Growing up in a Southern Baptist church, I've always been familiar with the concept of communion, but all my life, it's been another event, just something we did a couple Sundays a year. The meaning of the Lord's Supper had been lost on me until today. Whether it was out of immaturity or a lack of explanation that I never understood, I'm not certain. All I know is that, now, I get it.
I always wondered why that little cracker they give you was so brittle and hard, but today, when I felt it crumble between my teeth, I understood. The purpose of that insignificant piece of bread hit me like a train, and it almost brought tears to my eyes.
"And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, 'Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.'" (1 Corinthians 11:24)
His body was broken for worthless, messed up me. The thought blows me away.
Then, of course, they follow the bread with the cup of grape juice. Drinking the lukewarm liquid, I realized how infinitely meaningful it was. The significance of the food in which I was partaking was beyond my human comprehension.
"After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, 'This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do you, as oft as you drink it, in remembrance of me.'" (1 Corinthians 11:25)
Such a powerful, humbling image painted with such ordinary things. Leave it to God to leave us with the most beautiful metaphor this world will ever know.
