LORD'S SUPPER







The Lord Jesus Christ gave us two specific commands for the Church; to 

baptize and to celebrate a communion time in honor of Him.  Baptism by its 

nature can only be experienced once per believer, but the Lord's Supper is 

to be an ongoing celebration.



A.  ORIGIN                       



The command to celebrate the Lord's Supper was given during the celebration 

of an Old Testament feast called the Passover.  Jesus said to His disciples 

that He would celebrate the Passover with them (Matthew 26:18).  But during 

the Passover meal Jesus did something quite out of the ordinary for that 

feast; instead of focusing on the past event He pointed to a new 

celebration that would be done in remembrance of Him.  Jesus identified 

Himself with the Passover Lamb and said that the Lamb was ". . .His body 

given for you; do this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:19).  In effect 

Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament feast and made it now a time of 

remembrance of His shed Blood for us.  We find that the early church 

followed that command and began to practice the observance of the Lord's 

Supper on a regular basis (Acts 2:42).



B.  SIGNIFICANCE                      



The Lord's Supper has numerous meanings: one is the remembrance of the Lord 

and what He has done for us, and the second aspect being the fellowship of 

this special time.  Jesus told His disciples to do this, and it can be 

implied that it is the Church who is being told to come together and do 

this in remembrance of the Lord.  We are told to remember His death for us,

which speaks of the past.  We are looking at a time in history that is 

specific and can say, "this is the moment when Our Savior bore our sins."  

And by going through the same motions and words of that night we somehow 

transport that past event into the present, which makes it very much a part 

of our lives.  In Luke 22:20 Jesus said, "This cup is the new covenant in 

my blood. . ."  So the significance has a present reality in that it 

instituted the new covenant which is presently at work in our lives.



The Lord's Supper also has a future meaning which is indicated in Matthew 

26:29, "I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on 

until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."  

Jesus points us towards the day in the future when we will "break bread" 

with Him.  Thus, when we celebrate the Lord's Supper today, we can think of 

that glorious day coming, when we will be with our Jesus and enjoy His 

fellowship.



C.  MODE



The sharing of the bread and the wine occurred at the passover meal.  But 

having a meal is not a requirement for the remembrance today.  However, 

the early church appeared to have a love feast prior to the actual 

celebrating of the elements.  However, a church meal would greatly enhance 

a sense of being a family.  The Scriptures indicate that the breaking of 

the bread and the sharing of the cup occurred during the meal (Matthew 

26:27).  But most scholars agree that the "remembrance" only includes the 

bread and the wine.  There is a certain practice indicated in the 

Scriptures that apply to the celebration of the supper: first the giving 

of thanks for the blessing of salvation that the elements symbolize 

(Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:19, 1Corinthians 11:24-25); and 

secondly, after the prayer, the elements are shared with the people for 

them to eat and drink.  The actual elements are shown in Scripture to be 

bread and wine.



The custom of the day had a great impact on the elements used.  Bread and 

wine were commonly used for nourishment and had become symbols of the 

spiritual nourishment and blessing of God (Genesis 14:18, 27:28, 37; Amos 

9:13).  Thus they were fitting symbols to be used at that feast.  Today 

because of our different cultures we have somewhat differing elements.  

While we still use a type of bread, it is the wine that most often is 

changed.  Our society raises people who have had very little exposure to 

wines as children, mainly due to refrigeration of other drinks.  Also our 

wines are far more "potent" than the wines of the "Bible Times" that were 

"cut" with water.  The emphasis in Scripture is not on the nature of the 

bread and the wine, but on their symbolic significance.



A few words need to be said about the "bread" used by most churches.  

Nothing should ever be used that would be offensive to the mouth, for this 

is to be a rather solemn moment.  I have observed that often churches use 

little pieces of tiny hard bread that has the consistency and taste of a 

piece of chalk!  This is distracting to the communion.  The use of 

"fresh" cracker pieces would be an improvement on the "chalk."



D.  EFFICACY



"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him." 

(John 6:56).  "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life."

(John 6:54).  The efficacy of the Lord's Supper is in the form of blessings 

as the two previous verses reveal.  Like our understanding of the efficacy 

of Baptism, we know that there is no saving grace offered through the 

Lord's Supper.  For salvation is by faith and faith alone.  Whenever we are 

given a command from the Lord, we can expect a blessing from the obedience 

to the command.  John 6:56 seems to indicate that partaking of the Lord's 

Supper draws us in close fellowship with the Lord.  I believe much in the 

same way that the sin reduces the joy of the fellowship, so also taking of 

the bread and the wine restores the blessings of salvation.  



John 6:54 speaks of the eternal life that is given to those who will 

partake in the broken body and shed blood of Our Savior.  While this has a 

direct meaning of initial salvation by faith in Christ, I believe that it 

could have a secondary reference to the daily blessings associated with 

eternal life.  I think of it in much of the same way as the abundant life 

promised in John 10:10.  Close fellowship with Christ is attained by being 

obedient to His commands.  Part of the blessing is a direct result of the 

requirement that the believer confess his sins by an examination of his 

soul.  Failure to do this will result in the person eating and drinking 

judgment upon himself (1Corinthians 11:29).  



E.  SUBJECTS



The Lord's Supper was given by Christ to the Church through the disciples.  

In other words it was given to all believers.  In Acts 2 we find Peter 

calling people to "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of 

Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven." (Acts 2:38).  The text 

follows that those who accepted his message were baptized, and in verse 42 

we find them devoting themselves to the fellowship, to the breaking of 

bread and to prayer.  This thought is carried on and expanded in 

1Corinthians 11:29, where the Bible says that anyone who comes to the table 

better examine himself to see if he has the proper perspective on the 

significance of who the Lord is.  This implies that not only are we to be 

certain that Jesus is truly the Lord of our lives but that our present 

relationship with God and man (especially the Church) be examined for 

possible need of repentance.  This does not mean that we must all be 

perfect all of the time, but we better be trying to live a lifestyle that 

is characterized by holiness.  Because if we set our standard less than the 

perfection that Christ calls us to, then we are in danger of eating and 

drinking judgment upon ourselves.



F.  APPLICATION



In the local church the Lord's Supper must be given careful significance.  

It should be clearly pointed out that only self-examined believers are to 

participate.  I agree with most Bible scholars who would have the Lord's 

Supper on the first day of the week (Sunday) during the evening service.  

Usually those who come to this service are the true believers.  It could 

also be advantageous to alternate between the morning and evening services 

to help those who may have jobs that require them to work every Sunday 

night for example.



The importance of calling for a confession and a turning away from sin 

cannot be overemphasized.  There must be a time for the deep searching 

of the soul.  I would even aid this by reminding the congregation of our 

local sins, such as; gossiping, laziness, overeating, disregard for the 

authorities (speeding), submissiveness of wives, and the requirement for 

husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the Church.  Also it is 

important to give the people a reasonable period of complete silence to 

confess their sins silently before the Lord.



Lastly, I would call for a more frequent observance of the Supper.  The 

context of the New Testament gives clear indication that this was done 

regularly.  Acts 20:7 indicates it was celebrated whenever they met 

together on the first day of the week.  Even more often is suggested in 

Acts 2:46, where they observed it whenever they met together.  I suggest it 

be done on a weekly basis.  Many would be quick to disagree, saying it 

would make the celebration much too familiar.  I say no!  Because that kind 

of logic would have us pray once a month, or give our money once a month, 

or even come to Church on a monthly basis in order to "keep it all 

special."  The celebration of the Lord's Supper is vital to a healthy 

Christian life and needs to be done on a regular basis.



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