By Pastor Brian Phillips
Communion
We offer ourselves as burnt offerings, which were used for food, yet God does not “consume” us to our destruction, rather, He gives His own body and blood as food and drink for us.
While this marks a brief diversion, a powerful picture of this is found in the final canto of Dante’s Inferno. In Canto XXXIV, Dante and Virgil finally encounter the evil one, Satan himself – “the foul creature which once had worn the grace of Paradise,” “The Emperor of the Universe of Pain.” He is found encased in ice, with his head and wings jutting out. Struck with terror and awe at his appearance, Dante says:
If he was once as beautiful as now he is hideous, and still turned on his Maker, well may he be the source of every woe! (Canto XXXIV.34-36)
Satan’s six wings, once used in his duty of worship (Isaiah 6:2), now help seal his doom. They jut out from his ice prison, flapping incessantly, stirring up the icy wind that actually strengthens the ice. The once who would “ascend” (Isaiah 14:12-20), is now the lowest, his wings serving only to keep him down.
Satan has three faces, a gruesome anti-Trinity, with each mouth eternally chewing upon history’s greatest traitors – Judas, Brutus, and Cassius.
“That soul that suffers most,” explained my Guide, “is Judas Iscariot, he who kicks his legs on the fiery chin and has his head inside” (Canto XXXIV.61-63).
Judas committed treachery against the Lord, his sin akin to Satan’s, so his punishment is greatest. Brutus showed treachery towards his friend, Julius, by conspiring against him.
Of the other two, who have their heads thrust forward, the one who dangles down from the black face is Brutus: note how he writhes without a word (Canto XXXIV.64-66).
Brutus, who at least in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, won supporters with his words, is now unable to speak. His treachery against Julius, in Dante’s valuation, has no defense. Cassius’ crime involves treachery towards his country. Brutus was a friend of Caesar; Cassius was a fellow countryman.
So, here dwells Satan, at the very bottom of Hell, gnashing his teeth upon those who followed him most closely. This “eternal dinner” pictures a counterfeit communion, a hellish wedding feast, in which Satan feasts upon his followers – the reverse of Christ, who gave His body and blood as spiritual food (bread and wine), leading to eternal life (John 6:53-58).
In the average Protestant or Evangelical church, the sermon is followed by an altar call or prayer, maybe a closing song, and the service concludes. In other words, the service ends with the burnt offering or Consecration.
But as we have seen in the liturgical order of Leviticus 9, worship does not stop at the burnt offering. After the burnt offerings, Leviticus 9:18-21 continues,
Then he killed the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings for the people. And Aaron's sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. But the fat pieces of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail and that which covers the entrails and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver— they put the fat pieces on the breasts, and he burned the fat pieces on the altar, but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses commanded.
The “peace offerings” are sometimes called thank offerings. Leviticus 3 says several times that these are burned on the altar “as food” (Lev. 3:11, 16). The “fat was the Lord’s” (Lev. 3:16) but the rest is to be eaten by the worshiper when it is offered (Leviticus 7:11-18). The peace offerings were a sign of fellowship with God and the other worshipers.
Corresponding to the peace offering, we feast together in the communion meal at God’s invitation. The bread and wine are gifts from God to His people. We have peace with Him through the body and blood of His Son. We partake of the bread, His body, and the cup of blessing, His blood.
We greet one another as we come to the Table in the short responses we do each week – “The Lord be with you…And also with you” – called “The Great Thanksgiving.” We pray before the feast, a prayer called “The Prayer of Thanksgiving” because we are preparing to partake of the peace offering, the thank offering.
For the same reasons, we sing during communion – and not sad, funeral dirge songs. The Eucharist is no mere memorial, where we remember the death of Jesus. We are communing with our Savior, feasting with the King. He has already heard our confession, assured us of pardon, and received our consecration. We dare not come to His feast and sit silently staring at our belly button. This is why we also begin the feast with words: “Let us lay aside all earthly care, that we may receive the King of all!”
Communion reminds us that we are in need, but also that we are part of a body given to meet those needs. The sermon is not the high point, but it reminds me that I need Jesus. Communion, however, brings us to Jesus. We come to the table to partake of the body and blood of Christ, the bread and wine. And, in doing so, He reminds us that He was given for us – to heal our souls and to make us like Himself. We are sinners, but we are sinners loved by Jesus. Our souls are hungry and thirsty, but Jesus feeds us and gives us drink. We are weak, but He makes us strong. We are forgetful of His goodness and mercy, so He gives them to us week after week.
And we are given communion together, which reminds us that we are not alone. We are needy people, but Jesus is here and He has given us Himself and His Church to meet our needs.
To be continued…