The Miracle Table: REDISCOVERING THE POWER OF COMMUNION

by Andrew Murray

“The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life.” - St. Thomas Aquinas

In Matthew’s account of the Last Supper he records that as Jesus broke the bread He “blessed it.” (Matthew 26:26 - KJV) It is significant that when Jesus instituted the Communion meal He did so with a blessing. Later, when Paul is describing the drinking of wine at the Lord’s Table, he describes the cup as “the cup of blessing.” (1 Corinthians 10:16 - KJV) I believe that contained within the act of Communion is the very blessing of God; and the blessing that was spoken by Jesus over the bread and wine still rings out two thousand years later. When we eat the bread and we drink the cup, we are eating and drinking over that which Christ Himself has blessed. We are doing something that has been blessed by Him and in doing so we are receiving the blessing of God.

“Take, eat; this is My body which is given for you.” (Matthew 26:26 – KJV) He gives and we take. He blesses and we receive. He has done it all, He has spoken the blessing, He has given His life. Now our response is in faith to eat and drink, and in doing so to receive His blessing and to appropriate it as ours.

In Genesis 27, Jacob, dressed as his brother Esau approaches his elderly father Isaac with the purpose of receiving his blessing. The blessing that Isaac gave his son is significant for us as we re-discover the power that there is in Communion: ‘May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness - an abundance of grain and new wine.’ (Genesis 27:28) The blessing that the father speaks over his son is that he would receive an abundance of grain (bread) and wine. Later when Jacob’s deception is revealed, Esau comes to Isaac and begs for a second blessing. Note Isaac’s response: ‘I have sustained him (Jacob) with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?’ (Genesis 27:37) Jacob and Esau both recognised the necessity of having their father’s blessing. They knew that it was the greatest thing that they could possess. In turn Isaac recognised that the greatest blessing that he could give his son was an abundance of bread and wine. When Jacob was blessed with these things, Isaac knew that there was nothing greater that he could give to Esau. The greatest, most powerful blessing was contained within the bread and wine. The greatest thing that any of us can possess is the blessing of our Heavenly Father. To have His blessing on our lives, our finances, our marriages, our children, and our ministries, is the greatest thing that we can possess. God’s greatest blessing is found at the Communion Table within the Bread and Wine. The Communion Table is...

Jesus lovingly and tenderly prepares this feast for us. Nothing is left to chance – all that we desire, long for, and need has been prepared for us. There is truly an abundance of bread and an abundance of wine which speak of the abundance of His blessings that have been laid out for all of us to receive.

Martha’s error was thinking that it was her job to make the preparations. Mary understood that the Master has already made the preparations - our job is simply to sit at His feet and commune with Him, trusting that He has already finished the work. I cannot add to what He has already done. My job is just to believe it and receive it.

God’s blessing of grain (bread) and wine is something that is repeated throughout the Old Testament. Only with a New Covenant understanding can we see that this blessing is found in Christ, in His Body and Blood.

The oil speaks of the precious anointing of the Holy Spirit. Not only is there a blessing contained within the Bread and Wine but there is also an anointing available there too. ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.’ (Psalm 23:5) The anointing of the Holy Spirit is there in the Communion meal. The anointing is found at the Lord’s Table. It is the anointing of God that breaks the yoke of the enemy. (Isaiah 10:27) It is the anointing of God that brings freedom, healing, and restoration. (Luke 4:18) It is the anointing of God that empowers us for service. (Acts 10:38) It is the anointing of God that releases true joy. (Hebrews 1:9) It is the anointing of God that leads us into knowledge of the truth. (1 John 2:20) It is the anointing of God that enables our lives to overflow with the goodness and mercy of God. (Psalm 23:6) This anointing is found right here at the Table of the Lord. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is wherever Jesus is, and Jesus is always at the Table. He is the Master of the Banquet, and He is the Banquet. He is the One who offers the bread and wine, and He Himself is the bread and wine.

In Genesis 18, Abraham and Sarah invite three men into their home. They break bread and dine together. In the following chapter Abraham’s nephew Lot encounters two of these men and he invites them into his home where he also breaks bread with them. Neither Abraham nor Lot realise that they are dining with angels. They are unaware that they are breaking bread with creatures from another world. In Abraham’s case, one of the men that he was breaking bread with was Christ Himself. Do we as the Church realise that as we break bread we do so in the very presence of God? Christ Himself is with us at this Table. For Abraham as he broke bread, God’s prophetic purposes for his family were revealed and accelerated. For Lot, as he broke bread with angels, divine protection was released over his family. Could it be that there is still an anointing and blessing that God wants to release over our homes and families as we rediscover the power of the Lord’s Table? Could there be anything greater than to break bread in the presence of the Lord with our spouses and children? Could this release a new dynamic of the blessing and anointing of God over our families?

Human history began with a man and a woman enjoying communion with God in a Garden. Eternity will begin with the Perfect Man, Jesus, sat at a Table enjoying communion with His Bride. And right in the centre is this God Man, the One with nail scarred hands, sitting at His Table, and inviting us to commune with Him.

“I am quite sure that if we could but once approach the most Holy Sacrament with great faith and love, it would suffice to make us rich. How much more if we approach it often!” - St Teresa of Avila

Jesus, knowing that He was about to go to the cross and suffer physical, emotional, and spiritual torment like no one else in history had ever faced, said that there was something on his “to do” list that day that He was longing to do. That was to have a meal with His disciples. The Breaking of Bread, Communion, the Eucharist, the Lord’s Table – this sacrament that came out of the Jewish Passover meal, was instituted by Jesus that day, and it reveals like nothing else the great longing and desire of God seen throughout the Bible – to have intimate fellowship with His friends.

“I have eagerly desired” – feel the heart of Jesus as you read these words, He eagerly desired to have communion with His disciples. The Greek Word used here is epithumia, and it means ‘to long for,’ ‘to lust after,’ ‘the setting of one’s affections toward,’ and ‘setting the heart towards.’ This is the passion that Jesus had, and still has, to have communion with His disciples. Although faced with the prospect of an agonising death just a few hours later, in that moment all He longed for was to eat and drink with His followers.

“With desire, I have desired.” This is the passion of the Christ. It began not at the cross, but at a table.

Last words, last actions, last moments – they are significant. They can become even more significant if you know in advance that they are going to be your last. Surely in that moment you would carefully plan exactly what you would do and say, wanting every second to be precious, and nothing be done without meaning. It says a lot of the priorities of Jesus that in His last hours He wanted to spend it eating and drinking at a table with those that He loved. It is significant that the thing that Jesus instituted as His final act before the cross was not a church growth strategy, or a worship service outline - but a meal. Nothing speaks more of closeness, friendship, and companionship than people having a meal together.

The longing of God has not changed – it has always been for fellowship. When Mankind was created it was with the purpose to walk and talk with God in the Garden. Adam enjoyed a close, intimate relationship with His Creator, because it was why he was created. The story of the Bible is how Adam lost that communion with God, and how God did everything He possibly could to restore it.

The Book of Revelation describes the Second Coming of Jesus, declaring, “Blessed are those who are invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb,” (Revelation 19:9). History ends with another table, another meal, another feast. When God restores everything and time is no more, He celebrates again with a communion meal – this time between a Bride and a Groom. It has always been and always will be about communion, relationship, and intimacy.

Jesus came not to institute a new religion but to usher in a new Kingdom – God’s Kingdom, or the Kingdom of Heaven. He came declaring that the Kingdom of God was near, and that when we are born again we are born into that Kingdom. In Matthew 22, Jesus tells us what that Kingdom is like: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come.’ (Matthew 22:2) Once again, Jesus uses the analogy of a meal, a feast, a banquet to describe His Kingdom. The table is at the heart of His Kingdom and the focus of His invitation. He doesn’t invite us to attend a stuffy religious service - He invites us to a meal table, a place of sweet intimacy and friendship. Take note of the longing of the King for dining companions: Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. (Matthew 22:9) There is still an invitation that goes out today; who will respond to the call of the King, who will come to His table?

‘You didn’t choose me, but I’ve chosen and commissioned you to go into the world to bear fruit. And your fruit will last, because whatever you ask of My Father, for my sake, He will give it to you!’ (John 15:16 – TPT) A straightforward reading of this Bible verse implies that Jesus primarily calls us to go and bear fruit as we advance His Kingdom. However in the Aramaic (the common language of Jesus’ day) another meaning is revealed. Literally, ‘I have invited you as my dinner guests and commissioned you to go into the world to bear fruit.’ Jesus is calling us to a dinner table! This translation of this well-known scripture brings with it stunning implications for how we view Christianity. We now see that before we “go and bear fruit,” we are first called to “come and dine.” The going, and the fruit bearing is the overflow of our coming and dining, and fellowshipping with Him. The priority of our Christianity is not our service or ministry life but our table life. Only in first coming to the table and dining with Him are we able to be fruitful.

Exodus 24 contains one of the most stunning encounters with God in the Old Testament. The context is that God enters into covenant with the nation of Israel. The covenant is then ratified through the shedding of the blood of sacrificed animals. Moses sprinkled the blood and declared “this is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you” (Exodus 24:8) What followed then is an invitation for four key leaders and the 70 elders of the nation to ascend into the very presence of God Himself. I wonder what they were expecting to find as they were beckoned to ‘Come up to the Lord,’ (v1). My guess is that they didn’t expect to find a picnic! But that’s exactly what they found, as ‘they ate and drank’ with God! God celebrated the making of covenant not with a boring, dull, religious ceremony, but with a meal, with food and fellowship. The Bible describes how in the context of this covenant meal they ‘Saw the God of Israel,’ (v9).

As these leaders ate and drank with God, little did they realise that they were prophesying of another day when God would sit down and eat with man. Once again it would be at the making of another covenant, but this time it would be One greater than Moses who would declare “this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Matthew 26:28) It is a better covenant, an eternal covenant, sealed not with the blood of animals, but with the precious blood of Jesus Himself.

Just a few decades after we read about the first church in Jerusalem making Communion a passionate priority we read about another church: the church in Laodicea. In Revelation 3, Jesus writes to this church that is outwardly prosperous and successful; but this church that is so rich and comfortable has become lukewarm and complacent. Staggeringly Jesus is not even in this church anymore, but is standing outside wanting to get back in! What is He wanting? – ‘if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.’ (Revelation 3:20) He is wanting what He has always wanted – communion. Amazingly, this rich and prosperous church had stopped having communion with Jesus! And they didn’t think that it was that important!

“Without shame and without doubt, eat the flesh and drink the blood if you are desirous of true life.” - St. Gregory of Nazianzus

Eating with someone was a sign that you accepted them, and that if there were any issues between you, the meal was a token of peace.

The very act of sitting at a table with someone signifies some level of friendship and closeness.

Not only did Jesus seemingly not care about who He ate with, but it seems that He specifically went out of His way to eat with those who society deemed the lowest of the low.

This was scandalous stuff, ‘When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”’ (Matthew 9:11 – NLT) Thank God that Jesus still eats with those considered scum! Thank God that He still eats with sinners. Thank God that the dirty, the immoral, the law breakers are still accepted at His table. Thank God that He is still the friend of sinners.

But eating and drinking in an unworthy manner is not quite the same as an unworthy person eating and drinking. After all, who is worthy? Who is good enough? But that is the point.

For so many communion is a time of self-examination that leads to shame and guilt – I am not good enough to come to this Table. But whilst there is a call to repentance, it is not a call to “make ourselves ready” or “make ourselves worthy”. Rather, it is acknowledging that I am a sinner that cannot change myself or make myself worthy, so I respond to the invitation of grace that allows me to dine with deity just as I am. The greatest sinners during Communion are those who feel that their own righteousness has earned them a seat at the Table. The greatest grace is found for the ones who know that they are not worthy and yet respond to the invitation anyway, humbled and staggered that there is a place for sinners like them.

“Your faith has saved you.” Here Jesus uses the word sozo. Meaning, your faith in coming to the table has not only give you eternal security but it has made you whole, complete, with deliverance and healing. The same promise is for all who come to the Table, no matter who they are or what they have done. The word sozo can also mean “safety.” For her and for us, the Table is a safe place. Not a table of judgement but a table of acceptance, forgiveness and restoration.

If Jesus wouldn’t disqualify you, how dare you disqualify yourself! Do you trust Him enough to come to the Table just as you are, believing that there is a place for you?

Oh the mercy that there is at the Table! At the table her “great debt” would be cancelled (v43) and she would hear these words “Your sins are forgiven.” (v48)

Yet like Zacchaeus, we have a choice today – we too can run to a tree! For Zacchaeus it was a Sycamore tree that he ran to and climbed. For us, it is the tree that Jesus was crucified on. It is at the tree where Our Saviour shed His blood that we find an invitation so humbling, so undeserved, so shocking – an invitation to dinner!

Do we realise that Jesus sees us. He sees every fault, every failure, and every weakness. Even the things we try and hide, He sees. And yet for each of us, He calls us by name. It’s an invitation to a Table to have communion with Him. At this point in the story, Zacchaeus had not changed. He had not said a sinner’s prayer, he had not filled in a decision card, he had not shown any signs of repentance. He was still the same greedy, selfish, lying, cheating, sinner that he had always been! But there was still an invitation to eat and drink with Jesus! Do we see how foolish it is to think that we could ever be disqualified from the Lord’s Table because of our behaviour? This was what the religious just could not get – He will truly eat with anyone who responds. And they don’t have to change before they come. They can come to the table, just as they are.

Here is what those who preach an all-inclusive Jesus can sometimes miss. It is true that all are included at His Table. But don’t miss the fact that at the Table, something changes within us. At the table we find a desire to change. At the table there is true repentance. At the Table grace empowers us to defeat sin. At the Table we are transformed from the inside out. Sinners can come to the table, but they don’t stay sinners! They become saints. Transformation doesn’t have to come before the table, but it surely takes place at the Table!

“The Eucharist is that love which surpasses all loves in heaven and on earth.” - St. Bernard

Of course, for believers the cross should not be something that we occasionally think about but something that our whole lives revolve around. We should live, daily remembering what Christ did for us on the cross and walking in the reality of that love and grace. It is that sacrifice that should continually motivate us, overwhelm us, and transform us.

The Lord’s Table forces us to pause, stop, look back, and remember. In those moments at the Lord’s Table, my focus is no longer on myself, my life, and my circumstances. Now my focus is on another place, another time, and another Person... Jerusalem, two thousand years ago, and “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

Remembrance finds a truly special place of significance at the Lord’s Table. It is there that Jesus is giving us a practical act - something tangible - in which we can always remember Him. “Whenever you meet together,” do this, and remember. “Remember my Body. Remember my Blood.”

Do you sometimes feel unloved? Do you sometimes feel lonely? Do you sometimes feel unworthy? Do you sometimes doubt that you are really forgiven? We all do from time to time. Why? Because we have forgotten! We have forgotten that He loved us so much that He died for us. We have forgotten that He said He would always be with us. We have forgotten that He has made us righteous. We have forgotten that we are forgiven.

When do we get afraid? When we forget. When do we doubt? When we forget. This is why we need the Lord’s Table, and why we need it regularly. Because we have very bad memories when it comes to spiritual things!

Take the disciples of Jesus as our example. They had been sat with Jesus at the table when He had given them very clear instructions. “Whenever you meet together break bread, drink wine and remember.” It couldn’t be clearer! But then, three days - get that, just three days later - where do we find them? They are together, but not around the Lord’s Table, but hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jewish leaders. (John 20:19) How could they so quickly forget? They were gripped with fear and anxiety, they had forgotten all of Jesus’ instructions, given just three days before! Jesus is so gracious. He walked into their prison of fear and gave them a powerful lesson in remembrance: ‘On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After He said this, He showed them His hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.’ (v19-20) In showing them His hands and His side what was He doing? He was reminding them. He was effectively saying, “Have you forgotten already? Remember. Remember how much I love you. Remember that My blood was shed for you. Remember My body was broken for you. How quickly you forget. This is what I did for you. Why are you afraid? You are loved. You are redeemed. Don’t ever forget.” Remember what I did. Remember who I am.

the Lord’s Table Jesus appears to us again and shows us His hands and side. He shows us the nail scars, the marks. He invites us to look, gaze, wonder, and search deeply into the mystery of His wounds. He invites us to see and He invites us to touch. He instructs us to stop. Stop doubting. Stop doubting, and believe. Stop and remember.

Don’t ever forget these things. Even though you know them, you need to be reminded. This is why He gave you a meal. To remember. So that you would never forget.

We don’t have to rack our brains, and search our memory banks for something that happened so long ago that we can hardly remember. The Saviour is here. The Word is alive. His salvation is present. His blood still flows. It still speaks. The scars are still there. He is still speaking. He is still showing us His hands and side. We can talk to Him. Gaze upon Him. He still invites us to reach out and touch Him. His Spirit still moves at the Table. The wind of Heaven still blows upon our faces every time we turn and focus on Jesus. And as we feel that sweet breath upon us, we are reminded all over again “This is real. He is alive. He is with me. I am communing with Him.” For the believer, every act of remembrance is an invitation into a fresh encounter with the One we are remembering.

We should remember in all of this that the remembrance meal is for our benefit and not for God’s. After all, we are the ones who forget, God never does.

“Reverence, therefore, reverence this Table, of which we are all communicants. Christ, slain for us, the sacrificial victim who is placed thereon.” - St. John of Chysostom

When Jesus was instituting the Lord’s Table at His Last Supper, He used a powerful Biblical word: covenant. In the blood that He shed on the cross, He was making a new covenant between God and man – a covenant of grace. When we remember the Lord’s death during Communion we are not only remembering the death that brought salvation but we are remembering the blood that enabled us to enter into covenant.

Striving, the works of the flesh, self-effort — these won’t enable you to receive anything from God. Only faith opens the windows of heaven and allows us to access all that God has available for us.

As he believed God, the Bible says that the Lord credited righteousness to Abram, (v6). His actions of belief in the promises of God were enough for him to be declared righteous in the eyes of God. We might call this “saving faith”. It is this type of faith that all Christians have – we have believed in Jesus and been made righteous. However, despite believing in God and being declared righteous, Abram still had not received the manifestation of the promise of God. That would take place many years later as God took Abram on a journey of faith and trust. His initial acknowledgment of belief was simply the starting point in a life of faith. So for us our initial belief in Christ is simply the start of our faith journey. We are called to grow and increase in faith, to go from one level of faith to the next, until we’re walking in the kind of faith that truly takes hold of and receives the promises that God has given us.