THREE VISTAS FROM THE TABLE by Jonathan Landry Cruse for Core Christianity
Have you ever wondered what you’re supposed to be doing during the Lord’s Supper? Obviously, there’s eating and drinking. But for an essential ritual in the Christian faith it seems so simple and ordinary—is something “more” supposed to be going on?
Many people, as they hold the piece of bread or the cup of wine, don’t know what to do. Do I pray? If so, about what? Do I think really hard about what Christ has done? If so, how hard? Am I supposed to feel something? If so, what feeling? To aid us in our participation of this aspect of corporate worship, let me suggest three places for you to “look” while you join in the meal.
Looking Back in Faith
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Looking back is the proper starting place; after all, it’s what Jesus Himself expressly laid out as a purpose of the Supper: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). Jesus gives us bread and wine as a means of awakening our faith to the mighty work of salvation that He accomplished with His body and blood on the tree. That’s what we’re meant to think back on as we partake of this meal.
It’s pretty remarkable the way in which our senses are linked to our memory. Certain sounds, tastes, or smells lodge themselves into our brain at a fixed time and place, so that whenever we encounter them again we’re drawn back in our minds to that former situation. But this varies from person to person depending on our experiences.
As Christians we all share the same history (“I have been crucified with Christ”), and so we’re meant to recall the same thing as we partake of the bread and wine. They are signs that bring our thoughts back in time to the finished work of Christ.
We can never be told to remember too often because we’re always forgetting! When you hear the breaking of the bread, remember the breaking of Christ’s body on the cross. When you see the wine poured out, remember the blood spilt for you. When you smell the wine, remember the pleasing aroma of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice that satisfied the Father. When you taste the bread, remember that Christ is the bread from heaven that fills every spiritual need and strengthens us for our earthly pilgrimage.
