Why is Bread and Wine/Grape Juice used in Communion?

From the first century onward Christians have had two key traditions, which were established by Jesus himself. The first is the Believer’s baptism and the second is Communion or Lord’s Supper. To focus on the subject at hand, I am going to focus on the second tradition.

After the resurrection of Jesus, the apostles, and the new Christian believers regularly practiced communion as often as they met. This tradition has continued over the past 2000 years. However, over the years different church groups have been split over the way communion was practiced. This was partly due a false understanding of the Bible or due to some man made traditions. My goal here is to evaluate the purpose and practice of communion through the Bible ONLY. Here are some deductions that we can make based on what we read in the Bible.

1. Jesus established Communion - Jesus established Communion before dying on the cross and we see in Matthew 26:26–29 (NKJV) And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
2. Communal Eating - In the first century, when the believers came together we see in Acts 2:42 (NKJV) And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. The common phrase breaking of bread signified a community kind of meal, where all the believers came together to pray and also to have a meal. In this meal they also partook of the bread and the wine as a reminder of what Jesus established with them in the last supper with him, before his death on the cross. This tells us that communion was practiced differently by the early church than how the current day churches do.
3. Abuse of Communion - As communal eating was practiced in the early church, it started getting abused by several members of the church which is why Paul challenged the Corinthian church in (1 Corinthians 11:17–34) to not abuse the communion, rather recognize its importance. The Corinthian Christian believers had started taking the communion very lightly - they were either getting drunk with the wine or eating like a glutton. This was making the communion as insignificant and they were forgetting Jesus’s death, resurrection and his promise to come back.
4. Examining self before communion - Due to the abuse of communion Paul challenges the Christian believers (both in Corinth and today) to examine themselves before they partake in the communion, otherwise they will bring judgment upon themselves. 1 Cor 11:27–29 (NKJV) Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks [f]in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. Interestingly, some churches have made a mandate for the Christians to do confession before they partake in Communion. I believe it is a good practice to confess of one’s wrong doing, but making it a mandate will prevent some people to be truthful about their confession. However, this kind of mandate is not stated anywhere in the Bible, since Paul tells each person to examine themselves. The Bible does not require us to confess in front of a priest or pastor, rather our confession needs to be before Jesus, since only he is the mediator between God and man. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NKJV) For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
5. Passover & Communion - In all the 3 gospels Matthew 26:26–29, Mark 14:22–25 and Luke 22:14–20, we see the details outlined about the celebration of Passover by Jesus and his disciples, since it was part of the Jewish tradition from the Old Testament. After the resurrection of Jesus, the early church recognized the significance of the Passover as being part of the new covenant. However, with the resurrection of Christ, the Old Testament Passover is now replaced by the Lord’s Table or Communion, since Jesus became the Passover lamb who died on the cross for the whole world.
1. The Bread - One of the two elements in the Communion is the bread. Jesus took the bread and broke it in the Last Supper. This act correlated to the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb. In the same manner the life of Jesus was to be broken and he will have to die on the cross by taking on the sins of the while world. The broken bread signified the broken body of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV) … For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Hence, when we partake in communion the bread is NOT the literal body of Christ, rather it is more of a symbol of His broken body, as confirmed in 1 Corinthians 11:24 (NKJV) He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” The early church recognized this symbolism as John stated in John 1:29 (NKJV) “…The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
2. The Wine - The second element in communion is the wine. When Jesus took the cup, which had the “fruit of the vine,” he told his disciples to drink it, since it symbolized his blood, which will be shed on Calvary for the whole world. Matthew 26:27–28 “27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. The wine also signified the blood which was put over the doorposts of the homes in the first Passover in Egypt (Exodus. 12:7–13). John affirms it to be related to the shedding of blood on Calvary by Jesus for the remission of sins in Revelation (Rev 1:1–8). Hence, the disciples recognized the significance of to the fruit of the vine. Hence, when we partake in communion the wine or the grape juice is NOT the literal blood of Christ, rather it is more of a symbol of His blood so that we can remember Him, as confirmed in 1 Corinthians 11:25 (NKJV) “In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

Controversies over the bread and wine:

1. The Practice of Communion - In the Catholic and Orthodox churches, a major part of the Sunday mass is around praying for the Holy Communion, taking its significance to one extreme. While on the other hand, in many of the Protestant churches they simply have a short period of time in between their Sunday services, where they partake in the communion and they seem to take it to the other extreme by taking its significance very lightly. Unfortunately, as Christians we need to give appropriate significance to communion, since it is one of the two traditions established by Christ. Interestingly, neither of the church groups practice communion the way Jesus instituted it, but it does not matter, since its importance is symbolic in nature. The good thing is that all these churches do it for the remembrance of Christ, which is critical part of communion.
2. The literal body and literal blood - The Catholic and Orthodox churches believe in the doctrine that when the priests pray over the bread and wine, it literally becomes the body and blood of Jesus. This is called the transubstantiation and this doctrine was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church by the Fourth Council of the Lateran in 1215 AD. This was NOT practiced by the apostles or the early Christian believers. As we see in the Bible in Matthew 26:26–29, Jesus was trying to teach his disciples about the symbolic correlation rather than a literal transformation of these elements.
3. Wine or Grape Juice - Some churches use wine for communion, while others use grape juice. When we study the Old Testament, we can see that wine was a very common drink in the OT days. However God had also warned people from getting drunk as being a sin. Also in those days there was no mechanism of refrigeration, hence all the grape juice would have fermented to become wine. That was the only way to preserve it. The Bible does not give any arguments on the usage or preference of wine over grape juice or vice-versa. Hence, the usage of wine or grape juice is acceptable for communion. Rather the question that is pertinent here is whether we are approaching communion in a worthy manner, as stated in 1 Corinthians 11:17–34
4. Usage of unleavened bread or leavened bread - Over the years churches have debated the use of the leavened on unleavened bread. In Matthew 26:26 states, “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread.” The Greek word for bread here is artos, which generally indicates a loaf of common leavened bread. The word for unleavened bread is, in contrast, azumos,found in other New Testament passages, like Matthew 26:17. During the Last Supper, they most likely used unleavened bread since it was Passover. Interestingly, after the gospels nowhere in the New Testament do we see a specific command to use unleavened bread. Hence, no matter what churches decide to use leavened or unleavened bread, they will align to the Bible. Since bread was simply symbolic of the body of Christ.
5. When there is NO bread or wine/grape juice available - The usage of bread and wine or grape juice has been the tradition followed by the Christian churches for the past 2000 years. The communion was a tradition established by Jesus himself, rather than the disciples. Hence, it would be most appropriate to follow it as it was established. However, what should Christians do in situations of war, plagues or some extreme circumstances or perhaps in places where these elements do not exist? As the saying goes “Desperate times or extreme circumstances require desperate measures.” A pastor told me about a missionary in Papa New Guinea, where they did not have bread until 1930, hence they replaced it with sweet potato to represent the body of Christ. In the same manner if we are in a famine or plague kind of situation, we could replace the wine/juice with some liquid that is readily available to represent the blood of Christ. However, an exception should never become a rule, rather it should be considered as an exception until a time those elements could be made available. This is not about legalism, rather to follow a tradition for the sake of consistency of practice across all the Christian churches. Also just like the icons which when introduced into the churches by the Christian believers had a purpose, but over the years it became an idol for the believers and people started worshiping them rather than the living God. These elements of bread and wine should never become an idol in itself rather it should always be symbolic of the body and blood of Christ, reminding all of us of the death of Christ until he comes back. 1 Corinthians 11: 26 (NKJV) For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Works cited:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transubstantiation