Understanding Communion: The Presence of God

By Robb Brunansky

Published October 8, 2024

As we covered previously, there are four major views for Jesus’ meaning of the words of institution in Luke 22:19-20 (“This is My body, which is given for you”):

1. Transubstantiation – when the bread and cup are consecrated, the substance of the bread is transformed into Christ’s body, and the substance of the wine transformed into Christ’s blood. This view is held primarily by Roman Catholics, and many Protestants consider it heretical.
2. Consubstantiation – Jesus’ physical body and blood are present in the elements.
3. Memorial View – the bread and cup are merely symbolic, done in memory of Jesus.
4. Spiritual Presence – Jesus Christ is spiritually present with us in a unique and special way when we gather for the Lord’s Supper.

There are two parts to this fourth view. Jesus is spiritually present with us in a special way, and He is uniquely doing something for us through eating the bread and drinking the cup in faith – namely, strengthening our souls by grace.

To comprehend this view, we need to first understand the presence of God.

We give such little thought to this doctrine in the Bible. Yet, Scripture has so much rich teaching on God’s presence to help our minds better understand the Lord’s Supper.

Here are two truths about God’s presence. First, God is always present everywhere. There is nowhere we can go to escape His presence (Psalm 139:7-12). The Reformers coined the phrase coram deo to describe this phenomenon – before the face of God. All of life is lived in God’s presence.

Second, Scripture shows us God’s omnipresence does not mean He is present everywhere in the same way. In the beginning, God was present sustaining the world, but He was present in judgment when He entered the garden after the Fall, arousing fear. Israel in Egypt had a different experience of God’s presence when the Lord performed wonders. Also, when God was present in glory to Moses, it had a different effect upon him than God’s general presence.

When Jesus was on the earth, God was present with us in a way never experienced before. We could produce many more examples proving God is always present everywhere but not always in the exact same way. Sometimes God is present almost unnoticeably, and other times He is present in glory and power causing people to fear and tremble.

The way God is present also has different effects upon us. God can be present with a person, but distant, which is a dreadful thing (Psalm 73:27). However, being near God is good because we then share intimacy and a relationship of love with Him (Psalm 73:28). Remember, too, the Spirit of the Lord left Saul and came upon David, which means the Lord was with David in a unique and special way that was no longer true for Saul.

So, God is present everywhere, but He is present in some places differently than in others: sometimes to bless, to judge, to comfort, or to convict. God’s presence is dynamic, not static.

When we consider the Lord’s Supper, do we have reason to think God is present in a special way when we come to the table, or is He present in the same way He is always present with us? There is a unique presence of Christ at the table, and two arguments support this position.

First, we see in Luke 22:19-20 that Jesus is the host at the Lord’s Table. Christ did not appoint anyone to be the host in His absence. The Apostle Paul calls communion the table of the Lord or the Lord’s Supper, indicating that Jesus is still the host (1 Corinthians 10:21, 11:20). This is why Paul is so outraged at the abuses occurring in Corinth around the Lord’s Table, because Christians have no right to tamper with His supper as if it were our own. Because Jesus hosts us at His table for His supper, He is present among us at the table uniquely from other times.

Second, the Bible explicitly states in 1 Corinthians 10:16 that we have a unique fellowship with Christ at His table – a fellowship that is not realized in any other experience. In this verse, Paul indicates that we have fellowship with one another around the table, consisting of sharing together in the body and blood of Jesus. We don’t do anything else where Scripture says we share in Christ’s body and blood in this way besides coming to the Lord’s table.

The bread and cup of the Lord are not empty symbols because Jesus is risen. Because of the empty tomb, our Savior meets with and hosts us at His table. So, when we come to the table, it is not that we merely remember someone who is no longer here, but that Christ Himself meets with us, hosts us, and spiritually feeds us His very flesh and blood. While His flesh and blood are not present in the bread or the cup, He Himself is present at His table, strengthening our souls by His grace through partaking of the bread and the cup.

To comprehend what it means that Jesus Christ is feeding us His flesh and blood through the special experience at His table, we must understand the means of grace.

Like God’s presence, this is another area where people typically have not given much consideration. How to we receive grace? The New Testament is clear God has appointed means to receive His grace, and these are not random.

Prayer is a means of grace. The writer of Hebrews makes absolutely clear we need God’s grace in moments of trials and temptations, which we obtain through prayer (Hebrews 4:16). When we come before the Lord’s throne in prayer, God gives us grace to help in times of need. Jesus is the one who gives us grace upon grace (John 1).

Scripture is also a means of grace. We are sanctified by grace and by the word of truth (John 17:17). God gives us grace to grow in His holiness through reading and hearing the Scriptures. His grace empowers us to live pleasing to Him, and we receive this grace through the Word (Acts 20:32).

A third means of grace is the Lord’s Supper. When we eat the bread, we are reminded that spiritually, by faith, we have eaten Christ’s flesh; and that just as bread strengthens our physical bodies, so Christ’s flesh given for us strengthens our souls. Additionally, when we drink the cup, we are reminded that spiritually, by faith, we have drunk Christ’s blood; and that just as wine nourishes our bodies, so the blood of Christ nourishes our souls (John 6:52-58). Then, this recollection of the Word of Christ is confirmed in our hearts by the Spirit, as we are strengthened by God’s grace.

The Lord’s Supper is more than an empty symbol or a bare remembrance because we eat and drink in Jesus’ very presence by faith; and this living Christ hosts us at His table, strengthens us by His grace, and abides in us by His Spirit.

All this is very difficult to comprehend, which is probably why so many divisions have occurred over the years. Calvin admitted the difficulty of grasping this when he wrote, “Now, if anyone should ask me how this takes place, I shall not be ashamed to confess that it is a secret too lofty for either my mind to comprehend or my words to declare. And, to speak more plainly, I rather experience than understand it.”

How can we really explain what is one of the hardest sayings in all of Scripture? We dare not be as crass as the hearers who thought Jesus would give them literal flesh and blood. Yet, we must confess that we do in some spiritual sense eat Christ’s flesh and drink His blood, and we do so by believing in His name (John 6:40, 54). He has, furthermore, given us this supper, whereby He strengthens us when we come by faith, abiding in us by His Spirit and giving us grace as He fellowships with us around His table.