One of the last things that Jesus did before his death on the cross was to share a meal with his friends. We remember this meal particularly on Maundy Thursday as part of our Easter Celebrations, but we also re-enact it week by week in the Service of Holy Communion.

As far as we can tell, the ‘Last Supper’ was a Passover meal. This is the special Jewish festival at which the story of the Exodus from Egypt is vividly brought to life. Special bread is eaten to remind Jewish people of the bread their ancestors had to eat while fleeing from slavery. Red wine or lamb is also used to remind them of the lamb’s blood which was smeared over the door to turn away the angel of death. (See Exodus 12 for the whole story)

Jesus used the symbolism of the Passover as a way of speaking about himself. He was to be the lamb of God who would take away the sins of the World. He took bread and wine, blessed it and gave it to his disciples, telling them to eat and drink as a way of remembering the sacrifice he was about to make.

After Jesus died and rose again the disciples did indeed share bread and wine as a way of remembering Jesus. Regularly they would meet together in each others homes and eat a meal together at which they would break bread and drink wine.

The Ministry of the Sacrament: You might remember from last month that the first part of the service is often called "The Ministry of the Word". This is the part of the service during which the Word of God is read and explained. The Second half of the service is often called "The Ministry of the Sacrament". This is the section of the service which focuses on the sharing of bread and wine.

A "sacrament" is a physical action or object which is believed to be accompanied in some way by the action or presence of God. Christians believe that when they share bread and wine, Jesus is present in a special way. The bread and wine are so important to many Christians that they refer to them simply as the sacraments.

Different groups of Christians have different ideas about how Jesus can be present in bread and wine. Some believe that he is actually present in the physical objects themselves. Others believe that he is present with the community while they act out the Last Supper. Perhaps this disagreement is a testament to the inability of our human language to explain the things of God. God will not fit into our boxes!

The Communion Service: We don’t know much about how the first Christians celebrated Communion. We know that they probably met together in each other’s houses and it’s reasonable to assume their ‘services’ were fairly informal. As the churches grew larger it seems likely that they began to develop more formal patterns of worship. The sharing of bread and wine at the table soon became impossible because of the size of their communities. The solution was for one or two people to stand at the table, break the bread, bless it and then distribute it to the rest of the people present. it also became necessary for special prayers to be composed for potential leaders to use. It wasn’t long before our present service structure was created. More on this next month...