An Unequal Exchange at the Lord’s Table
This Communion meditation reflects on the uneven exchange believers experience through Christ. Around the Lord’s table, human brokenness is met by divine wholeness, forgiveness, peace, courage, grace, and completeness in him.
- At Communion, believers remember that Jesus receives our brokenness and gives his wholeness.
- The article connects this exchange to Scripture passages about forgiveness, peace, faith, healing, courage, presence, and grace.
- The meditation closes by inviting readers to consider Christ’s sacrifice and the completeness found in him.
By Lonetta McKee
When we meet with our Lord and Savior around his table, an exchange takes place. However, it is not an even exchange. We exchange human brokenness for Jesus’ divine wholeness.
What We Receive at the Lord’s Table
We give Jesus our sins. He gives us forgiveness through his shed blood on the cross.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” Ephesians 1:7 (New International Version).
We give Jesus our troubled hearts. He gives us peace.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. . . . Do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:27).
We give Jesus our doubts. He gives us faith.
“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
We give him our paralyzed lives. He gives us healing.
“‘By his wounds you have been healed’” (1 Peter 2:24).
We give him our fear. He gives us courage and confidence.
“‘Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid’” (Mark 6:50).
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
We give him our loneliness. He gives us his presence.
“‘And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Matthew 28:20).
We give him our needs. He gives us life in abundance.
“‘I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly’” (John 10:10).
We give him our indifference and apathy. He gives us love.
“‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you’” (John 15:9).
We give him our weaknesses. He gives us his grace and his power which is made perfect in weakness.
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:9, 10).
Made Complete in Christ
Paul offers the perfect summation with the words he wrote in Colossians 2:10: “In him you have been made complete.”
As we partake of the emblems, let us prayerfully consider the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross so that, as Paul said, we can be complete.
