By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

“Our task as image-bearing, God-loving, Christ-shaped, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world, is to announce redemption to a world that has discovered its fallenness, to announce healing to a world that has discovered its brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to a world that knows only exploitation, fear and suspicion.”

– N.T. Wright

One of the most interesting post-resurrection stories of Jesus comes on the Road to Emmaus. Here, two of Christ’s disciples walk along, downcast and discouraged. They believe that Jesus is dead, their hope is gone, and everything He did was for nothing.

But then something amazing happens. The resurrected Christ walks with them down the road and yet they fail to recognize Him. They begin sharing with Jesus their troubles and disappointments. They share with Him all about Jesus of Nazareth who was meant to save Israel but had died.

They walk down the road and even sit down to have supper together, and the disciples still haven’t realized who their companion is.

“When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight (Luke 23:30-31).

It is when they were reminded of the Last Supper, that they finally remembered who this man was.

I think that participating in the Lord’s Supper continues to open our eyes to what Christ is doing. I think participating in communion with the Lord’s community of believers reminds us of our call. That everyone who partakes of the blood and body of Jesus Christ do so because they have experienced the grace and love of Jesus. Because of His sacrifice, they have been forever changed.

Communion reminds us of our calling to be the salt and light to the world. To go and share the love of Christ with all we encounter. We are reminded that we are to serve the poor, clothe the naked, and help the less fortunate.

I think that the Lord’s Supper, when we partake in it together, also reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice. It forces us to remember the pain and torture that our God underwent to save us. It speaks to the enormous love that He had for you and me for Him to take step after step towards His death. It is a reminder that Christ’s sacrifice was once and for all the atonement for all sin. Christ died so that we may live.

Gathering at the table of Communion also opens our eyes to the uniqueness of the community of believers. While we partake of the Lord’s Supper in our local church, there are millions of Christians around the world, from different backgrounds and countries, who partake of the same sacraments. Communion connects all of God’s people and speaks to the powerful and never-ending grace of God that spans borders and oceans.

May the Lord’s Supper never cease to open our eyes to the work that God is doing.