Click here for more Communion Sermons.
Click here to return to the Sermons page.

Matthew 26:26-29

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.”

INTRODUCTION: Today is Communion Sunday, and although we always spend some time explaining Communion before we partake, it is also good to take some extended time to reflect and learn from the Scriptures about this important part of our faith. (Read Matthew 26:26-29 and pray.)

There are so many aspects of the Lord’s Supper that we could talk about today, but I wanted to take some time this morning to talk about the elements that we use in Communion. Why did Jesus instruct us to remember him using the elements of the bread and the cup? We know that the bread represents his body, and the cup represents his blood, but wouldn’t it have been enough simply to remember that Jesus died for us? What is the purpose of the elements, and why did Jesus command us to use them?

In answering that, I would like to take Jesus’ statement this morning, “This is my body; take and eat,” and break it down into three simple words: see, touch, and taste. All three of these are essential aspects of Communion. Taken together, they build on each other and teach us some important truths not only about Communion but also about what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be someone who has put your faith in Jesus Christ.

I. See (“This is my body”)

So we begin with the word “see.” Jesus was a master when it came to visual illustrations. When you read through the gospels, his teachings are chock full of vivid imagery, striking comparisons and compelling stories. Jesus didn’t just talk about the kingdom of God in the abstract, but he used concrete images and everyday illustrations to bring the point home. Jesus taught about God’s kingdom using the images of farmers and fishermen, shepherds and sheep, lamps and coins, pearls and pigs. And when it came to Communion, Jesus used the very simple everyday objects of bread and wine.

Communion begins with the visual. Jesus held up the bread and the cup for the disciples to see. “See! This is my body. This is my blood.” There are many benefits in using visual illustrations when teaching. A visual illustration helps you to focus your mind. When someone uses an object as a point of comparison, it engages you as a listener. It invites you to think about the truth being presented and consider how the two are related. “In what way is the bread like Jesus’ body? How does the cup represent Jesus’ blood?”

The word “see” in the Bible often relates to spiritual understanding and perception. Jesus spoke about people who have “eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear.” (Mark 8:18) He wasn’t talking about people who were physically blind or deaf, but people who were cut off from spiritual things. They could see and hear just fine with their physical eyes and ears, but they were ignorant of God’s truth.

So when you look at the Communion table this morning, what do you see? Do you just see a loaf of bread and a glass of grape juice? Do you just see food and drink laid out on the table, perhaps a morning snack? Or do you see the spiritual truths that lie behind them?

When the disciples sat down to eat the Passover meal with Jesus that night, and they saw the loaf of bread on the table and the cup of wine, I’m sure they didn’t think anything of it. These were common elements. There was always bread and wine at the table for the meal. But then Jesus took the loaf of bread and broke it, saying “This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And then he took the cup and said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.”

And all of a sudden the elements took on new meaning. They hadn’t changed physically. The loaf of bread was still a loaf of bread. The cup still contained wine. But the elements were transformed in meaning. Jesus gave his disciples a visual illustration to help them understand what was about to take place at the cross. And then by telling us to continue doing this after he died, he gave all of us a visual to help us remember what Jesus did for us.

A little later this morning as we prepare to take Communion together, I will take this loaf of bread from the table, lift it into the air and break it before your eyes. If you are just looking with your physical eyes, all you will see is a loaf of bread being broken. But if you have eyes to see, you will look beyond the bread, and see Jesus’ body broken for you. You will see the crown of thorns pushed down into his head, the cruel scourging of his back, the nails driven through his hands and feet, the spear thrust into his side. When you look at the cup, you will not just see grape juice in a glass, but you will see Jesus’ blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins as he died a violent, agonizing death for us upon the cross.

The bread and the cup are meant first of all to be visuals. “See! This is my body. This is my blood.”

II. Touch (“take”)

But Communion goes deeper than that. Because Communion is more than just a visual illustration. It is a tactile experience. We not only see the bread and the cup, but we touch them. We hold them in our hands. Jesus could have just broken the bread in front of his disciples and showed them the cup. But he did more than that. He said, “Take. Take the bread and the cup. Hold them. Feel these physical objects with your hands.”

Touch is more personal than sight. Many of you have Skyped before. If you’re not familiar with Skype, it is a way of talking with someone through your computer complete with audio and video. What an amazing thing! Who would have thought just a few years ago that you could see and talk with someone through your computer for free? It is a wonderful way to communicate, but it is still not the same as being there. You can’t give someone a hug through Skype. It’s just not the same thing.

In the same way Jesus made Communion more personal by incorporating touch. You don’t just see the bread and the cup, but you hold the bread and cup in your hands. You feel the texture of the bread’s surface and the curve of the cup’s rim. These are more than just visual illustrations. These are physical elements with physical properties. And their very physicality is meant to remind us of a most important truth. They are meant to remind us of Christ’s incarnation: that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, came to us in a physical body. He was born into our world as a true human being with an actual body of real flesh and blood.
This is what the apostle John spoke about at the beginning of his first letter in the New Testament. He wrote:

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:1-3)

Now that word “fellowship” in verse three is the same word as “communion.” That’s right, it’s the same word that we get our word “communion” from. Through Christ we have fellowship, or communion, with God and each other.

So what is John saying here? He is saying that he and the disciples saw and touched Jesus. Jesus’ body was not an apparition or an illusion. Christ came in an actual physical body. He breathed real air through physical lungs, just like you and me. His heart pumped real blood through real blood vessels to carry nutrients to the various parts of his physical body. His nervous system communicated true physical sensations to his physical brain so that he felt real hunger, real thirst, and real pain.

Jesus could have just broken the bread and showed it to his disciples. He could have just pointed them to the cup on the table. But he did more than that. He said, “Take. Take and hold these elements in your hands.” And as we take and hold and touch these elements today, Communion becomes much more personal to us. It is not just visual elements on a table down front. But you hold the actual elements in your hands, and you are reminded. You are reminded that Jesus Christ the Son of God came in the flesh to die in the flesh so that through him we might share in real fellowship or communion with God and with each other.

III. Taste (“eat”)

There is one more aspect of the Communion elements that I would like to look at this morning, and that is the aspect of taste. Jesus said, “This is my body; take and eat.” Communion is even more personal than just sight and touch. Not only do we see the elements and hold them in our hands, but then we eat and we drink.

This aspect of Communion brings out the importance of personal appropriation. During Communion everyone sees the bread and the cup on the table. But not everyone takes and eats. It is not enough simply to know that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. It is not enough to know that Jesus died on the cross. But one of the lessons of Communion is that you yourself must receive Jesus into your life. Jesus said:

“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58)

Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven to give life to the world. Bread doesn’t do anybody any good as long as it’s just sitting on the table. You have to eat it. You have to take it into your life. Bread gives life to others by giving of itself. Jesus is the bread of life who gave himself for us so that we might live through him.

When you eat the bread and drink the cup in Communion, you are reminded that as a believer you are united with Christ at the very deepest level. You hold the elements representing Christ’s death for you in your hands, and then you take them into your body. And as the saying goes, you are what you eat. The bread and the juice enter your body and, as with all food, they become part of you, part of your body, part of who you are.

In the same way, when you put your faith in Christ, you are united with Christ in his death. And as the Bible says, “If we have been united with him … in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.” (Romans 6:5) When you eat of the bread and drink of the cup, it is a reminder of your union with Christ in his death and resurrection.

But then it goes even deeper than that, because as a church we all eat from the same loaf and drink from the same cup. Listen to what the Bible says about this in 1 Corinthians:

“Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

Once again, the word “participation” in these verses is the exact same word as the words “fellowship” and “communion” that we have already seen. And so Communion is not only a deep symbol of our fellowship with Christ, but also of our fellowship with each other. We share in Christ together, and therefore we are joined in fellowship with God together through Jesus the Son.

In the Bible the word “taste” is often used to speak of personal experience. When Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the LORD is good,” it is talking about personally experiencing God’s goodness. It is an invitation to taste and experience God’s goodness for yourself.

And so if you have never trusted Christ as Savior, let me invite you today: confess your sin to God, trust Christ’s death for you on the cross and receive him as your Savior. Taste and see that the Lord is good. And then join with other believers this morning around the Communion table as we share the bread and the cup together.

CONCLUSION: Back in the 1500’s at the time of the Reformation, the church put together a teaching manual called The Heidelberg Catechism. As with all catechisms, it contains a series of questions followed by answers based on Scripture. Question 75 in the catechism asks this: “How does the Lord’s Supper remind you and assure you that you share in Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross and in all his gifts?”

And here is the answer:

In this way: Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat this broken break and to drink this cup. With this command he gave this promise: First, as surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely his body was offered and broken for me and his blood poured out for me on the cross. Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of the one who serves, and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, given me as sure signs of Christ’s body and blood, so surely he nourishes and refreshes my soul for eternal life with his crucified body and poured-out blood. (Heidelberg Catechism, answer to question 75)

Jesus said, “This is my body; take and eat.” See, touch and taste. See what God has done for you in Christ. Take hold of the salvation God offers you through Christ. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

© Ray Fowler

You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this message provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and that you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For any web postings, please link to the sermon directly at this website.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copies:
By Ray Fowler. © Ray Fowler. Website: https://www.rayfowler.org

Click here for more Communion Sermons.
Click here to return to the Sermons page.