The Lord's Supper

"Then He [Christ] said to them, ‘With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you’” (Lk. 22:15-20, NKJ). With this passage of Scripture, the Lord’s Supper was instituted. Most people who profess a belief in Christ and try to follow after His commands will probably recognize these verses and more than likely will have taken part in the Lord’s Supper in some form or fashion. As New Testament Christians, we always do our utmost to follow after Christ’s precepts, and do God’s will as He has set forth in His word. In Colossians 3:17, we are told that all we do, we are to do it in the name of the Lord; that is, with His authority. Keeping that in mind, let us take a look at what the Bible says about this subject.

The Purpose

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,  ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes’” (1 Cor. 11:23-26). Paul here states why the church in Corinth is to partake in this supper. First, he says that the bread and the cup represent Christ’s body and blood, and these emblems are to be taken in remembrance of Him. Then, he tells them that as often as they do this, they proclaim Christ’s death. So in taking the emblems, these first century Christians were looking back to the sacrifice that Christ had made for them, and kept that event near and dear to their hearts. Also, this act proclaimed them to be followers of Christ and their acknowledgment of Him dying in their stead.

The Emblems

In the two accounts that have already been referenced, the bread and cup were both mentioned and what they each represented. The unleavened bread and fruit of the vine (cup), were both used in the Passover feast which was eaten every year as a memorial of God’s judgment on Egypt and their salvation in being passed over (Ex. 12:14). Christ, being a faithful Jew, took part in the memorial and instituted the Lord’s Supper, using these two parts of the Passover feast. There is much debate over the bread and the cup and whether they literally turn into the blood and body of Christ, but I will not go into great depth on that subject. However, I will say this, when Christ broke the bread He was holding it in His hand and giving them the portions that he broke off. Body and bread were clearly distinct and remained so. There is no indication that the bread or the fruit of the vine turned into anything before, during, or after they consumed them.

The Frequency

As Christians, where do we go for an example to follow? To Christ yes, and to all the inspired writings about the Christians in the first century following after His will. If those that followed Christ in all that He commanded in the first century were Christians, then it would seem reasonable that for me to be a Christian, all I would have to do is imitate the faithful followers of Christ recorded in the New Testament. “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight” (Acts 20:7). The disciples in the first century came together on the first day of the week to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Was this an isolated event? Did this only happen one time, on one first day of the week? Paul tells the church in Corinth, “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come” (1 Cor. 16:2). Almost everyone that attends a worship service on a Sunday will say that this applies to us as well, and that we are to do it every first day of the week. If we can see that the taking up of a collection is part of the worship that we ought to do on every the first day of the week, can we not also apply the same principle to the Lord’s Supper? If not, on what Sunday are we to partake, and where in the Bible do we find the authority for it? 

Conclusion

The Lord’s Supper is part of our worship as Christians that we must do in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:24). The only place that we can find the truth about this memorial is in God’s word. Let us always turn to Him, not only for the proper and pleasing conduct of our worship, but in all that we do in word or deed.