Communion Meditation: May 3 2026

Communion as a Reminder of Christ’s Blood We’re now going to turn our focus to the Lord’s table, and we’re going to continue using our passage from Ephesians 2:11-22 that we just read. Ephesians 2:11-22, which Eric just read and that we then responded to in song, has some very helpful guidance for us this morning as we remember Jesus through the bread and the juice. When we take that bread and the juice, these are physical reminders of Jesus’ body given for us and his blood shed for us. In Ephesians 1:7, Paul says that we have redemption through his blood, this blood that we remember. We get forgiveness for our trespasses. And so often at communion, which we take nearly every week here at Grace Bible Church, we take our individual cracker and our individual cup, and then we remember that we individually have been saved. And this is true, gloriously true, that every single person who puts their faith in Jesus is individually saved. Each individual who is saved can say, “Jesus loved me and gave himself for me.” But what I hope that we see better this morning is that the Lord’s Supper is a visible, edible reminder that Christ has not merely saved isolated individuals, but he made one reconciled people by his blood. Remember What We Were Ephesians 2:11 starts, Paul says, “Therefore,” in light of the gospel that just came before, “therefore remember.” And remembering is certainly part of what we are doing at the Lord’s Supper. “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh…” And then Paul goes on to remind the Gentile believers at Ephesus what they were. Jew and Gentile, it has already been established in this book, were all dead in sins. They were all children of wrath. That’s earlier in chapter 2. But now at verse 11, Paul highlights the particular alienation that we Gentiles had. Just like the church at Ephesus, the church at Grace Bible Church in Tempe, Arizona is also primarily a Gentile church. And Paul highlights in verse 12 that we Gentiles were separated from Messiah. Verse 12 says we were separated from Messiah, from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise. God’s covenant people, Israel, they were all still sinners in need of a Messiah just like Gentiles, but they had God’s Word. They had the patriarchs, the covenants, the promises. We Gentiles, on the other hand, had none of those benefits. And our position is well summarized at the end of verse 12. This is you. This is me before faith, before the cross, having no hope and without God in this world. No hope. Without God. And then look at verse 13: “But now.” But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. The blood that we’re going to remember. We were separated from God. We were separated from God’s people. But verse 14 says Christ made both groups one. Verse 15 says Jesus created in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace. A new people was made, one that didn’t exist before the cross. A new kind of people, the church, made up of Jew and Gentile, people from all backgrounds, all ethnicities, and every earthly distinction that might separate us and divide us, broken down, made one. There was a huge historic, ethnic, religious, and covenantal divide between Jew and Gentile, and we’ve been united together, made alive together with Christ. “So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, members of the household of God.” It’s verse 19. One new man. One reconciled people. The church, all brought near, verse 13, by the blood of Christ. Look Around the Body So when we take the Lord’s table, we often look down and we consider ourselves, and we should. This is a good time to consider your own life. We should remember that Jesus loved me and gave himself for me. And we should evaluate whether we are individually living a life in keeping with what God saved us to be. And you and I need to examine ourselves for known sins. We need to confess our sins. We need to repent of them. And we ought to be giving God glory for his work in our individual lives. But this morning I want you also to look up and look around the church. You can do that now. Look around. I love the view I have. We see all these people from different backgrounds, different histories, different individuals, that through Christ and his blood have been made together one body, the church. We have a blood-bought unity together that transcends all of our differences. We have a true unity, a oneness, and an amazing privilege together of being one body, the body of Christ. The blood of Christ has reconciled us to God. We have access to the Father, it says in verse 18. And it’s broken down the wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile. And if the blood of Christ has broken down that wall, then brothers and sisters, it rebukes, it breaks down every lesser sinful hostility or self-centered division that we’re tempted to preserve in the body of Christ. The unity of the church is not sentimental. It’s not superficial. It’s not based on personality or financial status. It’s not based on a shared heritage, common age. It’s not based on race or ethnicity. It’s not based on politics. Our unity is blood-bought. Christ himself is our peace. One Bread, One Body There was a helpful imagery in the first century that we can easily miss when we take the Lord’s table. When they took the bread, they would often break individual pieces off of a common loaf that would be passed around. Paul alludes to this imagery in 1 Corinthians 10:17 when he says: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of one bread.” One bread, one body. In our setting, we pass trays with individual pieces of bread and individual cups. That’s not wrong. It’s much more efficient, certainly more sanitary. But we can miss something that the early church would have seen very plainly when they drank from one cup and they shared one piece of bread: the oneness of the body. That we are one because of Christ’s body given and his blood shed. And these reminders are helpful reminders that point us to our unity, our oneness, our peace with one another that’s made possible through Christ’s blood. Invitation to the Table So this morning, if you’re a Christian, remember Jesus. Remember his blood that brought you near. Remember his body given for you. And remember by that same body and blood, Christ made us one body, making peace, uniting believers into one new man, forgiven and reconciled to God by grace through faith. I want to ask you, ask myself, are there any ways that you’ve been living for yourself, coming to church this morning aware of yourself and not the body? Selfishly, carelessly, or willingly preserving, or not doing everything possible to break down divisions in the body? Or perhaps it’s just helpful to remember this morning where we Gentiles came from and give God grace that here in Tempe, Arizona, we have a local body of fellow citizens, members of the household of God. Praise God for that. And if you’re not a Christian, if you’ve not turned to Jesus in faith to receive grace and forgiveness, the grace and forgiveness he offers, then when the bread and juice comes, can you let it pass? Apart from faith in Messiah Jesus, you are still, as verse 12 says, you still have no hope and you are without God in this world. So instead of taking the bread and juice this morning, just spend the time reading Ephesians 2:1-10. Why not turn and believe and be reconciled to God and his people? Don’t leave here today without talking to me, praying with the people up here at your left after the service. But when the bread and juice comes, if you’re not a believer in Christ, let it pass. And so Christians, remember Jesus and his body and blood together this morning. Take the bread and juice as your heart is prepared, and I’ll close us in prayer in a few minutes. The post Communion Meditation: May 3 2026 appeared first on Grace Bible Church.