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Jesus’ Liturgy (Baptism and Communion)

The encounter between the centurion and Jesus (that we read about in Luke’s Gospel) is second-hand in that he uses intermediaries to approach Jesus (Matthew tells the story slightly differently, omitting to mention these). At first sight, the centurion’s reluctance to come into Jesus’ presence seems to be overly sensitive; surely Jesus calls us all to come to him like little children:

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)

As adults, aware of our own sinfulness, perhaps we need to pause before trying to push our way into a direct encounter with the Son of God. In a previous chapter, we looked at Mary of Bethany and how she waited to be invited to come to Jesus when he arrived in the village (John 11:28). We have such a cause-and-effect mentality that we are always looking for things to do to make things happen, e.g. we know we need to be in the presence of Jesus, so we try to work out how to bring this about. Encountering the Head, the Bridegroom, the Lord of heaven and earth, must be on his terms, and in his timing.

It is clear that the kind of dramatic encounter Paul had on the road to Damascus, or my great-grandmother had in her bedroom, cannot be made to happen, yet we can ask to know the presence of Jesus. As we will see, the two symbolic actions (sometimes called ‘sacraments’) that Jesus gave us show us how we can ask to live in him and him in us.

Most of the experiences and revelations described in this book were in the church community of Holy Trinity Church, Belle Vue, Shrewsbury. Holy Trinity’s background was evangelical and was, like most of the Church of England, liturgical in its worship. As God started to manifest his presence in the Church from the end of 2006 onwards, the liturgical aspects of our worship slowly disappeared. It is difficult to describe this process, but there was a clear sense of God’s leading as we discarded the liturgy bit by bit. I believe that it was gradual because God understands the difficulty most of us have with rapid change. One of the totally unexpected consequences of losing our man-made (even though Biblically inspired) format of worship was that we developed a whole new understanding of the two liturgical acts that Jesus did actually ordain: baptism and communion. Previously, we had gone through the motions in baptising and celebrating communion because Jesus commanded this, without much enthusiasm or understanding. We all know how controversial the ‘sacraments’ have been in church history, and how, even today, believers are fiercely divided over what these two Christian ‘religious’ acts are all about.

As we began to reduce the formal, liturgical aspects of baptism and communion, I believe God did a work in us, creating an understanding and an appreciation of these two acts that does correspond with the Biblical accounts. In addition, we were given answers to several questions, including:

Why baptism once, then communion repeatedly?
Why immersion in water?
Why did John the Baptist come ‘in the Spirit of Elijah’ (Luke 1:17)?
Why do we apply something to the outside of our bodies, then take something internally?
Why eating and drinking?
Why bread and wine?
Why are these things to be done in remembrance of Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:24-25), and, in particular, his death, burial and resurrection?

Most commonly-accepted understandings of baptism and communion do not answer these questions, but assume that God gave us arbitrarily chosen actions to receive his grace. The New Covenant clearly breaks with the rituals of the Old Covenant; it does not need us to perform prescribed religious acts as a way of appeasing God, or for any other reason. Even in the Old Covenant, the ritual actions that God asked the people to perform had a clear connection with the spiritual reality that they symbolised. When a priest killed an innocent, sinless animal, it was clear to everyone that there needed to be a sacrifice to atone for the people’s sin. The message was clear – sin is a life and death issue and we worship a holy God who is greatly concerned about our sinfulness. Why should God change and, under the New Covenant, give us ritual actions to perform that have no apparent connection with what we believe they signify?

In Chapter 2 we saw how important it is for us to understand that we are in Christ and he is in us. These are the keys to unlocking answers to the questions above.Baptism

It should be remembered that ‘to baptise’ in the Greek of the First Century simply meant ‘to immerse’; when a ship sunk, it was ‘baptised’.

Paul shows in Romans 6 that by undergoing baptism in water we are identified with Jesus in his death, burial and resurrection.

…don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. (Romans 6:3-5)

Jesus died, he was buried, he rose again – baptism by total immersion speaks powerfully of the climax of Jesus’ life on earth. The baptism candidate is buried in the water and he/she rises from the place of burial. It is blindingly obvious why Jesus chose water baptism as a way of symbolising becoming identified with him. Baptism is therefore the way we ask to be one with Jesus, to be in him – it is an acted-out prayer.

The candidate emerges from the water of Baptism wet all over. This is surely a picture of being covered over with Jesus, being in him:

For all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. (Galatians 3:27)

Jesus never wanted us to be enslaved by ritual, and therefore he gave us just one action to perform to symbolise becoming one with him and living in him; he made sure that baptism covered every part of Christian initiation. John the Baptist identified two other aspects:

“I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Matthew 3:11)

Peter repeated this teaching on the Day of Pentecost:

“Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

Baptism in water speaks clearly of the cleansing that comes from repentance, but both John and Peter told the believers that baptism in water prepared them for baptism in the Holy Spirit, something only Jesus can do for us.

In order to ground this understanding, it is worth doing a short Bible study. We start by remembering that Jesus told us that John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah^[39]. For this to be meaningful, Elijah must have been a ‘Baptist’. As we search through his life (using the books of the Old Testament) we find that the only time that Elijah was involved with a baptism in water was on Mt. Carmel, when he ordered that the sacrifice should be drenched with water three times^[40]. This was at the end of his famous confrontation with the prophets of Baal. As we have noted, baptism is an acted-out prayer, but, in addition, Elijah prayed with words and fire descended from heaven on the sacrifice^[41]. The first time that Jesus’ disciples were baptised with the Holy Spirit was on the Day of Pentecost. Part of what they experienced was a re-run of Mt. Carmel; the fire from heaven fell again^[42]. Jesus had told them to wait for this; this would be when they were baptised in the Holy Spirit^[43] and with fire, just as John the Baptist had prophesised. The book of Romans tells us that our bodies are to be ‘living sacrifices’^[44], water baptism is therefore an act of preparation before we are baptised ‘with the Holy Spirit and with fire’^[45]. It is very comforting to realise that while Old Covenant sacrifices were consumed, the pre-eminent New Covenant sacrifice was resurrected.

So, the actual physical process of being baptised (by being completely covered by the water) speaks directly of the meaning of baptism, that it is an acted-out prayer for me to be made clean following repentance, to be prepared to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and to be in Christ. It is extraordinary that, in going through this one simple act, each believer is asking for all that they need to be a follower of Jesus.

It is right to be baptised by another believer, ideally in the context of a local church. The action of the baptiser is a picture of the action of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus in burying Jesus after his death on the cross^[46]. Those of us who have baptised people by immersion have followed in their footsteps, they were the only believers who directly participated in the events of Good Friday, and thus they are the only people we can seek to emulate as we help others to know that they are in Christ through repentance and faith in him.

Communion

If baptism is an acted-out prayer to be in Christ, then communion is similarly an acted-out prayer for him to be in us.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. (Mark 14:22-24)

Jesus asked us to eat and drink bread and wine; the great controversy over the centuries has been whether he meant that the bread and wine represent his body and blood or that they, in some way, are his body and blood. To answer this, we need to ask the question, ‘Why did Jesus ask us to eat and drink him?’ As noted above, he is not in the business of giving us arbitrary ritual things to do; there must be a fundamental meaning in eating and drinking his body and his blood. The answer to this question is that he wants to live in us.

To the saints God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

Jesus does not come uninvited; he needs an explicit request. We invite him by receiving the bread and the wine. This understanding takes away the need to debate what the bread and wine actually are; the key is that each time we receive communion, we are asking for more of him living in us, not just for more of his grace or any other ‘virtue’.

This receiving of Jesus is not a mechanical action, there is no ‘cause and effect’ here, it is not sacramental. We come to him in faith and ask him; and we know he will respond because he loves us.

The use of bread and wine is not arbitrary either. He took bread, broke it and said, “This is my body”. Throughout the Bible, bread is used as symbol of God’s word to us:

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3)

Therefore, when we receive the bread and put it into our mouths, we are asking for more of the word of God to live in us. The action of consuming the bread of communion is a request for more revelation to sustain us. I once heard these words coming out of my mouth, “We live depending on continuous revelation” – God wants us to rely on the revelation that we currently have, not being concerned that we cannot see very far ahead because we know for certain we will receive more revelation when we need it.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105)

When walking with a lamp at night we can only see the next few steps, but because we carry the lamp with us, we know we will be able to continue without stumbling.

Taking the cup, Jesus said “This is my blood…”. He chose to use wine because it obviously resembles blood, and we need to remember that the Old Testament teaches us that:

“…the life of a creature is in the blood…” (Leviticus 17:11)

When we receive the wine of communion we are directly asking for the life of Jesus to be in us. Paul knew the reality of this:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Communion, like baptism, is, of course, directly connected with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus; and once more, particularly with his burial. As we take the bread and the wine, we are symbolically burying Jesus in ourselves, in some sense we become his tomb. On the Cross, his body and blood were separated leading to his death. When we receive both ‘elements’ of communion we are symbolically re-assembling him inside us, we are the place of resurrection, of new life. The life that we receive is his risen (zoe) life.

The four descriptions of the Last Supper in the New Testament differ in detail; Paul’s account concludes with these words:

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26)

Another question poses itself: ‘What is it about eating bread and drinking wine that proclaims Jesus’ death?’ To proclaim something by performing an action, the action must have a visible connection with it. As we have seen, eating and drinking bread and wine, is a way of expressing that Jesus has died and has been buried in us. We only bury someone when we are absolutely certain that they have died. When we bury the bread and wine in ourselves, we are explicitly saying to the world that we have no doubt that Jesus did die on the cross, we are making ourselves to be his tomb, so that we can be the place of resurrection.

Finally, in looking at communion, it is worth returning to our consideration of the Tree of Life (Chapter 6). In taking communion we receive the body and blood of Jesus, signifying our desire to receive eternal life, won for us by his sacrifice in hanging on the Cross.

Because of their ‘original’ sin, Adam and Eve were barred from taking the fruit from the Tree of Life and therefore did not live for ever (Genesis 3:22). If we can see Jesus hanging on the Cross as a picture of the fruit hanging on the Tree of Life, then we realise that communion is the way Jesus has given us to express our desire for eternal life by receiving him. In communion, we go back to the Garden of Eden to find the way open to the fruit of the Tree of Life, and all that means for us.

Therefore…

To draw together this discussion on baptism and communion, let’s return to list of questions we started with:

Why baptism once, then communion repeatedly? – We are baptised once because we are placed in Christ when we repent and believe in him. We receive communion as a way of asking for more and more of Christ to live in us.
Why immersion in water? – This is an acted-out prayer for cleansing following repentance, for being in Christ through his death, burial and resurrection and for Jesus to baptise us in the Holy Spirit.
Why did John the Baptist come ‘in the Spirit of Elijah’ (Luke 1:17)? – Elijah’s encounter on Mt. Carmel shows that living sacrifices need to be prepared by being covered in water prior to being baptised with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Why do we apply something to the outside of our bodies, then take something internally? – we are in Christ and then he is also in us.
Why eating and drinking? – through these actions we ask for Jesus to live in us, how else could we signify this?
Why bread and wine? – bread speaks of God’s word (revelation), wine of Jesus’ life.
Why are these things to be done in remembrance of Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:24-25), and, in particular, his death, burial and resurrection? – by performing the symbolic actions of burying Jesus in us, with this understanding of its meaning, we will not forget all that he has done for us. We are asking to experience his presence living in us, to know for certain that he has risen from the dead.

Discussion Points

Look back at your own baptism, whether as an infant, a child or an adult. Martin Luther, the pioneer of the Reformation, was subject to bouts of depression. When things got him down, when he felt the devil was tormenting him, he would shout “I am baptised!”. Discuss how we can appropriate the historical fact of our own baptism by faith to give us strength to overcome.
What has been your understanding of baptism and communion? Explain this and any other views that you have heard about to the group. How do the contents of this chapter change how you might approach these aspects of our faith?
We have looked at communion as an acted-out prayer for Jesus to live in us, for him to be resurrected in us, for us to receive the fruit from the tree of life,… Which of these is the most meaningful to you?
If appropriate, share bread and wind together.

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