Communion: a Sacred Ritual, or a Mistranslated Visual?
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all describe the last supper. Luke records the fullest version of Jesus’ words over the bread and cup, which is typically translated in Luke 22:19–20 as:
“He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.’ Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’”
Those words have shaped one of the most familiar rituals in Christianity: communion. The bread becomes Jesus’ body, broken at the crucifixion. The wine becomes his blood, spilled on the cross. Christians then eat bread and drink wine to remember what Jesus did for them.
But that may not be what Jesus was saying.
Jesus is not standing in a church, designing a ritual for future generations. He is sitting at a table with his disciples on the night before his death. He takes bread, breaks it apart, and hands the pieces to them. Then he takes wine and shares it with them. The actions come first. The words explain the actions.
When Jesus says, “Τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου,” the word σῶμα (sōma) is usually translated “body.” But σῶμα does not only mean a physical body. In Greek it can also mean a person’s embodied self, their life as lived in the world. Jesus is not pointing to his physical body. He is taking bread, breaking it apart, and giving it away. The bread is a visual of what he is doing with his own life: giving it away to others.
He then creates the same visual with the cup. Jesus says “ἐν τῷ αἵματί μου,” usually translated “in my blood.” But αἷμα (haima), “blood,” often means more than literal blood. In Greek and Jewish thought, blood stands for a person’s life — everything they are and everything they give. “The life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11). Jesus is once again using something visible and ordinary as a picture of what he is doing with his life: giving it away to others.
What, then, is the “new covenant”? Jesus says, “ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη” (hē kainē diathēkē) — literally, “the new covenant.” But to modern readers, “covenant” often sounds formal and religious. In Greek culture, a new covenant meant a new arrangement, a new relationship, a new way things now work between two sides. Jesus is saying that through his life the relationship between God and humanity is changing.
Given this, a retranslation of Luke 22:19–20 is:
“He took some bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it up and gave pieces to them, saying, ‘This is what I am doing with my life — giving it to you. Share your life the way I shared mine, so that I am not forgotten.’ Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, ‘Just as this wine is poured out and shared with you, so is my life. Through my life there is now a new relationship between God and humanity.’”
Maybe Jesus wanted his followers to repeat this meal. But if so, the point was not merely to remember him. It was to remember what he was showing them: a life given away for others.