The Communion Service

1. What instructions did Jesus give to His disciples on the day before the Crucifixion?

Mark 14:13-15 “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”

2. What did the Passover (Exodus 12) commemorate?

Deuteronomy 16:1 “Celebrate the Passover of the Lord your God, because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Egypt by night.” The Passover was a yearly reminder to Israel of God's act of delivering them from Egypt."

3. While they were eating this Passover meal what did Jesus do?

Matthew 26:26-28 “Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.' Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'”

4. How does the apostle Paul apply the Passover sacrifice?

1 Corinthians 5:7 “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” John the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

5. What does the apostle Paul say is the purpose of the Communion service?

1 Corinthians 11:26 “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” Just as the Passover lamb symbolised Jesus' death, so the bread and the fruit of the vine symbolise His sacrifice.

6. What hard saying for kosher Jews did Jesus make?

John 6:53, 54 “I tell you the truth, unless you can eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

7. Did Jesus mean this to be taken literally?

John 6:63 “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”

8. Is the sacrifice of Jesus to occur repeatedly, as in the Old Testament sanctuary service?

Hebrews 10:11-14 “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God ...because by one sacrifice he has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy.”

9. What do we receive through the sacrifice of Jesus?

Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.” In the new covenant God will forgive our sins and remember them no more (Hebrews 8:8-12).

10. How does God see us when we accept Jesus' sacrifice for us?

Hebrews 10:10 “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” The Bible calls believers in Jesus “saints” which means “holy ones,” “sanctified ones.” This is the way God sees us in Christ (Ephesians 1:1).

11. When did Jesus say He would celebrate Communion again with His followers?

Matthew 26:29 “I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom.” Just as the Passover pointed back to the great deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery and forward to the coming of Messianic deliverance from sin, so the Communion service points back to Jesus' death for our sin and forward to deliverance at the second coming of Jesus.