In the times in which we are living, the perceived significance that of the contribution that one made during his or her time here on Earth, is often measured by the number of attendees there are at one’s burial. Yet the entombment of the bodily remains of the Lord Jesus Christ was attended by only a few individuals.
Unlike our own “one and done” celebration of life event, there was one celebration of life event that was established for the expressed purpose of bringing into o-n-g-o-i-n-g remembrance, the Person and the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ until He returns. It was established by Jesus Himself.
Unlike our own “one and done” funeral or celebration of life event, the memorial service for the Person and the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ was established and designed to be an ongoing event, repeated on a regular basis, throughout the course of the Church Age dispensation.
During the night on which He was going to be betrayed, Jesus met with His disciples in the upper room that had been set up for them to celebrate the traditional Passover Meal.
During that time, “He took bread; 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. In the same way, He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood: do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes (1Cor. 11: 24-26 NASB2020).”
The celebration of the Lord’s Supper (aka Communion) is a sacred and fundamental part of worship services for the Church Age. It, therefore, should come to us as no surprise that it is the target of much satanic attention and attack in the realm of spiritual warfare.
As a result, over the course of the Church Age, differences of opinion established and enforced by religious leadership within the Christian Community at large, has caused much internal divisiveness regarding such things as, the purpose for, the means of, along with when, where, how, and by whom the elements of the Lord’s Supper are to be dispensed and under what circumstances that are to be received.
Like the unadulterated Gospel Message, the celebration of the Lord’s Supper was never intended to be the source of confusion, controversy, or division.
The Biblically-stated purpose for celebrating the Lord’s Supper (Communion) was/is to bring into one’s conscious remembrance, the Person and the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, on a regular basis, until He returns at the end of the Church Age when the Rapture takes place.
The first Communion ritual did not take place in the Old Testament Temple or synagogue. It took place in the upstairs room of a building large enough to accommodate the group where the disciples had gathered to celebrate the traditional Passover meal. Historians report that after the Lord’s resurrection, the site later became the location or area for religious activity of various groups.
As instructed, this practice continued to take place in various locations, long before the cathedrals, tangible houses of worship, altars, pageantry, and “officiating” clergy of Man-made religion came into the picture in the centuries that followed.
All born-again, Spirit-filled, Church Age, believer are priests, being members of the royal priesthood (1). They are all priests in the sense that they can approach God and represent themselves before God, and can represent God before people.
It is customary for those who are in ordained positions of leadership to lead those gathered together in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, but this area of ministry (service) can be conducted by any born-again, Spirit-filled, Church Age believer-priest.
There was no altar set up in the Upper Room. The last tangible altar (having to do with salvation) that God acknowledged was the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was on this altar that the last and final sacrifice (2) (that provided the means of salvation) was made.
There is no need for, or the ability of human clergy, to reproduce or to literally transform (through transubstantiation) the representative elements (bread and wine) into the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to celebrate the Lord’s Super (Communion), a memorial event, that it was intended to be.
Christians are not to base their spiritual beliefs on the ever-changing opinions that natural science produce, but I am quite confident that an analysis of the wafer, bread, wine, or the mouths of the recipients after being a part of a Lord’s Supper (Communion) ritual would NOT reveal the presence of the human DNA of the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. These elements (the bread and the wine) were and ARE symbolic representatives.
Just as there was no altar in the Upper Room, there were no Levitical priests officiating, nor was there any of the pageantry like ones that have evolved and have been practiced over the course of the Church Age by Man-made clergy.
Celebrating the Lord’s Supper (Communion) is a post salvation, ongoing, activity. Being a post (after) salvation activity, means that the participants have already settled the issue of their salvation. They received eternal life the moment when they were born again.
Participating in this ritual is not for the purpose of obtaining, maintaining, retaining, or regaining salvation. It is for the purpose of bringing into remembrance the Person and the atoning Work of the One who made the ultimate sacrifice (3) in our behalf.
These facts do not diminish the respect that we are to have for the sacredness or the importance of preparing for (4), and participating in, the ongoing “memorial” service of the Person and the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
These facts should, however, shed light on what is the correct interpretation and application of Scripture concerning this ritual, and identify the “leaven” (errant information and practices) that the religious traditions of Man have brought into the picture.
By attending or otherwise participating in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (Communion) as it was intended to be, glorifies God keeps the participants securely anchored to the foundation (5) of the Christian Faith, expressed and reiterated in the unadulterated Gospel Message, encapsulated in John 3: 16, 18.
If we want to become the type of worshipers that God desires (6), we must learn to do things His way, and for the purpose and objectives that He has in mind.
In closing, attending and or participating in the ongoing life-celebrations of the Person and the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, in light of all that He endured and accomplished on the cross in OUR behalf, should be anything but a burden.
 (1) 1Pet. 2: 9 (2) Heb. 10: 12 (3) Heb. 10: 11-18 (4) 1Cor. 11: 28 (5) 1Cor. 3: 10, 11 (6) John 4: 24