How Christians Interpret And Celebrate The Last Supper Today

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How Christians Interpret And Celebrate The Last Supper Today

Akshay Bhutiani

Holy Communion is very important in Christian worship. This is the occasion on which the priest distributes bread and wine. This is one is of the seven Sacraments. A Sacrament is a physical act with a spiritual meaning. It takes the form of a ceremony intended to reveal and to give a greater sense of closeness to God. The spiritual meaning of Holy Communion is togetherness with God and each other.

        During Holy Communion the priest takes the bread and wine, gives thanks to God, breaks the bread and then gives them to the worshipers. This is known as the Fourfold Eucharistic actions. Eucharist means thanksgiving. So the Eucharist or Holy Communion exists for Christians to be thankful to God for his Son, Jesus saved men from sin by giving himself as a sacrifice on the cross. The breaking of the bread symbolises the breaking of Jesus’ body on the cross and the wine represents the blood shed by Jesus on the Cross. The bread and wine not only remind Christians of Jesus’ death, but also of his resurrection. Bread can represent life as it is the basic food and wine can symbolise joy.

        This meal stems from the Last Supper, which was the last meal that Jesus had with his disciples at Passover before his crucifixion. Mark’s Gospel records ‘While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples. “Take it,” he said, “this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and handed it to them; and they all drank from it. Jesus said, “This is my blood which is poured out for many….” (Mark 14:22). These lines have changed the significance of bread and wine for all Christians.

        Holy Communion services reenact this with the priest playing the role of Jesus and the disciples are the worshiping Christians. This serves the purpose of remembering the Last Supper and also brings a feeling of closeness with God, Jesus and each other. It will also remind Christians of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

        Holy Communion has four main meanings. The first is remembrance. Holy Communion commemorates the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Corinthians 11:23-25 writes that Jesus took and broke the bread, referred to it as his body and said, ‘ Do this in remembrance of me.’ Similarly after the supper he took a cup and referred to it as, ‘ the new covenant in my blood’ and said, ‘Do this whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’

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        The second is participation. Jesus did more than just take and break the bread and take and pour the wine. He gave these things to the disciples to eat, thus he was involving them in the last supper. So today the Last supper is more than just a commemoration, where we remember a past event, it is a communion in which we participate in the remembrance and share in its benefits.

        The apostle Paul wrote: ‘is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that ...

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