The Icon of Christ

Throughout the history of the Church apart from the controversies surrounding pictures and images of Christ, most Christians, including the Reformers, have insisted that this meal is an authorized image of Christ. This does not mean that we are authorized to worship it or bow down to the bread and wine. Rather, as images are meant to do, we see here the body of Christ broken for us and the blood of Christ spilled out for the forgiveness of our sins. Seeing this reality portray before us and then consumed together we are called upon by the Apostle to discern the Body of Christ. This does not mean that you are called upon to squint really hard and try to see actual flesh and blood; nor does this mean that you ought to close your eyes and try to imagine those things either. The body of Christ is you. The Church is the body of Christ. And as we consume this bread and wine, we embody and enact that reality, we proclaim the Lord’s death by communing in the body and blood of the Lord. We are his body as the Church, as the family of God; therefore discerning the Body of Christ means seeing Christ in one another. Look at each other as the bread and wine is passed. Smile at each other. Give thanks to God for one another. This is why we pass the peace before the prayers and before this communion. We are embodying that peace, that shalom, which we celebrate and enact here with bread and wine and thankful hearts. Do not imagine some Jesus picture in your head. You don’t need to do that. God reveals himself to us here and now, week after week. He says do you want to know what I am like? Do you want to see what the Trinity is like? Then open your eyes, open your mouths, and rejoice together. This the body of Christ. This is the image of God, the icon of God, the bread of his presence. Therefore eat, drink, and rejoice.