Real People Real Talk

Breaking Bread: The Meaning of Communion

• Episode 197

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 During Holy Week, when we remember Jesus's journey to crucifixion and resurrection, understanding the Lord's Supper takes on special importance.

Drawing from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, we explore how Jesus transformed the Passover meal into something revolutionary during that final gathering with his disciples. Just as lamb's blood on doorposts once saved the Israelites from death in Egypt, Christ's blood—the ultimate Lamb of God—now saves us from sin's eternal consequences. The bread representing his broken body and the cup symbolizing his blood create tangible reminders of an intangible salvation.

This ordinance operates across time dimensions—looking back at Christ's sacrifice ("I remember that you died in pain so I can live in power"), grounding us in present fellowship with believers, and pointing forward to Christ's triumphant return. Like upgrading from disposable cameras to iPhones, Jesus established a new covenant infinitely superior to the old. Where repeated animal sacrifices once provided temporary atonement, his single perfect sacrifice covers all sin for those who believe.

At communion's heart lies forgiveness—both receiving it through Christ and extending it to others. As Ephesians 4:32 reminds us, we forgive "as God in Christ forgave you." When unforgiveness tempts us (that poisonous mindset where we drink toxins hoping others die), the Lord's Supper reorients our hearts toward the grace we've received.

Whether you call it communion or the Lord's Supper, this sacred practice invites us to remember, rejoice, and recommit ourselves to the One whose body was broken and blood was shed that we might live. Will you approach your next communion with renewed appreciation for what it truly means?

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Speaker 1:

Welcome and thanks for tuning in to Real People, real Talk, relevant conversations that take you from surviving to thriving. This is the podcast that goes there. My name is Paul Calco and I'm your host. Now let's talk. Well, hello, thriver, and welcome to Real People, real Talk, the podcast ministry that equips you to thrive in your walk with the Lord, to thrive in your relationships and to thrive in your mental and emotional health.

Speaker 1:

And at the time of this recording, it is Holy Week, which, according to scripture, this is the week that we commemorate when Jesus was led to his crucifixion, his death and resurrection. So I wanna do an episode related to that, more so specifically to Monday, thursday, and some call it Holy Thursday, but on Holy Thursday Jesus had what is called the Last Supper with his disciples. From that we get a command, we get an ordinance of the church that we call the Lord's Supper, some call it communion, but by the end of the episode you will know two things Firstly, you will know exactly what is the Lord's Supper and, secondly, you will know why do we observe it as Christians. So our text for the day is 1 Corinthians 11, 23-26. But allow me first to give you some context, and it's important to know that the Apostle Paul here is paraphrasing what was said in the Gospels, in Matthew 26 to be exact. But the apostle Paul, he's addressing some issues that's occurring at the church in Corinth. They were participating in the love feast, which was a meal shared by early Christians in connection with the Lord's supper. It was done to remember Christ, to encourage one another and to share God's provision with each other. But they were doing it wrong. They were overeating gluttony, they were showing favoritism and they wasn't walking in unity.

Speaker 1:

Now let's go to God's word, for I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus. On the night that he was betrayed, he took bread and this is once again referencing the last supper of Holy week, that Thursday, verse 24. And when he had a given things, he broke it and said this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, he took the cup after supper, saying this cup is a new covenant in my blood. Do this, and as often as you drink it in remembrance of me, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the lord's death until he comes. So the first question I want to answer is what is the lord's supper? The lord's supper is an act of worship that calls to mind the most tragic event in the entire history of the world, while also calling to mind the greatest hope that has been offered to humanity, that was wrapped up in the person of jesus christ. I feel like preaching already an ordinance or a command of the church instituted by the lord jesus christ during the last supper, which took place at the passover.

Speaker 1:

Now let's rewind before we move forward. If we must go back to exodus, when god's people, the israelites, they were in bondage, they was enslaved by the egyptian people and god raised up moses to lead them out, and he did it through 10 different plagues and even attacked the nile river, which the egyptian looked at as a god, and he turned that water into blood. Then fast forward to the 10th and final plague, which was the angel of death, which all the firstborn kiddos would be killed. But the Lord instructed Moses to tell the people to take the blood of a lamb and apply it to the doorposts, so when the angel of death sees the blood of the lamb, he will pass over that house and death won't hit them. I believe. You see the connection right there.

Speaker 1:

Now the Israelites. They celebrated the Passover as it reminded them of how the blood of a lamb saved them from death and destruction, saved them from death and destruction. We celebrate the Lord's Supper because of the blood of the Lamb that saves us from eternal death and destruction. The Passover meal remembers and it celebrates Israelites' deliverance from Egyptian bondage. But the Lord's Supper causes us to remember and to celebrate our deliverance from the power and the penalty of sin, from the bondage of sin. John 1 29 declares behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Speaker 1:

Now there are two elements to the Lord's Supper or to communion. First is the bread, and these are symbols. It's symbolic the bread represents the body of Jesus, and Jesus is a bread of life that provides eternal life. And the cup represents his blood that was shed for our sins. Now, the Lord's Supper has past, present and future implications. Let me break it down Regarding the past. The Lord's Supper has past, present and future implications. Let me break it down. Regarding the past.

Speaker 1:

The Lord's Supper looks back at the cross. It looks back at Christ's sacrificial, substitutionary death. For us, the Lord's Supper is the perfect opportunity to express our deepest praise. And to express our deepest praise and to express our deepest appreciation as we look back at what Jesus did for you and what he did for me. Never forget Every time you partake in the Lord's Supper, you are basically saying Jesus, I remember what you did for me. I remember that you was hung up for my hangups. I remember that you died in pain so I can live in power. I remember that you was hung up for my hangups. I remember that you died in pain so I can live in power. I remember that you was beaten so I can be blessed. You were scarred so I could be saved. Never forget. On the cross, jesus gave us all of him and now he desires and deserves all of you. Amen.

Speaker 1:

Now regarding the present, the Lord's Supper is a beautiful and sweet time of fellowship that should be shared together with brothers and sisters in Christ. It's a time of spiritual nourishment and empowerment that should inspire us to continue to share the gospel, make Jesus famous, make his name known. We should be making disciples, thus fulfilling the great commission, because we want others to participate in the lord's supper. We want others that are not yet part of the family of god to be part of the family of god. Every time you partake in the lord's supper, you eat the bread, you drink the juice, you are in effect saying that I am forgiven and I am in right standing with God.

Speaker 1:

Forgiveness, I love that word. Ephesians 1 7 says in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. Now, speaking of forgiveness, please know that Jesus has done all of the heavy lifting. The charges for your sin, the charges against you have been dropped and you have been justified as long as you have named the name of Jesus Christ, as long as you have placed your faith in Jesus for salvation alone. You turn to him in faith after you have turned from your sins by repenting. In other words, you have been justified With this forgiveness. You can't earn it. You can only receive it through faith in Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1:

Now Ephesians 4.32 says Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Uh-oh, we forgive because we have been forgiven. Forgiveness is an essential part of the life of every single believer. Now, on the other hand, unforgiveness has no place in the life of the believer. I've heard it said like this that unforgiveness is like drinking poison but you're hoping that the other person would die. You think you're hurting poison but you're hoping that the other person would die. You think you're hurting them but you're actually hurting yourself. Forgiveness is the key to set you free from the prison of bitterness and resentment. We don't forgive because that person deserves forgiveness. We don't forgive because the pain is gone. We don't forgive because of any of those reasons. We forgive because we have been forgiven, and forgiveness does not necessarily mean reconciliation. But that's another sermon for another day, amen.

Speaker 1:

So, regarding the future, the Lord's Supper looks forward, with the hope of God's kingdom coming and Jesus's glorious return. Friends, we have a hopeful anticipation. We have a reminder that something better is coming, something exponentially better than all that this world has to offer. All in all, the Lord's Supper is a special time of worship and obedience. As we go back to verse 24 of our text, 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.

Speaker 1:

Have you ever traveled somewhere and you bought a souvenir as a reminder of your trip? Maybe you got a T-shirt or a postcard or a pen Most tourists, they will buy something from that place that they visited, that they enjoyed, to serve as a tangible reminder of that trip, of those memories and of that vacation. Well, the Lord's Supper is similar to a souvenir, just in a much holier sense, because a souvenir is a thing that is kept as a reminder of a person, place or event. For example, I have a mug that I have from New York City. Each time I drink coffee from my New York City mug, I'm reminded of the awesome time that my wife and I had in the Big Apple.

Speaker 1:

Now let's take this metaphor higher and holier. Every time you partake in the Lord's Supper, we bring back to remembrance, we flood our mind with the memories of what Jesus did on the cross. See, most of us, we try to forget how those that we love died, but Jesus wants us to remember his death, because everything that we have as Christians centers around that death and, more so, centers around that resurrection. Christ died for our sins and his death paid a debt that we could never repay, and his death paid a debt that we could never repay. Let me read another passage of scripture for you Romans, chapter five, verses eight through 11. Hear the word of the Lord, but God showed his love for us that while we were still sinners, christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God, for while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Much more, now that we are reconciled, shall be saved by his life Verse 11. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord, jesus Christ, whom we have now received reconciliation. Thank God for Jesus. Now back to our original text. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 25, we see the phrase new covenant in blood. Now, covenants back in those days they had to be ratified, they had to be made official in blood, similar to the contracts of today are made official through our signatures. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we now have a better covenant, a better deal with better promises and the best sacrifice. Jesus's death and his resurrection established a new covenant between humanity and God. Direction, establish a new covenant between humanity and God, a covenant of unconditional love, a covenant of forgiveness. And here's a metaphor to better understand the new covenant.

Speaker 1:

Um, so I'm a millennial, I'm 35 and I grew up in the era of disposable cameras and the thing about disposable cameras they were only good for one use, which means if I wanted more pictures, I would have to constantly be buying more and more disposable cameras. And on top of that, I had to wait until the film was developed, after I dropped it off, in order to see the pictures that I just took. The disposable camera once met our picture needs, but it was so limited just like the old covenant was limited. But fast forward to today, in the era of the iphone, in the era of the iphone's camera, I only gotta buy once. I can take as many pictures as I want and I can see the pictures right then, and there I can even zoom in and zoom out. Overall, a much better deal, a much better arrangement than that of the disposable camera.

Speaker 1:

This new covenant that we have is so much better than the old covenant. In the old covenant, back in the old testament, they had to constantly sacrifice animals for the remission and the forgiveness of their sins. But under this new covenant, there has already been one sacrifice and that's all that it takes, and that's the one lamb, the lamb of God, jesus Christ. I said all of that to say this that I am so grateful for Jesus' ultimate sacrifice, and now I have a new covenant with God. Partaking in the Lord's Supper celebrates this new covenant of mercy and grace bestowed upon us by our father.

Speaker 1:

But let's delve deeper into question number two. Why do we partake in the Lord's Supper? We do it because Jesus tells us to, and, as his followers, we should be obedient to his every command, and this is one of the two ordinances, one of the two commands that Jesus instituted, with the other one being baptism. We partake in the Lord's Supper to remember Christ, his sacrifice, his suffering and his shame. It's a time that we rededicate ourselves to the cause and reminds us that there are more people out there that need to experience this gospel.

Speaker 1:

The Lord's Supper is a visible and tangible reminder of God's love and of God's faithfulness. Partaking in it is an opportunity, as the body of Christ, to express our worship, to express our love to Jesus for all that he has done. We partake in the Lord's Supper to celebrate our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ, who has graciously, jesus Christ, who has graciously, sacrificially, provided a means of salvation. The Lord's Supper. It reminds us that in Christ, we have the victory in this life and the next.

Speaker 1:

We partake in the Lord's Supper to be reminded of the good news of the gospel, the salvation that we have, the mercy that we have. The mercy that we have, the love that we have, the forgiveness that we have. That is the beauty of the gospel, the beauty of the Lord's Supper. It reminds us of the last supper of Holy Week. So that is a snapshot of what the Lord's Supper is all about, aka communion. Thank you so much for listening. Be sure to share this episode with a few friends that need to hear this, but before I go, before I let you go, rather, be sure to go to church this sunday and all the sundays, but until next time, know this the tomb is empty and we serve a risen savior, a risen savior.