Communion meditation, August 21

Ephesians 2:14: He Himself is our peace.

Jesus is the one who brings peace between God and man. He has reconciled us to God, and brought near those who have been far off. But in our sermon text Paul is chiefly concerned with the peace that Jesus has brought between men. He is our peace, because He has made both groups into one, breaking down the barrier of the dividing wall (v. 14). He is our peace because He has abolished in His flesh the enmity (v. 15). He is our peace because He has made the two into one new man, establishing peace (v. 15). He is our peace because this message of peace is proclaimed to the Jew first, those who are near, and to the Gentiles, those who are far away.

Like many churches in Christendom, we signify this at Trinity by having a time for passing the peace prior to the Lord’s Supper. Before we come to the Lord’s Table, we take time to greet one another in the name of the Lord, bless one another, wish peace on one another, and that is a ritual symbol of the peace that God has established among us through His Son. No symbol is a “mere symbol,” and this one isn’t either. By greeting one another and wishing peace to one another, we are enacting and establishing peace among us.

Following the passing of the peace, this meal is a celebration of our peace. In the peace offerings of ancient Israel, lay worshipers ate portions of the flesh of the sacrificial animal, which signified the fact that Yahweh had accepted the sinner into His fellowship. It signified the peace between God and man. But it also signified the peace within Israel. This meal is the peace offering of the Christian church. This table is the great public sign that Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, men and women, some from every tribe and tongue and nation have been called to draw near to God, and have been reconciled in Jesus the Messiah as one new man.