The Lord's Supper

The Lord's Supper is one of the few scripturally instituted rites of worship in the Christian faith. Understanding and properly observing the Lord's Supper are vital to maintaining a strong and vibrant faith.

The Corinthian church had a number of serious problems. Among other things, they were improperly partaking of the Lord's Supper. There folly turns out to be our gain. In correcting this problem the apostle Paul provides us with very clear instruction concerning the nature of and the proper observance of the Lord's Supper.

The texts for these teachings are 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 and 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. What can we learn from these passages?

The Lord's Supper is a remembrance

The most obvious observation is that the Lord's Supper is a remembrance of Christ. In instituting the supper our Lord says, "Do this in remembrance of Me." While he does not explicitly say do this "in memory of my death" or "in memory of my sacrifice", other details point in that direction. First, the occasion of the instituting of the supper is on the eve of his death (vs 23). Second, the emblems themselves are very suggestive. The bread Jesus describes as His "body which is broken for you." The fruit of the vine is "the new covenant in [His] blood". Clearly, His death is central to this remembrance.

The Lord's Supper is a proclamation

In vs 26 the apostle writes that "as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death, until He come." In each observance of the Lord's Supper we publicly proclaim our faith in the redeeming power of Christ's death. We publicly proclaim that He will come again.

The Lord's Supper is an examination

Prior to taking the Lord's Supper we need to prepare ourselves. First we need to examine our lives. Do we have any sin that we have not dealt with? Are we blameless before God, or are we harboring hidden guilt or rebellion in our hearts? In Matthew 5:23-24 Jesus lays down the principle that we need to deal with sin before we approach God in worship.

In addition to that, we need to be sure that we are coming to God to worship in the proper frame of mind. God has no pleasure in those who approach him casually or flippantly. The Lord's Supper is precious to God and he that partakes of it in an "unworthy manner, eats and drinks condemnation to himself". This is a very serious matter.

The Lord's Supper is a communion

In chapter 10 the Lord's Supper is described as a communion, or sharing together, of the body and blood of Christ. I think there are two primary ways the Lord's Supper is a communion.

First, it is a communion of those partaking. "For we, the many, are one bread and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread." In partaking we are affirming our relationship to one another in that we are all members of the body of Christ. We acknowledge that we belong to the same body; we are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Observe in chapter 11 how often the phrase "come together" is used. It is to be found in verses 17, 18, 20, 33 and 34. The supper is something we are to do as a collective body. Collective action is the scriptural pattern. There is no example or instruction that indicates Christians can or should partake of the Lord's Supper alone. Note that one of the problems the Corinthian church had with the Lord's Supper was lack of consideration for one another when partaking. They did not wait for one another. It seems factions and cliques would take the supper apart from the rest.

Second, it is a communion with Christ. It is the communion, or sharing, of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. What, exactly, does that mean? I'm convinced that it means we are not merely spectators, but active participants in the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is not just a memorial, where we recall the sufferings of Christ. We are invited to share in His sufferings and in His death through this supper. That seems like an extreme statement, does it not?

That may seem like an extreme way to express it, but it is eminently scriptural. In Galatians 2:20, Paul writes

I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives
in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of
God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf.

There is communion in that verse! There is sharing there! I have been crucified with Christ. I have shared in His death. Not only that, the life I now live I share with Him because I live it for Him. Consider also 2 Corinthians 5:14-15,

For the love of Christ constrains us, judging this, that if one died for all,
then all died; and He died for all, that the living ones may live no more to
themselves, but to Him who died for them and having been raised.

Again, we see communion between believers and Christ. If He died for all, then we all died. We share His death and He shares our lives.
Also, Romans 8:17-18

And if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with
Christ; so that if we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the coming glory to be revealed in us.

Not only must we share in His death, we must share in His sufferings. We are joint-heirs with Christ and will be glorified with Him, if we suffer with Him. So, putting it another way, we will share his inheritance and his glory, if we share in His sufferings.

So, if the Lord's Supper is a sharing in the death and sufferings of Christ, how, on a practical level do we do that? Very simply, in the Lord's Supper we die to ourselves again. We renew our committment to live for Christ. We renew our covenant with Christ that he is Lord of our lives. We make sure that the old man really is still crucified. We renew our inward man that Christ may live in us.

Is it any wonder that many in the Corinthian church were spiritually weak? We need a regular reminder of who we are and what committment we have made to Christ. We need a regular renewal of our covenant with Jesus. We need a genuine sense of communion with our brethren and with our Lord on a regular basis.

-PG