Being Clean

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

BEING CLEAN

1 Cor 11:23-26

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."  25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."  26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

NIV

We have come to one of the most used portions of scripture for the purpose of sharing in the communion time within the church. We note that Paul quotes Jesus here, although Paul was not actually present when Jesus spoke these words. It is the same as when we quote Jesus as we direct or administer the elements of communion. We also not that we as the evangelic church do not believe in transubstantiation, but that these are but bread and wine, as it was when Jesus spoke these words. What Jesus was saying, and as Paul quoted here, was that when we gather together for the purpose of communion we are to use these elements and not have a feast or carry in with some eating their full, while others go hungry, as we have already noted. Jesus was saying that as we share in the loaf of bread, and that has turned into all sorts of versions of something that resembles bread, we are to think of the fact he gave himself up for us. We are to think of the fact that he was bruised for our iniquities, and nailed to that cross, and died for the forgiveness of our sin. This is not something we should partake of lightly, but with sober judgment of our own sin, and how this bread reminds us of what Jesus did for us, of how much he loved us. Then when we take the cup, and again this has become all sorts of versions of that cup Jesus shared with his disciples, we should not partake of it lightly either. Whatever version we use, it still represents the fact that Jesus spilled his blood for us. It is by His blood that we are washed clean. This is so important for us to remember. That fact is that as we partake in the bread and the cup we can be assured that we have been declared by God as holy and blameless in his sight. We have been cleansed from all our sin, as if we were sinless, although we know we are not because we know that sin still entangles us from time to time throughout our daily lives. However, that does not alter the fact that we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. This is the importance of sharing in communion with each other, to remind us of what Jesus did for us and what he said we are to do, remember, to eat of the bread and drink of the cup in remembrance of him. This is a serious moment of reflection of our lives and of His offering himself for us. This is not just a tradition, but an ordinance of God, and our hearts need to be in the right place when we share together. Again, we know that Paul is going to go on to make the point about eating the bread and drinking from the cup in an unworthy manner has done a dangerous act. But we will leave that for next time. For now, let us always consider, always look to this time as a moment of sober self-examination and remember what Jesus did so we can be clean.