While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
Matthew 26:26Matthew 26:26
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
The Lord's Supper 26 During the meal Jesus took some bread in his hands. He blessed the bread and broke it. Then he gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this and eat it. This is my body.”
WP-Bible plugin, NIV
Every time I hold the bread in my hand when I’m taking communion, I reflect upon the suffering that Jesus physically endured for me in His human body. That piece of bread lying in the palm of my hand reminds me of the nails that pierced His skin, the thorns that ripped through His brow, and the spear that pierced His side. I’m reminded of the open wounds on His back from the lashes He received from the soldier’s whips and the torturer’s “cat of nine-tails.”
This piece of bread is a symbol. It is an edible reminder of the punishment that Jesus bore for me. My sins, my disobedience, my short falls of God’s standard, my pride, my jealousy, my depravity, my selfishness…all the things that should have sentenced me to the cross, were absorbed by the body of my Savior instead. He was rejected, He was mocked and beaten and bruised. He was killed in my place. This piece of bread symbolizes that.
The bread also reminds me of my Redeemer’s great love for me, because the body that this bread represents was willingly laid down for me. Jesus gave Himself as a voluntary substitute for me. His body wasn’t abused and taken against His will…He lovingly offered it of His own free will. I am humbled beyond words every time I stare into my hand and reflect upon the kind of love that piece of bread represents. Who can understand and comprehend such love? Thank You, Jesus, for the sacrifice You made for me. I owe my life to you.
Jesus instructed us that we are to continue remembering the sacrifice He made through the observance of communion until He returns and we celebrate with Him in heaven. The scars that still remain in Jesus’ hands, feet, and side are a reminder of His love for us and the redemption that He purchased for us, as is the bread that we receive when we partake of communion. May we never take for granted the price that Jesus paid for us, and may we humbly thank Him each time we “do this in remembrance” of Him.
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