Devotional: Easter

Reflection

1 Corinthians 11:25-27

• (1Co 11:25 ESV) In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
• (1Co 11:26 ESV) For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
• (1Co 11:27 ESV) Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

Discussion

How dogmatic should we be about communion?  I mean, how much does it matter that we hold to the details specifically.  In the event of the last supper they used traditional elements of passover:

• Real wine – the kind with alcohol in it
• Real unleavened bread – the kind without yeast in it

Must we hold to those specific things?  Was it a light white wine or should we find something dry like a full cabernet?  Should we grind our own flour in a traditional stone meal to prepare the bread? 

 

I am stretching this, of course, to illustrate how legalistic one might get in the ordinance of communion.  In this area I think we are to be someone what specific as to the elements used, but also that we have some grace. Grape juice and a pita? I think we are OK.  Chips and salsa? Not so much.

 

On some matters the Bible is somewhat quiet while others it is glaringly clear.  As the people of God we have a responsibility to diligently study the Word and exercise it’s instruction with prayer and dedication – and also a healthy amount of grace toward one another on those gray areas.

Connection

What are some areas of Scripture you have found to be exceedingly specific in instruction for the church?

 

What is an area you feel we have some freedom to express our own culture as a group of people?

 

Where do we draw a line between trying to follow the Word of God and stretching those rules to be over the top of what God commanded?

 

What do you do with a tradition when you learn that Scripture speaks against it?

 

Expansion

The Ordinances

Jesus commands the church to baptize new believers and remember His sacrifice in communion.  Both of these are symbols of the work Christ has done and illustrate the gospel.  The Biblical mode of baptism is by immersion of a disciple of Christ illustrating the death of the old man and the new birth of the man reborn in Christ.  Communion is a symbol of the sacrifice of Christ for His people and as such should be taken only by His people with the utmost of reverence for their Lord.

Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2:41, Acts 8:26-39, Acts 10:44-48, Acts 16:29-33, Acts 18:8, Romans 6:3-7, Colossians, 2:11-14, John 3:22-23, Matthew 3:13-17, 1 Corinthians 11:23-30, Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:14-23