COMMUNION
COMMUNION
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them from the moment of their initiation into the new life (Mk 1« and 11 it, 1 Jn 3'-^ 4"). Yet another statement, emphasizing in a remarkable metaphor the inwardness and intimacy of the union that results, sets the experience before us as a mystical feedin" upon Christ (Jn 6, esp. vv.^^-'^*, cf. also v.^=). But while there is variation in the language in ■which this sense of the Divine Presence is set forth, there is no question as to the reality of the experi- ence itself. It is the inspiration of this Unseen Presence that shall give to believers definite guid- ance in moments of crisis and perplexity (Mk 13" and II, Lk 12"- '^j. It is in this communion with God that they will find their surest refuge against fears and dangers (Mk 13'* = Mt 24^°) and against the assaults of temptation (Mk 14^ and ||). Such fellowship, too, is their ground of certainty, alike in their teaching (Jn 3"— note the plurals ; 1 Jn I'-') and in their belief (cf. Jn 4^). It is, moreover, the source of all their fitness for service (cf. Gabriel's suggestive speech, Lk 1'^) and the means of all their fruit-bearing (Jn IS'"'"). As would have been ex- pected, the full significance of this converse with God is not understood, nor is its closest intimacy appropriated, in the earliest days of initiation. Knowledge of God, like knowledge of men, has to be realized progressively (cf. x'^P'-" '^"'^^ X^P"""'! Jn 1'"). There are degrees of intimacy (cf. Jn 15'^ and the suggestive interchange of dyaTrS.i' and ipiXeiv in 21'^''-), and the extent to which the believer is ad- mitted into fellowship is proportionate to the pro- gress he has made in the lessons previously taught (cf. the significant connexion between Mk 8^' and g27-29^ whicn is clearly brought out in the emphatic Kal vp^aro SiSd<rK(iv of v.^' : cf. also Mk 4^^, Jn W% The reason for this basis of progress is plain. An important element in communion being self -adjust- ment to God's will (cf. our Lord's own illustration of this, Mk 14** and |1), the degree of intimacy that ensues will naturally be conditioned by the extent to which this element is rendered prominent. Thus, while its neglect will open up the possibility of lapsing even to one who has been on intimate terms with Christ (Mk 14'*, Jn W), its constant and progressive practice may bring a man to a union with God so close as to constitute his com- jdete possession by Divine influence (cf. the Bap- tist's magnificent description of himself as a ' Voice,' Jn 123, taken from Is 40^). And the fellowship so enjoyed and ever more intimately realized under the restricted conditions of earth, is to find its perfect consummation only in the hereafter (Jn 1226 142.3 1724^ cf. 1 Jn 32). See art. Abiding.
The means by which, according to the Gospel teaching, the believer will practise this life of communion with God, may be briefly indicated. Prominent among them is seclusion from the world for the purpose of definite prayer. The import- ance of this our Lord emphasized by His own ex- ample. He also enjoined it upon His followers by oft-repeated precepts (Mt 6^ 7'- * 26^' and ||, Lk ff-s 18'). At the same time the Evangelic teaching does not aim at making recluses. There are active as well as passive means of enjoying intercourse with God, and our Lord's whole training of the Twelve indicates, even more clearly than any individual saying (cf. Jn 17"), His belief in the Divine com- munion that is found in the service of mankind. The sense of fellowship with God vivified in secret devotion is to be realized afresh and tested in con- tact with men (so 1 Jn 4«- '=• '").
Two more points call for separate attention. (1) Before His death our Lord ordained a rite which not only symbolizes the union of His fol- lowers with Himself, but is also a means of its progressive realization. If an intimate connexion between the Lord's Supper (Mk U--<'- and II) and 1 the Jewish Passover may, as seems reasonable, be I VOL. I.— 23
assumed, that conception of the Christian rite whicli represents it as a means of communion between the individual soul and its Saviour would appear to have a basis in the foundation principle on which all ancient worship, whether Jewish or heathen, rests — the belief tliat to partake of a sacrifice is to enter into some kind of fellowship with the Deity. This aspect of the Lord's Supper does not, of course, exhaust its meaning (see art. Lord's Supper), but it is certainly prominent, and it is emphasized both by St. Paul (1 Co 10'") and by Christ Himself (Jn 6'''', where the eating would certainly include tliat of the Lord's Supper, even though, as is most probable, it does not refer to it exclusively).
(2) One more suggestion may be put forward. Our Lord seems to hint at a special means of com- munion with Himself which is really a particular extension of the self-renouncement considered above. This is a mysterious fellowship with Him in His own suflerings for mankind (Mk 1038-2« = Mt OQis. 23a . fQj. a symbolical illustration see Mk 15-'). It is only a hint, but the words are significant ; and, taken in conjunction with St. Paul's dfrapa- TXitpd TO, V(TT€pri/j.aTa tCiv dXltpeoiv tou XpitrroD if rrj crapKi /lov (Col P^), and his purjiose tov ypwpai . . . KQivoiviav TraQfiiidrtav avTOv (Pli 3'" ; cf. also 2 Co 1^ 4'", 1 P 4'^), would certainly seem to imply that the believer's own suflerings for Christ's sake may become a medium through which he may enter into close communion with his Lord.