Unleavened bread in wafer form |
Each side also views Jesus' institution the Last Supper differently. Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote that Jesus celebrated the Passover with the disciples in the upper room on the night before he was crucified. He would have certainly used unleavened bread on that occasion. However, the Orthodox churches emphasize the account from the gospel of John, which states that Jesus and the disciples had this meal before Passover, probably using leavened bread. This difference in communion bread did not cause the big split between these church traditions. (I wrote previously about other differences that keep the churches separated.) But these different practices remain to this day, each side feeling like their way is the right way.
In some places in the world, bread (with yeast or not) and grape juice is hard to come by. So churches tap into local traditions and use the staples available to them, such as rice, sweet potatoes, and different kinds of fermented drink. Some people shared with me that they have celebrated communion with elements as "contextualized" as chocolate or pizza and Coca-Cola. (I wonder if that's going a bit too far in the effort to be relevant.) How is the risen Christ represented in your Communion celebrations?
I once took communion that consisted of tortilla and Coke. It's what we had available. It was a very meaningful celebration, not because of the substance of the elements, but because of the community receiving God's grace together.
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