How to Add Communion to Your Family’s Easter Celebration

My family lived in the United Kingdom for a few years as a child. While living abroad, my mom picked up the tradition of eating freshly baked hot cross buns on Good Friday. Hot cross buns are spiced rolls made with dried fruit and spices and marked with a cross on top. Maybe you’ve seen them at your grocery store or eaten them yourself. Each component symbolizes what Christ endured on our behalf, which is why families in specific parts of the world eat them on Good Friday.

Well, after our family moved back to the United States, my mom attempted to make them herself one time. Unfortunately, by a baker’s standard, my mom’s attempt failed. We won’t go into details about the many ways those sweet and sticky buns were anything but and how she may or may not have used the wrong spices, which definitely burned an impression on our palettes. She did get the Cross right, though, and her first (and last) attempt became a topic of conversation for years as we looked back and remembered each Easter season.

Worshipping God by Looking Back

Looking back and remembering is for more than those hot cross bun stories (or your own family memories of Easter). We worship God by looking back and remembering His faithfulness and goodness. Throughout the Bible, we find stories of God’s people worshipping Him by looking back at all He had done for them. In fact, days before Jesus went to the Cross, He gathered with His closest friends to share a Passover meal, the Jewish feast of remembering how God liberated the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt.

At the Passover meal, Jesus and His disciples gathered around the table intentionally set to look back on God’s faithfulness. Each component on the table represented critical aspects of the Exodus story. For example, the matzah (unleavened bread) symbolized the Israelites leaving so quickly that their bread didn’t even have time to rise. The bitter herbs at the table represented the harsh conditions of slavery.

However, at the Last Supper, Jesus changed the story by leading His disciples through the first Communion. Matthew 22:19, 20 reads: “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.’ 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.’”

When Jesus broke the bread and passed the wine, He told His followers that these symbols would represent His body, which would be broken on the Cross for us, and His blood, which would be shed for our sins. Thousands of years later, we continue to take Communion to remember what Jesus did for us on the Cross.

The Act of Remembrance at Home

You don’t need to be in a church building to take Communion to remember Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. You can participate at home, too, and make it a part of your family’s Easter tradition. All you need is something like bread to represent Jesus’ body and something like juice to represent His blood. Here’s how.

1. Make your favorite meal, order one for delivery, or invite people to a potluck. It doesn’t matter what you serve. The point is to get together with family and friends to share a meal.

2. Open the meal with prayer and then enjoy eating together. Let everyone know you will be participating in Communion after eating.

3. When everyone finishes eating, read Matthew 26:17-29. Set up the story by explaining before Jesus died on the Cross, He shared a meal with people He loved just like us. Now, we’ll read the story of their last meal together.

4. Prepare to take Communion. Read this aloud or re-phrase in your own words: At the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him, and one did. Judas would leave the meal and turn Jesus into the Jewish leaders. The Jewish leaders would later arrest Jesus for crimes He didn’t commit, and then they would take Jesus to the Cross. But, before all this, Jesus wanted to sit down with His disciples for one last meal. He marked this meal with a special symbol that we now call Communion. The first Communion happened at that meal. When Jesus broke the bread and passed the wine, He told His followers that these symbols would represent His body, which would be broken on the Cross for us, and His blood, which would be shed for our sins. Thousands of years later, Christians continue to take Communion to remember what Jesus did for us on the Cross.

5. Pass the Communion elements. Everyone takes a small piece of bread and receives a small amount of juice.

6. Pray and take Communion. Thank God for the Cross and for your family and friends. Or use this prayer: Father, Thank You for your Son, Jesus. Without His sacrifice on the Cross, we would not be at peace with You.