Communion Meditation: More Than Bread and a Cup
What a conversation with Jacob reminded me about remembering Jesus.
Recently, I had a conversation with Jacob about baptism and communion. What started as a simple opportunity to explain two things we do as followers of Jesus became a beautiful reminder of why we do them in the first place.
Sometimes, when we have been in church for years, we become so familiar with the things we do that we forget the significance behind them. We know when to stand, when to sit, when to take the bread, and when to drink the cup. But do we always stop to remember what we are declaring?
As I sat talking with Jacob, I found myself explaining these truths in the simplest way I could. And sometimes, it takes explaining something to a child to remind us just how extraordinary the gospel really is.
We started with baptism.
I explained that baptism is a public way of saying, “I trust Jesus, and I want to follow Him.”
Going under the water is a picture of being buried with Jesus. Coming back up is a picture of being raised with Him into a new life.
Romans 6:4 tells us:
“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death… we too may live a new life.”
I told him that the water doesn’t magically make someone perfect. Baptism shows on the outside what God is doing on the inside.
And because Jacob understands sports, I explained it like wearing a team jersey. The jersey doesn’t make you part of the team, but it lets everyone know which team you belong to.
Baptism joyfully declares, “I belong to Jesus!”
Then we talked about communion.
And this is the part of our conversation I want to share with you today as we prepare to come to the Lord’s Table.
I explained to Jacob that communion uses ordinary things—bread and a cup—to help us remember something extraordinary.
The bread reminds us of Jesus’ body, given for us.
The cup reminds us of His blood, poured out for us.
Jesus willingly gave His life because He loves us and came to rescue us from sin.
And I explained that when we take communion, we aren’t simply eating a little piece of bread or taking a drink. We are telling a story. We are making a declaration.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:26:
“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
That word proclaim means to announce, to declare, to make something known.
So I told Jacob that every time we take communion, we are saying something without necessarily speaking a word.
Jesus died for us.
Jesus rose again.
Jesus is with us.
Jesus is coming back.
Think about that for a moment.
Something as small and ordinary as a piece of bread and a cup becomes a declaration of the greatest act of love this world has ever known.
Jesus also called Himself “the bread of life” in John 6:35.
Just as food gives our bodies strength, Jesus is the source of the life our souls desperately need.
Communion isn’t about getting a snack. It is about remembering that Jesus is our true source of life.
And as our conversation continued, I reminded Jacob that neither baptism nor communion means we have everything figured out.
We don’t come to Jesus because we are perfect. We come because we need Him.
Following Jesus is a lifelong journey of trusting Him, learning from Him, surrendering to Him, and receiving His grace when we stumble.
And isn’t that something we all need to remember?
Because sometimes we approach communion carrying the weight of our failures, our distractions, our struggles, and all the ways we know we have fallen short.
But the bread and the cup remind us that our hope has never rested in our ability to get everything right.
Our hope rests in what Jesus has already done.
The bread reminds us that His body was given.
The cup reminds us that His blood was poured out.
And together they remind us that grace was costly, love was willing, and death did not have the final word.
So today, as we prepare to take communion, I want to invite you to remember what I was trying to help Jacob understand.
This is more than a tradition.
More than a routine.
More than bread and a cup.
This is remembrance.
This is proclamation.
This is the gospel placed before us in something we can hold, taste, and receive.
And we do not have to have everything figured out to remember the One who gave everything for us.
As we take the bread, remember His body, willingly given for you.
As we take the cup, remember His blood, poured out for the forgiveness of sins.
And as we receive them together, remember the promise that this is not the end of the story.
Jesus died.
Jesus rose.
And Jesus is coming again.
“Do this in remembrance of me.” — Luke 22:19
Let us take communion with grateful hearts, remembering not only what Christ has done, but whose we are because of Him.