Apparently, the Church of England are debating the use of gluten-free breand and non alcoholic wine again. It seems a far cry from our current experience of church. My wife became a Christian in an Anglican Church and because of allergies was unable to consume the bread and wine. Special permission from the bishop was required before her vicar could offer an alternative. Nowadays, there is someone in our church who goes to the ffort of especially baking bread that she can eat.
The Church of England seem to be concerned that if they offer gluten-free bread or non-alcoholic wine that this will be disobedient to Jesus’ commands. What is perhaps more dispiriting that the discussion of its official bodies is to witness the comments of Evangelicals within the Church of England. I’ve seen a number on social media insisting that Jesus made a specific command about eating bread and wine at communion which rules out the alternatives.
So, where in the Bible does Jesus command us that we are to specifically eat bread containing gluten and drink alcoholic wine? I have asked this question on occasion without reply. There’s a reason for this. There is no such command from Jesus.
When we look at Scripture, we see that Jesus on the night he was betrayed takes specific elements of the Passover meal he is eating, blesses them and shares them.
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
At this stage, there isn’t a command to his followers about future events, he doesn’t tells us that we are to have a communion of bread containing gluten and alcoholic wine. Nor does he forbid us from eating bread without gluten. What he does is to take elements from the Passover and give them wonderful new meaning.
It is later in 1 Corinthians 11 that Paul tells us what he has been instructed by the Lord.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Notice that if there is a command, it is not about the type of bread and wine, it is about what you do when eating it. Indeed, even then, it isn’t so much an imperative as a statement of fact about what we are doing.
Notice too that the bread Jesus ate with his disciples would have been unlike the loaf of white bread you bought from Sainsburys or the rip off wafers available from ecclesiastical suppliers. Furthermore, if we were to presume that the command was implicit in how Jesus went about introducing the ordinance, they we would have to argue that most “Communion services” fall far short of the Passover meal that Jesus was observing.
I think that we run into a similar mistake to when the Pharsees debate Moses’ command concerning divorce. Moses’ command was about what happens once there has been divorce, that the first husband cannot take his wife back after she has been remarried and divorced again. It is not a command to divorce. Similarly, our friends in the CofE put the focus on the circumstances “whenever you eat” and miss that the command is not about what bread to consume but to remember him.
This sadly does three things. First, it creates commands that Jesus has not made. This is both to add to scripture and to fall into legalism. Secondly, it turns an invitation to receive the means of grace into a hurdle to jump through, a hurdle that excludes people. This is particularly concerning given that often the legalism about the elements comes with a theology that the eating and drinking really matters, really does something. Thirdly, it is to strain and gnats whilst swallowing camels obsessing over the ingredients in bread and wine whilst ignoring major departure from Gospel doctrine.
Faithroots 