Does communion hold significance for you? Has it become a ritual you do in church or with friends or family to remember Christ’s death and forgiveness for you, or does it still reach the core of your heart when you take the bread and the cup? I think today’s post will help reignite a deeper meaning for you so when you gather for communion, those elements will resonate in a special way.
“With the first lamb offer two quarts of fine flour mixed with one quart of oil from crushed olives, and a drink offering of one quart of wine.” (Exodus 29:40)
On our social media channels, we’ve been looking at the prophetic laws and offerings that proved to be illustrations of Christ. Yesterday, we learned that in the daily offerings of the Old Testament law in Exodus 29, it required a year-old lamb, fine flour, oil, and wine. The flour and oil together make bread and these elements symbolize communion. But let’s think about these elements for a moment. Wheat is crushed to make flour. Grapes are crushed to make wine. So why would Exodus 29:40 specifically say that the priests had to offer “oil from crushed olives”?
This should peak our interest and make us fast forward to the Garden of Gethsemane the night before Jesus was crucified. Gethsemane means “Oil Press” in Aramaic and is located on the Mount of Olives.
The night before Jesus died, He went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray to the Father. Mark 14:32-36 says,
“Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he told his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. He said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake.’ He went a little farther, fell to the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, ‘Abba, Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.’”
While in Gethsemane, Jesus was “deeply distressed and troubled.” He was “grieved to the point of death.” What was happening here? His Spirit was being crushed severely!
Isaiah 53 gives us a window into what/who was crushing Him. Verse 10 says, “Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely.” What?! How could a good God be pleased to crush Himself severely? That doesn’t make any sense! Isaiah 53:5 gives us the reason:
“But he was pierced because of our rebellion,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on him,
and we are healed by his wounds.”
Jesus’ Spirit was being crushed to pay the price for our rebellion and iniquities. The punishment for the judgment of sin and death which resulted in God’s wrath was fully placed upon Him, so that we could be set free! And the gift of that freedom resulted in His peace and healing for us!
Flour and oil from crushed olives together make bread. John 6 says that Jesus is the Bread of Life. He explained, “’Truly I tell you, anyone who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:47-51)
The bread that was offered daily eventually revealed its symbolism of Christ as the Bread of Life. That Life who was sacrificed on the cross gives eternal life to all who believe and confess that Jesus Christ is “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) We no longer need to eat lamb when we take communion because He was the ultimate, everlasting sacrificial Lamb. But the bread and wine continue as reminders of what He’s done for us because the bread represents the gift of eternal life to all who follow Jesus by His broken body on the cross and the crushing of His Spirit He endured on our behalf.
And since we’re talking about communion, I’ll let you in on the power of the wine. It represents the blood of Christ poured out on the cross for us. His gift of salvation is complete for us to receive because the punishment of our sins is “finished” (John 19:30).
Speaking of wine – Jesus’ first public miracle was the story of Him turning water into wine at a friend’s wedding in Cana. Wine is representative of three things in the Bible – The blood of Christ, God’s wrath, and feasting. The good wine at the wedding of Cana was feasting. Because Jesus’ blood was poured out and He drank the cup of God’s wrath, He reversed the bitter wine representative of death and wrath and turned it into water! He has now turned the bitter wine into Living Water and offers us that to drink for all eternity!
So, when you gather for communion this Easter holiday, while holding the bread in your hand, meditate on Christ’s broken body and crushed Spirit for you. Then give Him thanks for the eternal life you have in Him. Then, when you take the cup, meditate on His blood being shed and the wrath of God being poured out. Then thank Him that you can drink from His good wine at the wedding feast of the Lamb in the New Kingdom and from the cup of Living water for all of eternity! Communion will never look the same again.
