Jesus told Peter to prepare the Passover, which involved preparing a perfect lamb for sacrifice. After the sacrifice, they would cook the lamb for the Passover meal. It was at this meal that Jesus began to talk about his body and blood. The significance of this night was that the age of people having to follow laws and rituals and do certain things to get God’s favor was about to end. John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Just like the sacrificial lamb’s blood was used a symbol and sacrifice for sin, so too was Jesus like a lamb led to the slaughter to be killed and sacrificed on our behalf. From that moment on, there was never need for another sacrifice on our behalf. That’s what this table and this night represented.

At the point of the Last Supper, the night before the crucifixion, the disciples were afraid. Persecution and opposition to Jesus was increasing, due to the pressure of the religious leaders of the day. This is the context in which Paul gives his account of that night in I Corinthians:

23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.[f] Do this to remember me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.”

The new covenant was about to be enacted. The old covenant consisted of doing works to obtain favor. The new covenant required one sacrifice for all eternity and in the same way that the blood of the lamb protected homes from death so too the blood of Jesus covers us and protects us from death in sin. Jesus blood covers us and protects us from death, allows us to live in righteousness and gives us eternal life. It gives us access to God. Nothing gets close to God unless it’s holy. The only way for us to become holy and enter God’s presence is to accept and come under the covering of God’s blood. In this moment, the age of grace began.

The bread at this meal was unleavened. Leaven in the Bible often represents sin and pride. Jesus took the bread and said “this is my body. It’s going to be broken for you. Partake of my brokenness so that you never have to be broken.” After the supper, he took the cup of wine and said “this is my blood, and it’s going to be shed for you. Partake of it. Every time you drink this, remember what I did for you.” He sacrificed himself for our imperfection. All of our sin, sickness and imperfections were lain on the sacrifice of his perfection so that we could become perfect before God. That is what this table is – it has deep significance. The table has in it the reminder, amidst the chaos of life, of the sacrifice of Jesus – what is represented by the bread and the cup. It represents to us that we are able to transcend whatever in this world is trying to plague us, harm us or bring us down. The plagues that fill the earth, dominate humanity and injects itself into human society – the plague of sin – is stopped because of the covering of the blood. We position ourselves under the covering of that sacrifice. By believing, staying covered and putting yourself under that blood, the power of sin and the world is stopped.

The world is going to try to distract you and pull you out of that covering. It is going to try to convince you that you don’t need God. You have to choose to always believe, stay under the covering and know that you need God for everything. Communion causes us to remember all that this sacrifice represents. By partaking in communion, we are placing ourselves under that covering again and reminding ourselves of the sacrifice.

Colossians 1: 20-22: “20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.”

The perfect sacrifice made you perfect. This table isn’t just about forgiveness. It also about who you are and where you are going as a result of this sacrifice. It is about a future, a place we can go and a life we can live as a result of having absolute access into God’s presence. This represents a perfect life in God’s presence. The Bible said we have been seated in His presence. When God looks at you, it’s like he is looking at Jesus. He looks at you with the same love. We have been elevated because of Jesus. No more inferiority, or self doubt, or selling yourself short, or not accepting who you are in Christ. The bondage of the world that tells you that you can’t, you won’t and you aren’t good enough – this bondage is broken when we come under the sacrifice. The sacrifice is a gateway into freedom. It’s a launching pad into an incredible destiny that God ordained for you before you were born.