Hello friends, what’s next after baptism? Well, as part of God’s church, we can now partake the Holy Communion.

Holy Communion was instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ. He held the Communion with His disciples on the eve of His crucifixion. In Luke 22:14-20 says, “When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, aftermunion; however, the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

The churches throughout the ages observed Holy Com the significance and the interpretation varied, and sometimes with restrictions that have damaged the unity of the church. Today, let’s discuss how we should address Holy Communion.

Different Concepts

Let’s explore the different views on Holy Communion:

1) The Transubstantiation of Catholicism

When the priest blesses bread and wine, they become the body and blood of Christ, which represent His sacrifice of body and blood; hence, it is called “mass.” This is the official doctrine of the Catholic Church in the Council of Trent in the year 1551.

John Calvin refuted this exhaustively in his book The Essentials of Christian Faith (in chapter 17, Volume IV). He believed that it is a heresy because they regarded consecration as a magical spell and this contradicts the Bible.

When Jesus Christ said, “This is my body.” “This is” is a mere emblem, which means, “This bread is an emblem of My body.” Otherwise, how do we interpret it when Bible calls the Lord is my Rock, the Lord is my Shield, and the Lord is my Shepherd? The Lord is my Rock – God is not a big rock. The rock represents salvation. When the Israelites were walking in the wilderness, they would be destroyed under the hot sun but they were safe as long as they hid under the rock. Therefore, “The Lord is my Rock” means “He is my Salvation”. This is symbolic language. Similarly, when Jesus said, “This is My body”, He does not mean that the bread has truly become His body.

Besides, Jesus Christ was actually with the disciples before the establishment of the Holy Communion. The disciples saw Jesus in the midst of them with their own eyes. Therefore, Jesus had no intention of asking His disciples to believe that the bread and cup were His actual body and blood. Jesus was not crucified at that time.

2) The Consubstantiation of Lutherans

The Lutheran faith came from Martin Luther. He broke away from Catholicism and considered the Transubstantiation of Catholicism as wrong. Martin Luther thought that the bread is still bread and the wine is still wine, that this had not changed. However, when we eat the bread, the body of Jesus Christ is with the bread; when we drink the wine; the blood of Jesus Christ is with the wine. Therefore, we eat and drink the body and precious blood of Christ at the same time, which is called Consubstantiation.

According to the Presbyterians, Luther advocated for Consubstantiation which is necessary to develop with the concept of “Ubiquity” to show that the body of Jesus Christ exists everywhere at the same time and that the body of Jesus Christ can be present at the Holy Communion held in various places. John Calvin however, considered this as a copy of an early heretic, “Docetism”. It invisibly deprived the space limitation of the body of Jesus Christ in history, thinking that His body could be everywhere, in heaven and on earth at the same time. This is not consistent with the true human nature of Jesus. Therefore, John Calvin clearly stated in his book that we do not want to attribute any characteristics that are incompatible with His human nature to His body. For instance, consider His body as infinite, or that He is present in many places at the same time. This is unreasonable. Because there is only one Jesus in history, so there is only one body of Jesus so how could it exist all over the world so that people can receive the body of Jesus all at the same time?

Besides, this statement concluded that the blood and the body of Christ are separate because, in the Holy Communion, the bread and the cup are distributed separately. Since the body is said to be the bread, it must be separated from the blood contained in the wine. Calvin considers this also wrong because how can Jesus’ blood and body be separated? On the contrary, “If we elevate our ideas and thoughts toward heaven and pursue Christ in the glory of the kingdom of heaven, and the symbol of the sacrament invites us to receive the whole of Him, we eat His flesh through the symbol of bread and drink His blood through the symbol of wine, hence, we can enjoy the whole of Christ.” In other words, if you make an absolute separation between the body of Jesus and the bread, that is not the teaching of the Bible. And therefore, Calvin opposed the mere view of Consubstantiation.

3) The Symbolism for Baptists

The Baptists believe that the bread and the wine are symbolic, and the Holy Communion is only to commemorate the Lord’s work on the cross. Therefore, the bread and the wine are representations of the body and the blood of Christ. This view is more culturally based on the fellowship in the Holy Communion, the remembrance of the Lord’s past redemptive grace, an expression of loyalty to the church. However, it lacks the mystery of the work of the Holy Spirit and the presence of Christ in Holy Communion. The word “sacrament” is mysterious in the original text and it is not explained in such a plain external form that is simply as a symbol; sacraments have a deep spiritual significance, and the Holy Communion is a sacrament.

The Spiritual Presence of the Presbyterians

John Calvin strongly emphasized that believers can be united with Christ in the Holy Communion thus, he called it “spiritual presence”, which enables the partakers to experience the body and blood of Christ. So how do we explain this term “spiritual presence”?

“Spiritual presence” means “the real presence of the body of Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit”, which emphasizes the partakers received the real presence of the body of Christ in the Holy Spirit. In conclusion, Jesus Christ feeds us with His body, which we receive through Him in the operation of the Holy Spirit. This is how the body and blood of Christ is presented to us in the Holy Communion. This is written in Calvin’s book.

Friends, through the presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit of the Holy Communion, allow us to establish a living relationship with Christ and the blessing of His life through the Holy Communion. Therefore, John Calvin opposed Luther’s claim on “the presence of the body of Christ” and what he advocated was that “people are brought to the Lord in the Holy Spirit to be united with Him.” He said, “Anyone who thinks that, except for the body of Christ in the Holy Communion is connected with the bread, and cannot imagine His presence is truly deceived. For in this way they leave no room for the mystery of the Holy Spirit, which connects us with Christ. They think that unless Christ comes to us, He is not present, as if He could not elevate us to Him so that we could be with Him.”

This concept put forward by John Calvin is very important because the emphasis is on how people are uplifted by the Holy Spirit; using different elements is not important. When taking the Holy Communion, it’s the Holy Spirit who draws us to Jesus Christ.

On the mystery of the presence of Christ, how is Christ present in the Holy Communion? How does the Spirit bring Christ? John Calvin said with humility, “If anyone asks me about the way Christ is present, I will honestly admit that it is a mystery yet majestic for me to comment or comprehend. More perceptibly, I just need to experience it, not to understand it.” We cannot fully grasp the mystery of the Holy Spirit and the presence of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion—this is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Is it necessary to use unleavened bread and wine for Holy Communion?

In church history, the Eastern and Western churches have generated great controversy over the use of unleavened bread in Holy Communion. Such controversy is irrelevant, because the significance isn’t about the unleavened bread or white bread, wine or grape juice; rather the focus is to pray for the Holy Spirit to join the member’s union with Christ through Holy Communion. The heart of Holy Communion is Christ. We miss the point if we use unleavened bread or wine to underscore the form, and fail to produce meaning of substance; ordinary bread or grape juice is fine, if it fulfils the function.

So let us seek God for wisdom to understand the emphasis of the Holy Communion. Lest, we become like the Pharisees who focus instead on form and ignore the inner life.

Next week, we will share with you the meaning of partaking the Holy Communion. Please stay tuned.