Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread. (Luke 24:35 NLT)I have always loved communion. I came from a denomination that observed communion once a week, every week, and I liked that. It is something that I have really missed.
It is funny how a church is during the services before and after the communion. It is, in many ways, like you feel with friends after you have eaten a good meal.
It is not the elements. They are entirely too simple to really be that important. In fact, I think we make too much of them. I believe that Jesus was making a point. You want to remember me with some special observance? Just use what is nearby.
He picked up the most common things he could get. He picked up bread and drink and said use these. No fancy clothes, no fancy dishes, no fancy anything, in fact. Just ordinary common food and drink.
He happened to use unleavened bread and wine, but it doesn’t matter. We make too much out of the stuff in the Lord’s Supper and not enough of the supper itself.
Two men met Jesus on the road to Emmaus after he had risen. They didn’t recognize him because, quite frankly, they didn’t expect him to be out there.
They talked about what all had happened and then invited Jesus to supper. As their visitor, Jesus was the one who had the honor of braking the bread and praying for it.
As soon as he broke the bread, they recognized him. The Bible doesn’t say where they knew him from, but I would imagine that they had been with him a lot. They may even have been with him in the upper room when he celebrated his last Passover. They must have seen him enough, though, that when he stood there with the bread, they knew him.
That is the purpose of the Lord’s Supper. It is designed to bring us closer to him and to each other. It is not a sacred feast in which we dim the lights and scrunch our faces up to be holy. It also brings us closer to each other.
We eat together, just like having dinner together. The food is different, but the purpose is the same.
And it is only through that communion that we really recognize Jesus. We, as he said himself, remember him until he comes again (Luke 22:19). And in the doing, we also recognize him and each other as our brothers and sisters.
They only recognized Jesus when he broke bread with them. We really only recognize him when we do.
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