COMMUNION SUNDAY
THE MEANING OF COMMUNION
DR. JIM DIXON
NOVEMBER 7, 1993
1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26
This morning, I would like us to examine briefly three Greek words, each of which relates to the theme of communion. And the first word is the word “mysterion.” “Mysterion” is a Greek word that is used 27 times in the New Testament. The early church used this word “mysterion” as a title for the Lord’s Supper, as a title for communion. In the Bible, “mysterion” primarily refers to the subject of the gospel. From the Greek word “mysterion” we get the English word mystery. And of course, as we use the word mystery today, it normally refers to knowledge withheld or to truth that is hidden, but that’s not how the Greek world and the biblical world used the word mystery or “mysterion.” They used it to refer to the truth revealed, and particularly to truth revealed supernaturally, something that could not be known by normal powers of observation.
Now, it is because of this that the gospel in the Bible is called “mysterion.” It is the truth revealed, the truth revealed by God. And what is the mystery of the gospel? What is the truth revealed in the gospel? It is what theologians call substitutionary atonement. It is what some have called the great exchange. It is what others describe as trading places. This is the mystery. This is the truth revealed in the gospel, that Jesus Christ has come into our world and offered the great exchange. He’s offered to trade places on Calvary’s cross. He takes your sin, your penalty, your death. And then if you believe in Him, He offers to give you His holiness, His sonship—that you might become children of Go—and even His eternal life. This is the great exchange. This is the mystery of the gospel; trading places. And of course, all over the world, men and women work to try to earn heaven, and they do good works to try to make themselves worthy of eternal life. But this is the “mysterion,” this is the truth revealed in the gospel, that we only reach heaven through the great exchange, trading places with Jesus Christ.
The early Christians called communion “mysterion” because they understood that communion represented the truth revealed. They also called baptism the “mysterion” because it was a manifestation of the gospel and the truth revealed. See, in baptism, the person goes under the water—and that symbolizes death—and then comes out of the water—which symbolize newness of life, resurrection in Christ, the new life of Christ. They came out of the water cleansed, forgiven, holy, a child of God with eternal life. The great exchange. Trading places.
Communion was also called “mysterion” because Jesus said, “This is My body, broken for you. This is My blood, shed for you”. The great exchange. Trading places. “Mysterion.” In the Latin Vulgate, in the Latin translation of the Bible, in the 27 instances in the New Testament where “mysterion” is used, it is translated into the Latin with the Latin word sacramentum. And that is why communion and baptism are called sacraments. As you come to this table this morning and you partake of the bread and the cup, God wants you to celebrate. If you believe in Christ, He wants you to celebrate the great exchange—that Christ has taken your sin, your punishment, your penalty, your death, and He’s given you His holiness, His sonship, and His eternal life.
You know, Jack and Joanne Hinkley had three children, and they were good parents. Jack and Joanne Hinkley loved their children. They provided well for their children. They sought to lovingly discipline their children. Jack Hinkley was a highly successful businessman, but he was not one of those fathers who was an absentee dad. He really spent time with his kids, and yet one of his three children just didn’t turn out so well. It was John Jr. He didn’t turn out so well. And Jack and Joanne Hinkley love Christ, and they had a strong faith in Jesus Christ. But their son, John, rejected that faith in Christ. And as time went by, he more and more slipped withdrew into a world of his own. And he became a kind of loner and a drifter, living in an imaginary world. And of course, finally it was John Hinkley who committed perhaps this nation’s highest crime as he sought to assassinate the president of the United States when he shot Ronald Reagan.
And when John Hinkley was on trial, his father, Jack Hinkley, said these words. He said, “I wish to God that I could trade places with him right now. I wish to God that I could trade places with John right now.” And by that, I’m sure that Jack Hinkley didn’t simply mean that he wished that he could take his son’s punishment and take his son’s penalty. But I think he also wished that his son could take his mental health and his prosperity and his blessings. And you see, the Bible tells us that that’s how the father felt. That’s how God felt when He looked down on this world and He looked at the mass of humanity. That’s why He sent His Son into the world, that He might provide the great exchange and He might trade places.
This is the “mysterion.” This is the mystery, the truth revealed in the gospel. Now, a second word I wanted us to briefly look at is the word “koinonia.” And of course, the word “koinonia” is a Greek word known to most of you. The word “koinonia” is sometimes translated by the word communion. And of course, in the Bible, the word “koinonia” is associated with communion. The word “koinonia” is variously translated. Sometimes it’s translated with reference to sharing or partaking or fellowship. But you see, the word “koinonia” comes from the Greek root koinos. And the word koinos simply means common.
And as we come to this table, God wants us to understand that by the blood of Christ, with respect to each other, we have all become common. We’ve all become koinos. God has made us royalty. He is made us children of God, sons and daughters of God. But with respect to each other, we’re all to be common. There should be no prejudice here.
You know, in India, there is a caste system. And it is also true that in India, even today, many parents still give their children in marriage. They choose mates for their children. And sometimes in India today parents actually use newspapers to kind of advertise for a mate for their son or daughter. And if you go to Calcutta or you go to New Delhi and you go to the classified sections of their newspapers, you’ll see things like, “Beautiful daughter seeks wonderful husband,” or, “handsome son seeks great wife” (they don’t have any ugly children in India). And sometimes in the ad it’ll say, “Caste not an issue.” And that means that they don’t care what caste you belong to. But other times it’ll give the caste. And if it gives the caste, that means unless you belong to that caste, you don’t need to apply. And God wants us to understand, as Christians, as we come to this table, caste is not an issue.
We’re all common here. In Ephesians 2:4, the Apostle Paul says that Christ on the cross by His blood has broken down the dividing wall separating Jew and Gentile. And of course, Paul was referring to the Jerusalem temple where there were many walls of separation. In the Jerusalem temple were many courts. There were many sections of the Jewish temple, and they all had walls dividing those sections. And there was the court of the gentiles, the outermost court, for non-Jews. And there was a wall that separated the court of the Gentiles from the court of the women. And into the court of the women, only Jewish women could go. And then the court of the women were separated from the court of the men, for Jewish men. And Jewish women could not go into the court of men. And then that court was separated from the court of priests. And then there was another wall separating that from the Holy Place and from the Holy of Holies. There were lots of walls dividing lots of people. Paul is saying that on the cross Christ just shattered all those walls so that there’s neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female. Christ just shattered all those walls.
And so as we come to this table this morning it doesn’t matter whether you’re Jew or Gentile; it doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or any other race. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman or whether you’re young or whether you’re old. We’re all common. We’re all common in Christ. And if you come to this communion table and you’ve built walls, then this isn’t really communion for you. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. We’re all sinners saved by grace.
It was in 1949 at the Southern Baptist Convention that a black man spoke for the first time to the Southern Baptist Convention. His name was Dr. E. W. Perry. For 50 years, for a half century, he had been pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. And when he stood up on the platform to speak, the president of the convention, Dr. R.G. Lee, put his arms around him and he made this statement. He said, “Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at a portrait of black and white painted in red.” And the whole assembly just stood up and cheered. The whole assembly just stood up in applause because they understood that by the blood of Christ we’re all common—koinos, “koinonia,” communion.
There was one more word I wanted us to take a brief look at this morning. And it’s the word “eucharisteo.” “Eucharisteo” is another word that is sometimes applied to communion, “mysterion,” “koinonia,” and “eucharisteo.” Eucharist is the word from which we get the word Eucharist. And in some parts of the Christian world, communion is called the Eucharist. Of course, “eucharisteo” is a word which literally means thanksgiving. And as we come to the table this morning, God wants each of us to have thankful hearts.
I want to tell you an incident that took place in history. It was on December 20th, 1606, when three little ships left London going down the Thames River towards the vast ocean. They would make a great voyage to a distant shore. The first ship was called Susan Constant. Susan Constant was 110 feet long. It was the flagship, it was the largest of these three ships, but only 110 feet long. It only had beds for 19 people—110 feet long, just a little bit longer than from where I’m standing to the back of the sanctuary here. And it only had beds for 19 people. And yet there were 54 passengers on that ship and 17 crew. They were crowded. The second ship was called the Godspeed, and it was only 69 feet long, and it only had beds for 13 people. And yet there were 39 passengers on that ship and 13 crew. And the final ship was called the Discovery, and it was only 50 feet long, about half the distance from me to that back wall. It only had four beds, accommodations for four people to sleep, yet it had 13 passengers and nine crew.
So it was that they set across this vast ocean towards a distant shore. It was a 128-day journey. They had no kitchens. They cooked their food in pots up on the deck, regardless of the weather. Of course, there were no bathrooms and crowded conditions in an incredibly long voyage. But finally, they arrived on that distance shore. It was April 26th, 1607, at 4:00 AM in the morning when they arrived on the coast of what now is called Virginia. They came to Cape Henry. And there 110 passengers got out on a sandy beach and they took a large wooden cross and they embedded it in the beach. And they got down on their knees. And these were diverse people with varieties of motives, but they all got down on their knees by that cross. And they gave thanks to God that they had arrived at that distance shore. And only two and a half weeks later, they founded the settlement of Jamestown.
God wants us to understand that, as Christians, we’re on a journey to a distant shore. We’re on a journey to a distant shore—a better country, a better homeland, a heavenly one. And the voyage is tough. Many hardships are on the voyage. But God wants us to understand that we as Christians will arrive on that distance shore for one reason. And that one reason is the cross, the cross, the great exchange. That’s what gets us to that distant shore. And so we are to give thanks. No doubt, no question that when you arrive at the gates of heaven, you’re going to give thanks. But see, God wants you to give thanks even now for the promise that is ours through Christ Jesus. So as you come to this table and partake of the bread in the cup, come with thankful hearts. In the midst of the stormy seas, in the midst of everything that you’re going through, come with a thankful heart. And so we have the words, “mysterion,” the truth revealed, the greatest exchange; “koinonia,” in Christ and by his blood, we are all common; and “eucharisteo.” We come to this table with thankful hearts. Let’s look to the Lord with a word for prayer.
Lord Jesus, we thank You. We thank You Lord for coming into this world. Thank You Lord for Calvary. We thank You Lord for dying for us. Thank You Lord for trading places. Thank You Lord for taking our sin and our penalty, our death. Thank You, Lord, for giving all of us who believe Your holiness, Your sonship, and Your life eternal. Lord, remind us that as we come to this table, we are all common, brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Lord, if there’s any dividing walls here, we ask You, Lord Jesus, to shatter them today. And Lord, give us grateful, thankful hearts. We look forward, Lord, to that distant shore when we will see You face to face. And we know it’s only possible because of what You did on the cross. We love You, Lord. We pray these things in Your great and matchless name. Amen.