We come here to partake and keep the Lords’ Supper, Communion. The bread and the wine. The flesh and the life. The body and blood.

Matthew 26:26-28 (NKJV)
26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

The bread and wine are simply symbols representing Jesus’ body broken and blood shed to pay for our salvation for which He asked us to do often in remembrance of Him and what He did.

So, why did He ask us to eat the bread and drink the wine?

I am reminded of something else Jesus said that freaked out His followers: you must eat my flesh and drink my blood and if you don’t you will not have everlasting life.

John 6:51-58 (NKJV)
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.
56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.
58 This is the bread which came down from heaven–not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

Many left and did not follow Jesus after that. Jesus went on to say: I am the Bread of Life, the Manna that came down from heaven. If you eat of Me you shall never die. So again, why eat it and drink it? And, if you don’t you will not have everlasting life?

Jesus is the Word and that He became flesh and that they beheld Him.
John 1:1-5 (NKJV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:14 (NKJV)
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

I am also reminded of another word that Jesus spoke when He was tempted by Satan in Matt 4 and Lk 4:
Matthew 4:1-4 (NKJV)
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Satan said; hey, your hungry, why don’t you just turn these rocks into bread and be done with it. Now, we know that Jesus is the Rock and He is the Bread. But what did Jesus say: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ” or every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father?
So we see here that the bread is every word or Word that comes from God. Jesus was sent by the Father. He is the Word that we need to eat of(spiritually).

I am also reminded of a prayer that Jesus taught us to pray to the father in Mtt 6: Give us this day our daily bread.
Matthew 6:9-11 (NKJV)
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread…

So, how do we eat the bread that we now know is the Word of God? Our daily bread. That comes from the Father. That is Jesus.
The bread is the life of Jesus given to us in the Word, wherein if we take it in daily we will have life, His life in us. Likewise the wine, if we drink, take it in(of it), we will have spiritual life through the Spirit of the Son. That is why He asked us to do this often so we will remember (retain) His life and Spirit.

So now this begs of us a question: How does this give us life? When you eat bread it goes down into your digestive system and is turned into life giving sustenance. Otherwise it goes out into the … and is wasted. So here we find that if we simply read the Word or hear it but do not take it into our lives and make it part of our lives, it is wasted, is of no use to our lives. It is not good enough to just read it or hear it, we must make it a part of our life. Let it change our lives as it shows us or speaks to us and become like Him. The more we do that the more we become like Him and less like our selves.

This will transform your life if you simply apply this Communion to your life. Determine, as we take the symbols, to let Jesus transform your life this year. Take eat of His life and drink of the Spirit today and He will transform your life.

Examine yourselves now: Have I failed to eat of His body(Word) and make it a part of my life or just let it go out the other end and be wasted? In one ear and out the other with nothing in between. Have I rejected His Spirit when He told me what to do and failed to gain life from that obedience? Make a deal between God and yourself today. Say; I will no longer waste His life He freely gives me but I will take it in and make it a part of my life so that I can be more like Him and less like me. More of Him and less of me, please.