Why is it that God’s children go to churches to listen to sermons but refuse to come to the Lord’s table to fellowship with Him?
Why is it that Christians seem to enjoy ritualistic ceremonies called “holy communion” conducted by a trained person but immediately feel uncomfortable when the true meaning of Breaking the Bread (i.e., remembering the Lord’s death) is explained to them, not even to mention being in the mist of one in true spiritual fellowship?
I am by no means against church life. In fact, I cannot imagine a mature Christian who does not live among brothers and sisters as a member of Christ’s body. But God’s Word never called a place, or a human organization, “church.” In God’s eye, the church is always the spiritual reality of Christ’s body, embodied in the assembly of His children called by Him and united in His life, wherever they are.
Neither am I opposed to the concept of “holy communion”. But the fellowship at the Lord’s Table is the true holy communion with Him. The Lord has commanded us to remember His death on the Cross as a true recognition of what redemption we have received from Him, not to enjoy a moment of religious mood every once in a while.
Did you realize that this simple and humble table today not only signifies the Lord’s own disposition and his personal, intimate fellowship with the saints, but also foreshadows that magnificent banquet in heaven to come?
Yet all of this is a symbol of the Son of God becoming flesh, taking on human form, denying Himself, obeying the Father’s will, and ultimately dying on the cross for sinners. Golgotha’s cross is the tragic scene, but the resurrection is the grand happy finale for the cosmos and the entire Adamic race.
People hate tragedy, so by nature, we’re reluctant to dwell on our Lord’s suffering and prefer only to praise His resurrection.
But without the tragedy of Golgotha, there would be no resurrection three days later; without the death of the last Adam (Jesus) on the cross, every offspring of Adam would remain living in the old Adam—defiled and destroyed by sin—with no hope of new life.
How can anyone who neither understands nor desires to share in the Lord’s death partake in His resurrection? How can one truly fellowship in the resurrected life of Christ without first communing with Him in His sufferings?
Do you remember Golgotha every day, and there, see your Lord crucified for you?
About the Lord’s Table and the Breaking of the Bread:
- The Lord’s Broken Body
Matthew 26:26: The Lord Jesus “broke the bread”. The spiritual significance of our life’s relationship with God. - The Lord’s Table
The meaning of the “Lord’s Table,” the background of Jesus instituting the breaking-of-bread fellowship, and its central place in the Christian life. - Proclaiming the Lord’s Death
The necessity and profound significance of commemorating the Lord and proclaiming His death at the “Lord’s Table.” - Jesus Sat at Supper, and the Apostles with Him
The spiritual fellowship and inner meaning of sitting with the Lord at His Table. - Chapter Eleven: The Lord’s Table, the Broken Bread, and the Cup of the New Covenant
A series of Bible-reading notes on how the “Lord’s Table,” the broken bread, and the “cup of the covenant” are connected and manifest the truth of the New Covenant.
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