#DailyDevotion Through The Body Of Christ In The Supper We Are One Body With Him And Each Other

1 Cor. 10 ¹⁶Is the cup of blessing which we bless not a communion of the blood of Christ? Is the bread which we break not a communion of the body of Christ? ¹⁷All of us are one body, because there is one bread and all of us share that one bread. ¹⁸See how the Jews do it. Don’t those who eat the sacrifices share the altar? ¹⁹What do I mean by this? That a sacrifice made to an idol is something or that an idol really is something? ²⁰No, these sacrifices of the non-Jews are made to demons and not to God. I don’t want you to be partners of demons. ²¹You can’t drink the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You can’t share the Lord’s table and the table of demons. ²²Or are we trying to make the Lord jealous? Are we stronger than He?

1Co 1: ⁹You can depend on God, Who called you to the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. Through baptism we have entered into fellowship with our LORD Jesus Christ. In the LORD’s Supper we celebrate that fellowship we have with him and with each other. In the LORD’s Supper we all are participating in Christ’s body and blood. Jesus said, John 6, ⁴⁸“I am the Bread of Life.” This bread is his true body we eat when participate in his supper. We are one body St. Paul says, because we all share that one bread, the body of Christ.

In his incarnation Jesus, our Savior became one flesh with us, Heb 2:¹⁴ “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” Taking on our body of flesh, he took our sins, guilt and shame and nailed them to the tree. Now in his supper, he gives us his body and we become one with him and with one another. We take on his righteousness, glory, holiness and all that is his. Peter tells us, 2Pe 1:⁴ “…he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

So we are one body with Christ’s body and with one another,  Rom 12:⁴“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,  5)  so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” In the Supper we celebrate our marriage to Christ and union with him, Rom 7: ⁴“So you, too, my fellow Christians, have through Christ’s body died to the Law to marry Another — Him Who rose from the dead so that we will produce fruit for God.”

So in the participation in the Supper, we are sharing in and participating in, together, no matter where we are on the planet the one body of Christ. Even when we are not celebrating our part of being in the body of Christ, we nevertheless are one body with him and one another, as Paul says, Rom 12: ⁴“We have many parts in one body, and these parts don’t all do the same thing. ⁵In the same way, many as we are, we are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.” Our participation in Jesus’ body in the Supper makes that reality manifest to us and strengthens us in that oneness as we eat the bread, that is the body of Christ, receive forgiveness of our sins and forgive all those who are participating with us in that same one body which is Christ’s. We also recognize our oneness of body with the saints who are above and are strengthened by their beatific vision of their LORD and ours.

Heavenly Father, you gave us your Son Jesus Christ as the Bread of Life, in whom we are made participants in His Supper and one body with him and all believers in Christ. Strengthen us in our faith and have us persevere to life everlasting by his body. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.