Note: During the course of the last few years and especially during our study of 1 Corinthians, I had the opportunity to consider the topic of "the Lord's supper" once again from a biblical perspective. Some questions about the meaning and the practice of the Lord's supper had been asked of me on certain occasions, which was reason for me to study this subject over a longer period of time quite intensively. I would like to set forth in this study some of the basic truths connected with the Lord's supper and I would like to encourage believers to study and work this topic from the Scriptures for themselves as well. This small study is meant to give some introductory considerations, therefore it is by no means final and the various details will need some further study and more detailed presentation in the future.
During the Easter season of the year we usually think of and remember the
suffering and the death of our lord Jesus Christ in a special way. This
manifests itself not only in the fact that we perhaps read the biblical records
about those events, that we teach about those events or listen to sermons about
them, but also in many Christian churches and local congregations special
remembrance is seen in the observance of the Lord's supper or communion as it
may be called by some. The Lord's supper is a special occasion for remembering
what our lord Jesus Christ accomplished for us as believers by his death. At
times, this event is a specially planned get together of the believers,
designed and organized for remembering the Lord's death, but also to have a
time of meditation, reflection and quietness.
Regarding the Lord's supper there have been and there still are today a variety
of opinions and practices among Christians, which I cannot discuss further
within the framework of this study. As in all matters of faith and practice,
there is binding doctrine for this topic as well from the Word of God. We must
note, that we are not to privately interpret the statements made in Scripture,
but rather the Scriptures must be allowed to speak for themselves and the Word
of God must be interpreted in a way that the interpretation and the
understanding is given by means of the Scriptures.1
The statements of Scripture must remain in their respective contexts and must
be understood in light of that.
A number of aspects for a study about the Lord's supper can also not really be
dealt with in this particular study (for example, a detailed look at whether or
not and to which degree perhaps the Lord's supper is related to the Jewish
passover meal; or what exactly was instituted by Jesus Christ in terms of the
New Covenant during that last supper of Jesus with his disciples). Still, I
would like to delve into the record in 1 Corinthians 11 in some detail, for
there we are given insights into how the early church kept the Lord's supper.
We learn several things about this in Paul's exhortation and reproof of the
church at Corinth because they had some wrong practices in connection with the
Lord's supper and Paul reminds them of previous instruction on how it should
have been done correctly. From these words we can learn some points which are
just as important to us today, so that we will be able to conduct the Lord's
supper in a proper way in the church.
1 Corinthians 11:20–34:
When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.
And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.
From this section of Scripture we can see how the early church, at least the
church at Corinth, practiced the Lord's supper. It was more than just a
"supper", the reference is emphatically to "the Lord's
supper". The words "Lord's supper" are a translation of the
Greek words kuriakon deipnon which could be translated "Lord's
meal" or "meal of the Lord", because deipnon does not
only refer to an evening meal or supper.
This meal of the Lord was kept in the church, or at least, according to the
instruction by the apostle Paul, it was supposed to be kept when the church
would "come together". This expression "come together" is
mentioned no less than three times in this short section of Scripture, and it
becomes evident that this meal, the Lord's supper, was part of a coming
together (an assembly) of the church and not, as is sometimes claimed, a
private meal in one's own home. In verse 21, the Lord's supper is actually set
in contrast to and separated from one's "own supper". One's own
supper served the purpose of satisfying the hunger and thirst of the body. Paul
mentions to the Corinthians that they had their own houses as a location for
their own suppers in order to conduct a meal when they were hungry.
The Lord's supper was therefore not a regular meal to satisfy one's hunger,
rather it served a completely different purpose. The Corinthians seemingly
combined the keeping of the Lord's supper with a common meal to be held
afterwards with the church still being together. The Lord's supper was to be
done before the common meal as we can see from Paul's instruction where he
especially reproves that some of them were already taking their own supper and
drinking without waiting until after the memorial of the Lord's supper and
satisfying themselves afterwards. The result of such behavior was that several
others didn't have anything left to eat afterwards whereas others had already
gotten drunk, behavior not appropriate in any way for any church! Such behavior
was nothing less than despising the church of God and it was putting shame on
those in the church who didn't have quite as much as some others did. There was
no praise to be given for such actions – no! Only reproof was appropriate!
These truths here also show that doctrine to be incorrect which says that every
meal we as Christians eat is the Lord's supper and that we should eat every
meal in memory of Christ's death and what he accomplished by his death.2 Such an interpretation does not consider among other
things that not every meal even has bread and wine, and even more that at our
own meals the church is not come together either. The words "as oft as ye
drink" and "as often as ye eat" in verses 25 and 26 can simply
not mean "as often as ye eat anything or drink anything". Jesus
himself had only mentioned the "as often as ye do" in reference to
the wine, but not in reference to the bread. Furthermore, verse 26 is not any
more part of Jesus’ words but once again already part of the apostle
Paul's instruction to the Corinthians. Paul also speaks distinctly of
"this bread" and of "this cup" which are part of the Lord's
supper, and not just any bread and cup.
After his introductory remarks, Paul then is speaking directly about the
aspects of the Lord's supper, and he quotes and makes mention of what he had
received regarding Jesus' actions at that last meal with his disciples.3 We can gather that Paul had already told and passed on
this information to the church before and that they had obviously been taught
correctly how to conduct the Lord's supper as a memorial, in memory of Jesus'
death.
Paul first mentions Jesus' words, this is very similar to what we also read in
the gospel records. The lord Jesus had taken bread and wine that evening during
the meal with his disciples, and he had symbolically connected these two items
with a very special event which was imminent, i.e. with his sacrificial death
and the instituting of a new covenant which was about to happen. The disciples
were to have part in both the bread and the wine which represented Jesus' death
on their behalf. Jesus made clear that he would die for them, give his life for
them and many more.
From the wording of the statements of Jesus as given in 1 Corinthians 11, just
as from the wording given in the records of that meal in the gospels, it is not
evident that Jesus related these two elements bread and wine in any way with
the Jewish passover meal. Such a connection is often made because it is taught
that Jesus' last meal with his disciples was the annual Jewish passover meal.
However, this was not the case at all, since the last supper of Jesus with his
disciples happened two days prior to the time of the annual passover, and by
the time the passover meal was eaten, Jesus was already dead and buried in the
grave. In his words about the cup, Jesus made reference to a new covenant which
would be consummated by the shedding of his blood. This new covenant first and
foremost had to do with Israel, and it was made in fulfillment of promises
recorded in Jeremiah 31:31-34.
Matthew, Mark and Luke tell of this special act of Jesus. At some time during
the meal, he took bread, broke it, and he gave his disciples to eat; in the
same manner he took the cup with wine and gave it to the disciples so that they
could all drink of it. Jesus first spoke a prayer of thanksgiving first,4
and he proceeded to explain to his disciples in a few short words the
significance of the bread and the wine. Furthermore, he connected his action
with the exhortation that they should continue to do this as a memorial to him.
From these details mentioned in the records about the last supper we can see
that Jesus Christ explained to his disciples the special significance of his
impending death. He chose the bread as a symbol of his body and the wine as a
symbol of his blood. Jesus distinctly painted for them a clear picture in front
of their eyes that he was going to die because his body would be
"given" and his blood would be "shed". Indeed remarkable is
another detail, for it is not mentioned that he himself did eat with them of
the bread not that he himself drank from the cup! He did not give his life for
himself, but rather he gave his life "for you". That they all shared
in the bread and the wine signified for whom the death of Jesus was meant and
for whom it had merit.
In his words, Jesus Christ used the figure of speech Metaphor, because
the "bread" was not literally Jesus' body, nor was the
"wine" or the "cup" literally Jesus' blood. Bread and wine
were symbols each, they represented Jesus' body and his blood as a sacrifice
for many. Bread and wine were symbols used for a more emphatic and impressive
teaching of the truth of Jesus' words, and they also signified who would have
part in his sacrificial death — they, the disciples. This should be very
clear and should not have caused any arguments and strife among Christians. In
a similar way Jesus called himself in a different passage "the bread of
life" (John 6:35) and "the true vine" (John 15:1). In those
passages the figure of speech Metaphor seems to have always been
understood correctly, but regarding the words of Jesus at the last supper with
his disciples people have had fights and arguments a long time.
It is not mentioned that the disciples by eating the bread and drinking the
wine experienced any immediate benefit to themselves in the sense that these
actions would have produced a special blessing for them. Jesus mentioned that
his blood would be shed for "the forgiveness or remission of sins",
but he did not mention any special blessing connected with the giving of his
body. The disciples did not receive forgiveness of their sins when they were
drinking wine from that cup that night, and they did not receive anything else
just because they were eating of that bread. This was not a magical or mystical
act which would give them wholeness or healing which Jesus performed during
this last supper and in which he initiated his disciples.
The further significance of Jesus' action is mentioned in Luke, where it says
"… this do in remembrance of me." Jesus' action had sprung from
the situation of the meal. He had realized and come to know that this was going
to be his last meal with his disciples, that this was his last opportunity to
conduct what he then proceeded to do. He took two essential elements of an
otherwise completely normal and common meal, bread and wine, and divided these
in a special way to all while he made a connection between them and the deeper
meaning and significance of his sacrificial death. This the disciples were to
do in the future as well and they were to remember his death and the blessing
to their lives procured by it. It was a memorial, an act for remembrance, which
Jesus instituted during that meal.
The disciples were to remember his death when they later on would gather to
share in this bread and this wine, something more than just eating together. In
the section in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul then goes even a step further when he
states that not only was this done in memory of Jesus' death, but also by it
they "do show" (proclaim, show forth) the Lord's death until he come.
The "Lord's death" is also a figure of speech, for it is not really a
matter of showing forth the fact that Jesus died, but it is a matter of the
significance, the meaning and achievement or accomplishment of his death, to
show what has been effected and accomplished for the believers by it.
One of the accomplishments of Christ in his death is that there is now a church
as the body of Christ, and that both Jew and Gentile by faith on Christ may
have part in that one body. The local church already is "body of
Christ" as we can read in 1 Corinthians 12:27: "Now ye are the body
of Christ, and members in particular." The many members in a church are
one body. They are to walk in love toward one another, are to care for one
another the same way and are to esteem each other and prefer one another in
love as well as serve one another in love. However, this in particular was not
the case at Corinth because many only pursued egotistically and without any
love and concern for other members of the church the fulfillment of their own
"need" or better greed. Because they did not walk in love when they
came together in the church they were acting "unworthily". They
disregarded the salvation which has been accomplished by Christ and which is
present in each and every member in the church. Thus they also brought
condemnation, a judgment upon themselves, their behavior was not just
meaningless, it had consequences. Some of those consequences are even mentioned
here with emphatic and clear words.
We can see from the record in 1 Corinthians 11 that the Lord's supper is of
significance to the church of God, the church of the believers on Christ, the
church of the body of Christ. The church at Corinth was instructed regarding it
by the apostle Paul and they were encouraged to keep the Lord's supper. When
the church comes together, the Lord's supper is a special form of remembering
Jesus' sacrificial death for all men and of remembering what blessing the
church now can receive from it. In the same way that Jesus at the last supper
which he had with his disciples before his death took bread and wine as symbols
of his body and blood which were given and shed for us, now bread and wine are
elements of the memorial supper called the Lord's supper.
How often the Lord's supper was kept cannot really fully be determined with
absolute certainty since there are no direct references made in God's Word
about its frequency. It is obvious that definitely during the time of year when
the event being remembered actually happened the Lord's supper would be part of
one or more assemblies of the local churches. But fixing it to only one time a
year, to only certain special holidays during the year, or on the other hand to
each and every time when the church comes together, is not possible. We can
recognize from the record about Corinth that the church there came together for
keeping the Lord's supper when they were also having a common meal together.
They had combined the occasion of keeping the Lord's supper with a common meal
for all, which certainly would be a possibility for churches today as well.
But, they were supposed to have separated the Lord's supper from the regular
common meal and they made a distinction between the two. However, it would seem
just as possible to have the Lord's supper as part of a different type of
coming together in the church as long as the believers are informed. The love
among each other, the being of one mind, the care for one another, the
preferring one before another in the church, those items are very much
emphasized in this context. Much emphasis should be placed on these things at
the Lord's supper when we remember the death of our lord. His sacrifice on our
behalf makes now available to us to have part in the eternal salvation and all
other blessings for here and now.
May the celebration of the Lord's supper in the Christian churches in
remembrance of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ be a time where all can
together rejoice as we turn our eyes to Jesus and the wonderful work of
redemption which he accomplished and look to all that which we now all have
received in him by God's great grace.
(1) Cp. 2 Peter 1:20.21.
(2) If someone would like to take eating and drinking as a stepping stone to remember Jesus' work of redemption, it is certainly a good and wonderful personal effort which helps; but this is still not the keeping of the Lord's supper as is set forth in the Scriptures.
(3) This record in 1 Corinthians is the earliest written testimony about Jesus' actions on that evening before he was taken captive. The records in the gospels were written later than this epistles to the Corinthians.
(4) From this form of thanksgiving, in the Greek text it is the word eucharisteo, we get the term "celebration of the Eucharist" which is used in some churches.