TikTok, Bruno Mars, and Communion
The Internet Sent Me on a Journey to Understand Jesus’ Body and Blood
BY MATTHEW PANG
The claim “Jesus loves you” never made sense to me. How could a Jewish carpenter from two thousand years ago love me today? And how can His past actions affect my present day life? Similarly, I was confused by how Communion—the religious consumption of bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus’ sacrificial death—was an expression of Christ’s love and devotion. I remember during one Sunday Service while holding the bread and the wine, I thought to myself, “Is it just me, or is it weird that we eat and drink the body and blood of Jesus?”:
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’ [1]
To add insult to injury, it seemed as though Christians couldn’t even agree on the significance of Communion. Neither Catholics, Orthodox, Baptists, nor Presbyterians share the same belief in the Eucharist (another term for Communion). How was I supposed to know what Communion means if Christians couldn’t even come to a consensus? I was doubtful that anyone was capable of giving me the answers I desperately needed.
By the grace of God, I stumbled upon a TikTok (FYI, I researched this subject afterward, and I vehemently discourage accepting information from TikTok as truth) by Dane Peterson that eloquently dispelled my concerns regarding love and Communion. In the video, Peterson illustrates how Jesus used Jewish marriage customs as an allegory for God’s relationship with the Church: the universal body of Christian believers, also known as the bride of Christ.
Before we delve into the cultural practices surrounding marriage, it’s important that we talk about what the Bible has to say about the Church as Christ’s bride. In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul writes that marriage should replicate the loving, sacrificial relationship between Jesus Christ and the Church: “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands…This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” [2]
With this Biblical context in mind, let’s dig deeper into ancient Hebrew marriage practices. When it is time for a Hebrew boy to marry, his family negotiates a price for the bride. Once the two families settle on a price, the young man proposes to the woman with a cup of wine. He tells her, “This is my covenant to you, take and drink.” [3] If she decides to take a sip, the two officially become engaged. Next, the boy returns to his father’s house in order to build an additional room where he and his wife-to-be will eventually reside. However, during this construction process, zero communication is permitted between the bride and groom; luckily, one of the groom’s best men is allowed to deliver messages to the bride and her family on his behalf. Finally, when the groom finishes building the home, the father tells him to “Go gather your groomsmen and marry your bride.” [3]
After learning about these customs, you must be thinking: “But if we, the Church, are Christ's bride, how do we fit into this story? How can Jewish tradition from two thousand years ago apply to us, the Church, today?” Well, God the Father set the highest price of death for all of man’s sins, and Jesus willingly paid it all on the cross. But before His death, Jesus instructed His Twelve Disciples, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” [4]
Following Jesus’ death and resurrection, He appeared to His disciple Thomas and revealed that He will build a home for us: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” [5] Once Jesus ascended to Heaven to prepare this home, God the Father didn’t leave us alone. Until His inevitable return, the Father has sent the best man, the Holy Spirit, who today guides us to truth and love. Even though our bridegroom, Jesus Christ, is no longer physically with us, the Holy Spirit still communicates with all of us on His behalf. In other words, God didn't abandon us when Jesus ascended into heaven. Rather, the Father continues to impart His love on us through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Lastly, when the day comes that Jesus descends from Heaven, we will finally marry Him and spend the rest of eternity with our Savior Jesus Christ. [6]
But what do Jesus, marriage, and Communion have to do with love? Well, as the highly distinguished poet and underground pop artist Bruno Mars once wrote:
I'd catch a grenade for ya…
Throw my hand on a blade for ya…
I'd jump in front of a train for ya…
You know I'd do anything for ya… [7]
The King of the Universe caught a grenade, threw His hand on a blade, and jumped in front of a train for all of humanity—a humanity who’s at fault for slavery, systems of oppression, human trafficking, genocide, and so much more. Yet despite these immeasurably wicked acts, He chooses to live for us, die for us, call us friend, and invite us to the table:
“The King, full of mercy and goodness, very far from chastising me, embraces me with love, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, gives me the key of His treasures… and treats me in all respects as His favorite.” [8]
The Apostle Paul is a prime example of being an undeserving recipient of God’s love and grace. Paul, before coming to Christ, ravaged the early Church, and in fact personally approved of the execution of the martyr Stephen. [9] In spite of his crimes against Jesus and His Church, Paul writes that Christ still chose him to be a disciple (a personal follower of Jesus): “For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.” [10] Jesus communicates to us that there is nothing we can do to earn or to deserve His love; most importantly, it is also important to remember that there is nothing we can do that will stop Him from loving us and His hands from personally feeding us.
To make myself clear, I’m here neither to support a certain denomination nor to defend a particular stance on Communion. My cause is ecumenical: to unite Christians of every background in the undeniable truth that by grace, every single believer makes up His Church, and therefore we are all individually His bride. Thus, it doesn’t matter that we didn’t meet Jesus the Nazarene in the flesh thousands of years ago. Christ has graciously given us Communion: a tangible, tactile way through the bread and the wine to have the opportunity to say “I do” to his proposal.
SOURCES
Matthew 26:26-28 ESV
Ephesians 5:22-33 ESV
Matthew 26:28 ESV
John 14:3 ESV
Revelation 19:7-9 ESV
Brother Lawrence. Practice of the Presence of God. 1692, p. 33.
Acts 8:1 ESV
1 Corinthians 15:9-10 ESV