What is the Significance of the Communion Bread/Wafer?

[pescador]

That's right, but Jesus did not say that this is symbolic of my body.

It is totally clear what he meant.

Mark wrote, "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” So Jesus broke himself in pieces? That's absurd! Jesus handed out pieces of bread to his disciples and told them what they should do when he was no longer with them.

He also wrote, "Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” It was not literally his blood, and it was not poured out; they drank wine from a cup.

Luke reported almost the exact same thing: ”This is my body given for you; do this [do what?] in remembrance of me.” 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." Here Jesus is saying that the cup (of wine) is symbolic of the new covenant. So it wasn't Jesus blood that was shed on the cross; it was actually wine? The new covenant is a contract between God and humans; it can't be a goblet of wine.

Why is it so difficult to understand what Jesus was talking about? The bread (these days it's a wafer in some churches) and wine represent Jesus' sacrifice. They are not Jesus, who is a living person seated next to God in heaven.

The Bible is clear in what it means. Jesus isn't bread and bread isn't Jesus. A piece of bread wasn't crucified and I am not "in bread". Our lord -- his body -- was crucified and Christians are in Christ.

 

[Albion]

It is totally clear what he meant.

I agree, and Christ is quite capable of creating miracles, whether that be raising the dead, walking on water, healing the sick, or in some mystical way making his very essence available to his disciples through the holy meal.

Merely gathering in his memory would hardly be deserving of the special importance he placed on the bread and the wine--and the consumption of them--at the Last Supper.

 

[pescador]

I agree, and Christ is quite capable of creating miracles, whether that be raising the dead, walking on water, healing the sick, or in some mystical way making his very essence available to his disciples through the holy meal.

Merely gathering in his memory would hardly be deserving of the special importance he placed on the bread and the wine--and the consumption of them--at the Last Supper.

He is, as you put it, "in some mystical way making his very essence available to his disciples through the holy meal." Although it's not just to his disciples but to all Christians -- the body of Christ -- millennia later, that he is, as you put it, "making his very essence available". He was explaining how the New Covenant -- the new contract with God -- became possible through his sacrifice. If his very essence is actually available, it is through the Holy Spirit, not through eating and drinking.

As you may recall, the celebratory meal was a full common meal (although Paul did point out the flaws in people's attitudes when they indulged at the expense of others.) There is nothing in the Bible that describes people lining up, feeling sorrowful as they consume a wafer and a thimble of wine.

 

[Tangible]

If his very essence is actually available, it is through the Holy Spirit, not through eating and drinking.

How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things?
Certainly not just eating and drinking do these things, but the words written here: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: “forgiveness of sins.”

- Martin Luther, Luther's Small Catechism, The Sacrament of the Altar

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

I lost track of this thread, but it got bumped up in my account. It grieves me how many are unable to or unwilling to accept that which is for me, so obviously revealed through faith.

His mercy endures forever!

 

[pescador]

I lost track of this thread, but it got bumped up in my account. It grieves me how many are unable to or unwilling to accept that which is for me, so obviously revealed through faith.

His mercy endures forever!

Can you be more specific?

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

Can you be more specific?

Please read back; I doubt that I can be any more concise, neither are others whom expressed the same simple faith in the words of our Lord; and those of us who, by this Sacrament have received God's grace in not only a spiritual, but in a physical manner as well.

The lack of faith of Peter resulted in him being called Satan by our Lord.

 

[bbbbbbb]

Please read back; I doubt that I can be any more concise, neither are others whom expressed the same simple faith in the words of our Lord; and those of us who, by this Sacrament have received God's grace in not only a spiritual, but in a physical manner as well.

The lack of faith of Peter resulted in him being called Satan by our Lord.

That has always been a curiosity to me - Peter, the (allegedly) first Pope, being called Satan by our Lord. I cannot say that my own faith is greater than that of Peter, but I thank God for His immeasurable grace toward me, as well as to Peter.

 

[gordonhooker]

Please read back; I doubt that I can be any more concise, neither are others whom expressed the same simple faith in the words of our Lord; and those of us who, by this Sacrament have received God's grace in not only a spiritual, but in a physical manner as well.

The lack of faith of Peter resulted in him being called Satan by our Lord.

Regarding your comment about Peter you may want to dig a little deeper into that scripture - I believe you are not reading it in context.

 

[tz620q]

That has always been a curiosity to me - Peter, the (allegedly) first Pope, being called Satan by our Lord. I cannot say that my own faith is greater than that of Peter, but I thank God for His immeasurable grace toward me, as well as to Peter.

I've been told that like Satan, who tempted Christ to turn away from God the Father and embrace worldly power, Peter's comment was seen by Jesus as a similar temptation to become the expected Messiah and not the suffering Redeemer.

 

[bbbbbbb]

I've been told that like Satan, who tempted Christ to turn away from God the Father and embrace worldly power, Peter's comment was seen by Jesus as a similar temptation to become the expected Messiah and not the suffering Redeemer.

Yes, that has been my understanding, as well.