Communion: Hosted by Jesus

Paul talks about “the table of the Lord” in 1 Corinthians 10:21. We are hosted by Jesus. In Roman Catholicism the bread itself is effectively the host, because it hosts the physical presence of Christ. But in the New Testament it is not the bread that is the host (of Jesus) but Jesus who is the host (of us). So the host is not on the table but at the table—it is, after all, the Lord’s Table. For Jesus is present by the Holy Spirit, and he invites us to eat with him as an act of friendship and a sign of love. The people who serve are simply Jesus’s way of getting the bread from the table…