, Amen. .

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