Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Tuesday, March 21: Mark 14:22-24

“While they were eating, he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it. This is my body. And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many.””

Communion has been debated for many centuries. The Roman church holds to a “transubstantiation”, where the elements may look like bread and wine, but once the priest “transforms” it, it becomes the actual body and blood of Christ. I remember as an altar boy that my most crucial job was to keep that “host” from dropping on the floor with my “Communion plate”.

Lutherans hold to “consubstantiation”, where there is no physical change of the elements, but Christ is present “with” (con) the substances, kind of in and all around it, if I understand it right.

Some reformers believe that the Presence of Christ is there spiritually, but not physically, if I have that right. I think that is kind of what Calvin believed.

Finally, many believe that it is just an ordinance of remembrance, kind of like the Passover feast. The bread and wine are just symbols. They hold to the passage in Luke 19:19: “Then he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

As most who read this know, I lean toward the latter. A good overall discussion is by one of my favorite teachers, Alistair Begg, linked below.

The key point is that we constantly remind ourselves of what Christ did for us. It’s just like believers to nitpick over the mechanics of God’s work, and just like family, they can argue over anything. The easiest thing is to stick to the Word of God. I think of how kids might argue, and one might say, “But mommy said…” Then they all scamper to Mom, who sets them right.

We have the Word of God to do this for us, and for me, I like to contemplate the things that “are too wonderful for me to understand” (Psalm 139), but I’ll rely on the Bible for the bare facts, and trust that He knows best what I really need to know.

So, when He says to do this in remembrance, that’s what I’ll do. And when Jesus, in flesh and blood is showing the disciples the symbols, and telling them “This is my Body, This is my Blood”, to me it is obviously not His literal body and blood, any more than giving my pretty wife a balloon, shaped like a heart, and saying, “This is my heart.”

But that’s as far as I’ll go with it. “Christians” tortured or killed other Christians for arguments like these, and it was a shame and stain to the name of Christ before the world. So, please don’t torture and kill me if you disagree.

Instead, wherever you are, and wherever you go, when you participate, follow what is written later by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11: “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after 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, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me. For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead. But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world.” (23-32)

Thank God that we are disciplined as children, not condemned with the world. And you can be His child as well.

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

Memory Helps:

ABCDE,ABCD

We know our first “ABC”, Anointed, Betrayal Prediction, and Communion.

Go over it until mastered, and take a sneak peek at the other part of the memory alphabet so you can be ready for the next few days.

Mark 14: ABCDE, ABCD:

A-nointed by Mary,
B-etrayal predicted,
C-ommunion with Companions,
Denial is predicted,
Entreaty! Not my will but Yours.

Arresting Jesus,
Betrayal completed,
Chief Priests Condemn Him,
Denial complete.
In Mark 14.

Quick phonetic alphabet review: 0=S or Z; 1=t, or d; 2=N; 3=M; 4=R; 5=L; 6=J,sh,ch; 7=K or hard g; 8=F or V; and 9=P or b.

All vowels, and w, and y are fillers.

The Nature and Meaning of the Lord's Supper