The Communion Elements

The Communion Elements
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No provision promised in the Word of God is outside Calvary. Healing was taken care of at the Cross. Whatever you’re standing in faith for, Jesus already accomplished on the Cross. He died to redeem us from the curse.

Many people today asay, “There is healing but it comes only as God wills it. If healing is removed from the cross, then it is not available to everyone. However, if Jesus died for our healing then healing is for every member of the human race.

Isaiah 53:5 says “...and with his stripes we are healed.” Many believe and teach this is referring to spiritual healing. But the Hebrew of the previous passage, (Isaiah 53:4) says, “Surely he hath borne our sickness, and carried our pain.” (See Amplified and New American Standard).

Why did He take our pain and sicknesses? Because He had none of His own. When He died on the cross He took upon Himself your sickness and mine.

Fundamentalists arguue, “If Christ atoned for our healing at the same time He atoned for our salvation, then the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior all our sicknesses would disappear. So healing couldn’t be in the atonement.”

I really didn’t know the answer to that argument for awhile. But when I discovered the answer, it was so simple it boggled my mind.

There are three types of rituals for the Church age and each ritual has an element. The Church age is from the day of Pentecost until the time Jesus returns at the rapture.

The first ritual is water baptism. It's element is water. Water baptism typifies salvation, but there is no salvation in this ritual. Ritual is an outward expression of what has already happened inwardly in your heart.

The second ritual is anointing with oil. James 5:14 is a ritual for the Church age and deals with the healing of the body. However, there is no healing quality in oil.

When I was young, I thought there was something magic in the oil. Healing comes from the prayer of faith, which saves the sick and the Lord raises him up, not from oil.
The third ritual is communion, which is our subject. It has two elements, bread and wine. There is absolutely no power in the bread. There is absolutely no power in the wine. Should we use real wine or grape juice? It doesn’t matter if it’s Kool-aid. It’s what it represents. That is what is important.

Should we baptize in a pool or in running water like they did in the New Testament? I don’t care if it’s in your bathtub, as long as you know the significance.

The difference between communion and other rituals is communion has two elements and all the rest have one. Anointing with oil has one element. Water baptism has one element. But communion has two elements, bread and wine.

In 1 Corinthians 1 there was a feast occurring at the Corinthian church. The feast was called the Fellowship of the Koinonia. The way many churches practice communion today, eating a little piece of bread and drinking a small amount of juice, was not how the early New Testament celebrated communion. It was an entire meal.

I love fellowship meals. It’s enjoyable meet with an entire congregation of people and break bread together. Did you know that even psychologically, a good way for a family to become more unified is to have meals together around a table? Psychologists tell people seem to drop their barriers and will talk with one another over a meal.

However, you can take good things to extreme. This is what happened in the Corinthian church. It got to the point where it had broken up into small groups. Does that sound familiar? All the rich people got together, all the middle class people got together, and leaving only the poor people to join with each other.

The rich people could bring lots of food and so could the middle class. But the poor people could bring very little. You had two extremes in the church. You had one group that drank and ate much and the other group who had nothing and were hungry.

That’s the scene you have with Paul in the eleventh chapter of Corinthians. You have people failing to see the point of fellowship, of share and share alike.

In 1 Corinthians 11:20-22 Paul says, “When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper." In other words, don't make a big meal of it. "For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? Have ye not houses to eat and drink in? Or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.”

Beginning in verse 23 we have what is usually read in time of the communion service. “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 11:23-27

Notice, it does not say you are unworthy. No born again believer is unworthy. It says you partake of the cup unworthily. In other words, you partake of it in the wrong manner. You have unconfessed sin in your life. You should have examined yourself first, then asked for forgiveness of that sin, and partake of the cup. Then you’ll be taking of it worthily.

“But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”

1 Corinthians 11:28-30

We see right away that in the communion elements there are two elements, there is bread and there is wine. What is wine a type of? Blood. What is bread a type of? The flesh, or the body. Each element stands for something different.

Chapter ten of 1 Corinthians will explain this.

1 Corinthians 10:16:

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

The wine stands for the blood and the bread stands for the body. If Christ atoned for our healing at the same time he atoned for our salvation, then why are we not healed when we accept Christ as our Savior? There are two elements. Each is taken separately.

His blood is what purchased your salvation. His body is what purchased your healing. When you accept Christ as your Lord and your Savior, you are putting your faith in the atoning work of the blood, not of the body. When you accept Christ as your Healer, you are accepting the finished total work of His body and not His blood.

The work of His blood in Acts 20:28 says, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with His own blood."

Jesus purchased the church with His blood.

Romans 5:9 says, "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
Notice, it says we are justified by His blood. It didn’t mention His body, did it?

1 Peter 1:18 says, “For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
The purchase of our salvation came through His blood.

But what about healing?

Isaiah 53:4-5: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, (sicknesses) and carried our sorrows: (pain) but we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisem ent of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Where does He bare stripes? In His body. With His stripes we are healed. The Hebrew word for "stripes" literally means "bruise." It has reference to all the beatings Christ endured, the thorns on His brow, the whip on His back.

Matthew 8:17 says, “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” Where do you bare things? In your body.

In 1 Peter 2:24 it says, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

Again, with His stripes. He bore stripes in His body.

1 Corinthians 11:30:
“For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”

He is saying they are out of fellowship with the Lord while partaking of the communion elements. And he said, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”

The word there for "sleep" means "to die early." Why are they weak and why are they sick and why are they dying early? Go back to the end of verse 29. It is because they do not discern the Lord’s body.

It doesn’t say a thing about His blood. It says they are weak and sickly because they do not discern the Lord’s body. Healing comes through the atoning work of His body. When you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you accepted the atoning work of His blood. But when you accept Him as your healer, you accept the atoning work He accomplished through His body. His physical death did not purchase your salvation. It was His spiritual death that purchased your salvation.

He died spiritually before He died physically. Christ was crucified at 9:00 in the morning. He died physically at 3:00 in the afternoon and died spiritually at noon. From noon until almost 3:00 in the afternoon darkness covered the face of the earth. It became so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. That was when the sins of the world began to be poured out on Jesus Christ. And He took Himself your sin and my sin.

Matthew 27:46 says: “And about then in the hour (3:00 P.M.) Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying...My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” That’s the cry of an unbeliever. Up until that time Jesus never once referred to the first person of the trinity as God. He always referred to Him as Father.

“For he hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him ” 1 Corinthians 5:21. Long before He died spiritually on the cross His body was beaten and stripes were laid on Him. In a trial (Matthew 26) before Caiaphas, He had a sack placed over his face and the crowd began to beat and buffet Him all night long. And He wouldn’t die. Satan was trying to kill Him before He got to the cross. His face began to swell; it was beyond recognition. (Isaiah 52:14) The crowd would hit Him and say, “If you’re a prophet, prophesy who’s hitting you.” The Bible says in Isaiah 53:7, “...and as a sheep before here shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”

When they laid Him on the cross and drove spikes through His hands, Jesus never allowed a word to be uttered from His mouth. When most men were crucified, their screams could be heard for miles, but Jesus opened not His mouth. When they dropped that cross down in its slot, He opened not His mouth.

“…and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” However, when Jesus took the sins of the world upon Him, He opened His mouth and screamed, "My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?” It was more difficult for Him to bare your sins than it was for Him to bare your sicknesses.

Salvation is the greater miracle. There is no healing of the body that can ever compare to the miracle of salvation. What if a man gets healed in this life and never receives salvation? What has he gained? Absolutely nothing! I don’t want to minimize healing, but I do want to keep our priorities straight.

There are two separate areas of atonement. The communion bread is a type of what He bore in His body: healing. The cup is a type of what His blood did for us: the new birth.

Redemption is two-fold. Psalm 103:3 says, “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities: who healeth all thy diseases.” The two go hand-in-hand. Don’t confuse them and say they are the same. They are not the same. Bodily healing is not spiritual healing. Spiritual healing is not bodily healing.

In Matthew 9:5 Jesus, addressing a man who was paralyzed on a bed, “For whether is easier, to say, thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, arise, and walk?” It’s just as easy for Him to say one as it is the other. He atoned for both on the cross.

Have you ever known anyong who received healing before they were saved? Healing is not just for the believer; it is for the whole world. In Acts 8, Philip went down into the city of Samaria and began to preach. What made the people take heed and notice? Witnessing the miracles he performed. Miracles drew their attention to the gospel. Then he preached the gospel and they were all saved.

The same Jesus who forgives your iniquities is also the one who heals all your diseases. The blood of Christ represents His spiritual death. His body represents His suffering for your healing. What He bore in His spirit was for your spirit. What He bore in His body was for your body.

The Lord Jesus Christ walked the earth the same way Adam did, in innocence. He was not the same as you and me because He did not have a flesh nature as you and I do. He was virgin born which made Him exclusive. This made Him eligible to take the sins of the world. He had no sins of His own and therefore could take ours. He was in innocence just as Adam was. That is why He is called the last Adam.

When Adam was here (in innocence) could He die? No. He could not die physically until He first died spiritually. Physical death is a result of spiritual death. The Lord told him, “For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)

The Hebrew says, “In the Day that thou eatest thereof dying thou shalt die.” Dying, (present tense) thou shalt die, (future tense). Dying (spiritually) thou shalt die (physically). This is why Jesus could not be killed before the time of the cross. It was necessary for Him to die spiritually before He could die physically.

The blood of Jesus represents His spiritual death. Today there are some misconceptions about the blood. We usually think of what flowed through His veins. It wasn’t His physical blood flowing through His veins that saved us. Salvation is spiritual. It’s nothing physical. The blood of Jesus refers to what happened in His body. Jesus didn’t bleed to death on the cross. He died of His own free will.

When the Bible talks about the blood of Christ, it refers to what happened on the inside of Him. What is inside you? Your spirit man. When Word says we have redemtion through His blood, it is referring to His spiritual death through which you and I have spiritual life.

What happened physically to Jesus? He became sickness. This makes physical healing available to us. Isaiah 52:14 says, “As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:” When Jesus hung on the cross He was unrecognizable as a man. Artists had done their reditions of Him hanging on the cross and He is usually depicted as thin, pale, and emaciated. But this portrayal of Jesus is inaccurate. He was a man’s man, but His face was so beaten beyond recognition that He didn’t resemble a man. His body was broken so ours could be healed.

To receive salvation, a person must believe salvation is settled before exercising faith. The same is true of healing. You must believe Jesus Himself took your infirmities and bare your sicknesses and with His stripes you were healed. If you were healed then you are healed. You must receive healing by faith and make it yours.

1 Corinthians 11:24: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, take eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Remembrance is a type of faith. You can only remember something that is past. I like the way the Bible describes faith. Faith is so simple anybody can operate in it. Anyone can remember. Anyone can receive salvation. Anyone can receive healing. Being a special class of person or reaching a certain spiritual plateau is not necessary. Anyone can receive from God!

You may have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, but can you recall a moment when you accepted Jesus Christ as your own personal Healer?

Two specific acts are required when we take communion: We eat the bread and drink the wine. This demonstrates that salvation and healing are two separate acts of faith. You have probably accepted Him as your Savior, but have you accepted Him as your Healer?

We are saved by believing in the heart and confessing the with the mouth the Lordship of Jesus. How do we accept Him as our Healer? By believing it in the heart and confessing with the mouth that Jesus is our Healer.

Why don't you pray this to the Father:

In the name of Jesus Christ, I accept Jesus as my Healer. From this point on, I am whole. No more can Satan put his sickness or his disease on me. I’m not in his family. I won’t accept any of his lies. Jesus took my infirmities and bare my sicknesses and with His stripes I was healed. I accept everything my Father gives me. Every good and perfect gift comes from Him. I confess Him as my healer. I am whole and I will remain that way!

Bob Yandian

If you like this article, check out Healing and his book, How Deep are the Stripes?, at the BYM Store.