Holy Communion

In many ways the Lord’s Supper opens us wide to a divine mystery. This mystery is sometimes dubbed the “paschal mystery” of redemption: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again. Explaining this mystery may be beyond us, but that does not mean we cannot participate in it. In Communion, Christ is here for us. We eat of his body and are part of his body—the one loaf. Though we may feel alone in our journey, we are part of the train of apostles, prophets, martyrs, saints and all servants of God. The meal reminds us that we belong and are not alone. Because of Jesus, all will be well.

Years ago Tim Keller used this illustration from The Lord of the Rings to convey the immense meaning of the Lord’s table. Enemies and dread weapons pummel the walls of the city of Gondor. As the city gates begin to give way, death, doom and the bitterness of defeat take hold. The evil dark lord grimly claims the city for himself. But in that moment of bleak despair the Riders of Rohan come charging, their horns blowing. J. R. R. Tolkien writes in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, “Pippin rose to his feet, . . . and he stood listening to the horns, and it seemed to him that they would break his heart with joy. And never in after years could he hear a horn blown in the distance without tears starting in his eyes.”

The Lord’s Supper reminds us that when the dark lord looms before us shrieking “all is lost,” the Lord of light stepped forth and said, “This is my body broken for you.” When we partake, we taste what redemption cost God in order to call us home. Indeed it is hard to see the bread and the wine without “tears starting in [our] eyes.”

That We May Perfectly Love Thee by Robert Benson

“It is my conviction that our heavenly Father says the same to us every day: ‘My dear child, you must always remember who you are.’” —John Stott