Stories of holy communion events abound. Someone has said that the difference between a Lutheran and a United Methodist is that a Lutheran uses real wine and a United Methodist uses real bread. It is true that Lutherans use real wine and United Methodists seem to feel that Jesus turned the water at Cana into Welch's grape juice; that Lutherans use the small, round pressed wafer and the United Methodists often use a loaf of bread. But, whatever sort of bread and wine is used, it is still a momentous occasion.

On a visit to Jerusalem, I stood in an upper room much like the one that Jesus and his disciples used. Could it have been the same place, I wondered, where on that Thursday evening long ago they partook of that first last supper? Those present must never have forgotten the occasion. In…