Communion

People unfamiliar with Christian tradition and practice sometimes react to the drinking of Jesus’ blood and ingestion of his body as odd if not barbaric. To Christians, however, it is central to their faith, and for many it is a regular and central component of worship.

Different traditions within Christianity refer to it in different ways, among others in alphabetical order as Divine Liturgy, Eucharist (thanksgiving), Holy Communion, Holy Sacrament, Last Supper, Lord’s Supper, or simply as the Sacrament. Sacraments are sacred prescriptions that confer or reflect grace, and these traditions differ in the number of sacraments they recognize, but virtually all of them acknowledge at least two, baptism and communion. The Eucharist is the centerpiece of the Roman Catholic Mass and Orthodox worship, and it is a regular part of Anglican and many other Protestant services.

During Jesus’ final meal with his disciples, he instituted Holy Communion. As reported by Luke in the New Revised Standard Version,“Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Christians debate the nature of what happens to the bread and wine. Some believe in transubstantiation, the belief that, although the bread and wine appear to remain as they were, upon consecration their substances change into the actual body and blood of Christ. Others endorse consubstantiation, the doctrine that upon consecration, the substances of the bread and wine continue to exist alongside the body and blood of Christ. Still others believe that the bread and wine are symbols that remain unchanged, memorials that do not undergo transformation. Some, although they do not believe in material transformation, nonetheless view communion as a means of grace.

To live, we all need food and water. To consume the bread and wine as the body and blood of Jesus, therefore, is to recognize Jesus as necessary to life. References to bread and wine occur repeatedly in the Bible. God, for example, provides the Israelites with “manna,” and Jesus multiplies bread to feed those who came to hear him. Food distributed during communion is, through Jesus, spiritual nourishment and symbolizes the Church as the Body of Christ.

The wine, too, has special significance. Jesus was a Jew, and at the Last Supper so were his chosen disciples, those devoted to and learning from him. Jews were prohibited from ingesting the blood of an animal, which they believed contained its life. To drink Jesus’ blood, therefore, meant to drink his life, to incorporate it into oneself. In the Old testament, blood is used in sacrifice for sin. When Jesus declares the wine to be his blood, therefore, he is pointing to himself as the ultimate sacrifice, and through him reconciliation with God from whom humankind has become alienated.