The Lord's Supper Do This Often
Luke 22:17-20; 1 Corinthians 10:14-22; 11:23-32
Memorials. Memorials have an important place in any society. A memorial is a permanent object or structure, or a repeated event, that is created to remember and honor a significant person, group, or event in history. You are probably familiar with the 911 Memorial in NYC, which commemorates the many lives which were lost when the Twin Towers were attacked by terrorists. And you are probably familiar with the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, which commemorates the influence of significant Presidents in US history.
More locally, there is the Roll of Honor Plaque in the Ransom County Courthouse, in North Dakota. This bronze plaque honors the 514 men who served in WWI. And perhaps you are familiar with the Pioneer Days hosted each year at Bonanzaville, in West Fargo, and event which helps us to remember and appreciate the labor and sacrifice of people who settled the Fargo-Moorhead area when it was only wild, untamed land. It is good for us to remember, through interaction and reenactment, our pioneer roots.
National, state, and local memorials of various kinds give us a way to remember important influences that make us what we are today, and that draw us together as a community and group of people. For the church – for followers of Christ – the Lord’s Supper (also called the Lord’s Table, or Communion, or Eucharist) is such a memorial. Unfortunately, many people either fail to appreciate and value this special practice of the church, while many others view it wrongly, expecting the wrong outcomes from doing it. Today, we will look at what the Bible teaches about this special memorial of the church so that we can understand and participate in it in a truly meaningful, life-changing way.
It is a special practice of the church.
The Lord’s Supper is a special practice of the church. By this I mean that it is a distinct and unique thing that the church does, and which does not occur any other way. It is only the church that should do this and only the church can properly understand its purpose.
Jesus commanded it.
In the evening that Jesus prepared to die on the cross, he participated in something called the Passover. This was a special practice of the nation of Israel. It was a meal that helped the people of Israel appreciate, remember, and understand how and why God rescued them from slavery in Egypt hundreds of years before. In this meal, they would eat bread and mutton (or lamb meat) and drink juice, among other things. But at this final Passover meal, Christ introduced a new approach and perspective. Notice what he says:
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 22:19-20)
In this meal, Christ shifted the focus and purpose of the meal from remembering how God saved Israel from slavery in Egypt to how God was about to save his people, not just Israel, from slavery to sin. It is also interesting to note that this Passover meal that Christ served to his disciples does not mention eating lamb or mutton meat. Though all four gospels describe this meal, all say nothing about eating lamb. This turns our attention away from sacrificial lambs to Jesus Christ, who would become the once for all Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. The sacrifice of lambs provided a vivid illustration of what Jesus Christ would come to be and do for us – to rescue us from sin.
When Jesus served this meal and made these changes to the way the Passover was carried out, he said twice, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Later in Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, he pointed this out as a command not only to the twelve disciples who were in that room with Jesus, but as a command to all of Christ’s followers for centuries to come (1 Cor 11:24-25). So then, this was a special command from Jesus for all of his followers for centuries to come, and it signaled a shift away from observing the Passover Meal to observing this new Lord’s Supper, instead, focusing not on the sacrifice of lambs but of Christ himself.
The church does it together frequently.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he also said to observe the Lord’s Supper “as often” (1 Cor 11:26), a word which means many times, repeatedly, and often. This special practice, then, is like baptism because it was commanded by Christ to his followers. But unlike baptism, it was commanded to be done not once but often.
So, do you remember what Jesus said about his command of baptism? He said to teach his followers to “be baptized” and then to “keep” or “do” “all the other things that he commanded them” (Mt 28:18-19).
This means that Christ calls people to believe on him as God and Savior first, and to express or show that faith soon afterwards through baptism. And to be baptized is to be immersed after knowingly, consciously, personally believing on Christ as God and Savior.
Only after a person has been baptized in this way should they participate in the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the first command, and this happens once. This is that moment when the church acknowledges a person as a genuine and serious follower of Christ. Then the Lord’s Supper is a special command which follows baptism. And unlike baptism, it should not happen once but often.
This raises the question of how often should we observe the Lord’s Supper? The NT doesn’t require a specific amount of times or frequency. It only says to do it often or frequently. What we do see is that they observed the Lord’s Supper on Sunday, the first day of the week, because that’s when Christ rose from the dead. We also see that there were examples of churches observing the Lord’s Supper as frequently as once a week.
Throughout history, we see churches observing the Lord’s Supper weekly, monthly, and sometimes even daily. While no specific frequency is required, frequency and regularity of some kind is appropriate and something which Jesus calls for us to do.
Whenever you see in the NT the phrase “breaking bread,” this is not just a reference to eating food together but refers specifically to observing the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:46; 20:7; 27:35; 1 Cor 10:16; 1 Cor 11:23-26).
So, when we study the NT, we see that the Lord’s Supper is a special practice of the church. Like baptism, Jesus commanded it for his followers to do. People who believe on Christ should first be baptized, then they should participate in the Lord’s Supper with their church on a regular, repeated basis after that. That’s why we mention this before each Lord’s Table observance at Brookdale. We want to remind everyone of the importance of believing on Christ and then being baptized first, to follow Christ’s command.
We should do it with the proper mindset.
Why should we participate in the Lord’s Supper? Let me give you six biblical reasons for doing so which I hope will both motivate you to participate more regularly and which I also hope will enable you to participate in a more meaningful way whenever you do participate.
To obey and submit to Christ as Lord
First, just as baptism provides a special God-given way for followers of Christ to show publicly at the start of their relationship with him that they have decided to follow him, so the Lord’s Table provides an ongoing way for Christ’s followers to show their ongoing faith and commitment to him. To be sure, once a person believes on Christ for salvation, their salvation and status as God’s child is permanent. It can never go away, so observing the Lord’s Supper does not keep a person in relationship with Christ, nor does it somehow increase the odds of a person’s salvation. But it does provide a special, regular way to say, “I’m serious about following Christ.”
To remember Christ’s death
Second, Paul makes it very clear in 1 Cor 11:23-32 that Christ said, “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” He did not say, “Do this for your salvation,” but rather, “Do this to remember him.” By “remember,” Christ certainly means that participating in the Lord’s Supper helps us not to forget about his death. After all, how well do we keep Christ’s death clearly in mind on a daily, weekly basis? Sadly, not very well. So, a monthly or weekly Lord’s Supper observance provides a regular checkpoint that ensures we will keep Christ’s death clearly in view.
But “to remember” means more than “keep in mind” and “not forget.” It means to savor the significance of something, or to appreciate and understand more deeply how important and significant the death of Christ truly is, and to do so in a way that increasingly affects, changes, and improves the way we think, feel, and live.
To express thankfulness for Christ’s death
Third, we should observe the Lord’s Supper in order to express appreciation and gratitude for Christ’s death. It’s a way to say, “thank you,” something we can never say well enough, frequently enough, or seriously enough. To be sure, the best way to say “thank you” to Christ for his death on the cross is to do what he says on a daily basis, even when doing so is hard and causes suffering in our lives.
In 1 Cor 11:24, Paul tells us that before Christ broke the bread and distributed the juice to his followers on the night of that first Lord’s Supper, he “gave thanks” first. This means that he “rejoiced” and “was glad.” Would you have rejoiced or been glad if you were Jesus in that moment, just hours away from crucifixion for other peoples’ sins? If Christ was thankful for his coming sacrifice, how much more grateful should we be in return?
Observing the Lord’s Supper is a God-given way to say thank you to Christ that is special in its own way. And the more that you are living a faith-based, sacrificial life for him, the more special and meaningful your feelings of thankfulness to Christ will be when you observe the Lord’s Supper. You will identify with and appreciate his suffering even more because of what you are going through for him, and this will only deepen your relationship with him more and more.
So, here’s a question for you. Should we participate in the Lord’s Supper as though we are serious, somber, and sorrowful for the death of Christ and our sins? Or should we participate in a happy, joyful way instead, celebrating Christ’s great love for us and his salvation from our sins? The answer is yes.
Emotions rarely come into our hearts single file. They often occur all at once, as when a parent witnesses the marriage of their grown child. On one hand, they feel excited that their child is getting married, but on the other hand, they feel sad that their child is going away. In fact, they probably feel some other emotions, too. It’s complicated!
The point is that when we observe the Lord’s Supper, we should do so with our whole heart and mind. We should feel both deep, sober sadness and seriousness over Christ’s death for us, while at the same time feeling profound and real glad and joy.
To proclaim and portray the gospel
Fourth, the things we do in the Lord’s Supper illustrate and portray things for us. They are like object lessons and visuals. They help us see and understand important truths about the death of Christ and our salvation. They go beyond just teaching and preaching to involving our whole senses – sight, taste, hearing, smell, and touch. And of all the things that the Bible teaches, why does God choose to teach us only some things – that is remind us of some things – not only through reading and teaching but through a regular, repeated object lesson and memorial that we act out?
In 1 Cor 11:26, Paul says that every time we observe the Lord’s Supper together as a church, “we proclaim the Lord’s death.” This “proclaim” means to “teach” or “announce” something. So, whenever we observe the Lord’s Table, we are acting out the gospel, the good news of Christ’s death for our salvation.
Christ chose for this one, ongoing, repeated object lesson to focus on one very special truth and reality – that followers of Christ are truly united with him. When he died, we died. His death was our death. And he felt and experienced the full penalty, pain, and punishment for our sin. And in doing so, he has united us completely with him. Those who believe on him are united inseparably to him, and this happened at the cost of his greatest possible suffering.
Remembering this frequently helps put everything else that he commands in Scripture and everything that we experience, go through, and suffer for him into its proper perspective. How can I give up when I am regularly reminded of his death for my sin? How can I complain about his commands (even the hard ones, and even when they cause pain, hardship, and suffering in my life) when I am regularly reminded of his far greater suffering for me? How can I be discouraged and lose hope when I am regularly reminded of my close, unbreakable relationship to God through him and my close, inseparable union and oneness with him?
To look forward to Christ’s return
This leads me to a fifth mindset we should bring to observing the Lord’s Supper. We should do so expectantly, with an enthusiastic look to the future. In 1 Cor 11:26, Paul says that we not only “proclaim the Lord’s death” whenever we observe the Lord’s Supper, but that we do so “until he comes.” By saying “until he comes,” he is referring to what Jesus said when he observed the first Lord’s Supper with his disciples.
So, Christ is looking forward to when he returns to this world to establish and reign over God’s perfect kingdom on Earth forever. That day is still coming, and when it does, one of the things we will do is sit down with him, perhaps just once, or perhaps also on a regular basis, to observe the Lord’s Supper together with him at the host and the one who is officiating the meal. What a moment that will be, when we will see him face to face, and will eat a meal commemorating his death for our sins – with him at the head of the table.
Bible teacher and pastor Thomas Schreiner says this:
The Last Supper is meant to picture not only the fulfillment of past promises of God and the present impending death of Jesus, but just as much the assured future of an even greater meal in the coming kingdom of God.
So, whenever we observe the Lord’s Supper, we should keep this future time clearly in view and have great hope in our hearts as we look forward to a future in which Christ rules and reigns over this world forever.
To show the unity of the church
Sixth, and finally, we should observe the Lord’s Supper in a harmonious way. It is something that we should do not privately, but together with our church when it gathers together for worship. And Paul tells us that we should examine our hearts to be sure that we are doing so in a “worthy manner” (1 Cor 11:29).
In a general sense, this means that we should participate in the Lord’s Supper in a respectful, reverential, and serious way – not a flippant, casual, careless way. But more specifically, when we see what Paul is talking about in 1 Cor 11, we see that he focuses on how people in the church were treating one another as “the Lord’s body.”
When tourists visit the 911 Memorial in Manhattan, NYC, they approach one of the two large, indented caverns in the ground, imprints of where the Twin Towers once stood. As they do, they see the names of people who died there engraved around the edge of the guardrails and they hear the rush of water falling silently down the inner walls of the memorial. And as they approach, they see signs which urge tourists to be respectful, thoughtful, and quiet. These instructions aim to preserve an attitude of seriousness and respect for the lives that were lost there. If tourists are spotted being careless and wild on that site, security guards will usher them away.
The same sense of respect should be offered – and far more – for the death of our Lord for our sins. But Paul points out that it is not only how we think about Christ himself that matters – it is how we think about and behave towards one another, because we are – in fact – the body of Christ. The church – any gospel preaching, Bible teaching church – is in a very real sense the body of Christ.
To knowingly despise or mistreat another person within the church is to disrespect Christ himself. For this reason, we must examine our hearts before we observe the Lord’s Supper to ensure that we are not knowingly harboring feelings of bitterness or hatred towards one another and that we are not knowingly tolerating ongoing, unresolved sin and wrong behavior towards one another.
Paul takes this warning so seriously that he says to violate this warning may even – and does actually at times – cause people to become physically, emotionally, and mentally weak and sick as a consequence, and if left unresolved and unrepented of, people may even die as a result. Why? Because of ongoing disrespect to Christ by observing the Lord’s Supper while tolerating open, ongoing mistreatment and resentment of fellow believers in the church (1 Cor 11:27-34).
Bible teacher Guy P. Waters says this:
By implication, the fact that the Supper is a family meal reinforces a distinction between the church and those who are not part of the church. That is, Jesus does not invite all humanity to his Table. He invites his disciples to come. When we partake of the Lord's Supper, we are declaring to one another and to the world around us that we are no longer part of the world. By the grace of Christ, we have been brought out of the world and into the family of God.
So, now that we have taken a close look at how we should approach and participate in the Lord’s Supper, let’s bring things to a close by acknowledging what happens when we observe the Lord’s Table together as a church.
Participating in it brings spiritual closeness & nourishment to the church.
In history, some have argued or debated over what actually happens when the people of a church participate in the Lord’s Supper.
Anglican and Roman Catholic churches teach something which theologians call “transubstantiation.” This means that Anglican and Roman Catholic churches believe that though the physical properties of the bread and juice do not become the physical body and blood of Jesus in a scientific and external way, the bread and juice do transform into the body and blood of Christ in other actual and significant ways – “in substance.” And in saying this, the Anglican and Catholic Church portrays and views the Lord’s Supper as though the sacrifice of Christ is happening in some way as the Lord’s Supper is occurring.
This belief is faulty, though, for numerous reasons. First, it wasn’t actually taught by the church until 1215 AD, more than a thousand years after the beginning of the church. This teaching continues to this day, although it was moved into a footnote in the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission in 1971, merely stating that the bread and juice undergo a “mysterious and radical change,” without explaining how it actually happens.
Second, this wrong idea relies upon medieval philosophy rather than careful Bible study. And third, because it presents the death of Christ and his sacrifice as something that is actively happening in an ongoing way every time the church participates in the Lord’s Supper.
But this is clearly not the case. John 19:30 tells us that Christ said of his sacrifice, “It is finished.” And the NT book of Hebrews clearly states multiple times that the death of Christ on the cross was “once for all” (Heb 7:27; 9:12).
When we participate in the Lord’s Supper, we are not experiencing the forgiveness and covering of our sins – this occurred already and completely the moment we believed on Christ. We are, instead, remembering Christ’s death and forgiveness of our sins. To portray the death and sacrifice of Christ in anyway continuing today through the observance of the Lord’s Supper is contrary to the gospel.
Thankfully, Martin Luther rejected this wrong view of the Lord’s Supper. He taught, instead, though that though the bread and juice does not become the body and blood of Christ, his body and blood are somehow present “in, with, and under” the bread and juice, much like how an iron rod becomes red hot when it is placed into the fire, even though the iron remains iron, and the fire remains fire (an illustration Martin Luther used himself). But even this is not based on careful Bible study and is more confusing than helpful.
The proper view of what happens when we observe the Lord’s Supper, though, is what Scripture teaches – that the bread and blood are simply tokens, visuals, symbols, and memorials of the real body and blood of Christ. There is absolutely no body or blood of Christ involved in the Lord’s Supper at all. The bread and juice simply remind of those things, causing us to experience a more profound, impactful moment of remembering, appreciating, and understanding how important and significant Christ’s death is for us.
When a follower of Christ participates in the Lord’s Supper, from a physical, material standpoint, the act does nothing other than give your body abt. 10 calories of nutrition. Participating doesn’t remove sins, increase your chances of going to heaven, or decrease the time you may be required to spend in purgatory (in fact, there is no such thing as purgatory anyway, for purgatory – like infant baptism – is taught nowhere in Scripture).
So, what happens when you participate in the Lord’s Supper?
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. (1 Cor 10:16-17)
Here’ Paul describes what we do when we observe the Lord’s Table as “communion.” This means that we benefit spiritually from doing this by thinking deeply about the death of Christ and that we also benefit spiritually from doing this by doing this together as a church. When we do this, we are saying, “We belong to Christ and we belong to each other because of Christ’s death.”
When we observe the Lord’s Supper, we remind ourselves clearly that this is who we are. We are a church. A united body of people who believe on Christ, who are one with Christ, who are children of God together because of Christ. We are not who the world tells us we are, we are not who our own hearts tell us we are. We are what the cross tells us we are – we are followers of Christ and children of God through the sacrifice of Christ for our sins.
By doing this, we learn and grow in our relationship with Christ and with each other in a special way that we cannot do by ourselves or through singing, praying, preaching, or teaching alone. In this way, it is a special practice of the church, one which Christ calls everyone who believes on him and has been baptized as a believer should do regularly with their church.
As Jesus himself said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” And FWIW, our next Lord’s Table observance will be on May 18th!
Discussion Questions
Memorials. Memorials have an important place in any society. A memorial is a permanent object or structure, or a repeated event, that is created to remember and honor a significant person, group, or event in history. You are probably familiar with the 911 Memorial in NYC, which commemorates the many lives which were lost when the Twin Towers were attacked by terrorists. And you are probably familiar with the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, which commemorates the influence of significant Presidents in US history.
More locally, there is the Roll of Honor Plaque in the Ransom County Courthouse, in North Dakota. This bronze plaque honors the 514 men who served in WWI. And perhaps you are familiar with the Pioneer Days hosted each year at Bonanzaville, in West Fargo, and event which helps us to remember and appreciate the labor and sacrifice of people who settled the Fargo-Moorhead area when it was only wild, untamed land. It is good for us to remember, through interaction and reenactment, our pioneer roots.
National, state, and local memorials of various kinds give us a way to remember important influences that make us what we are today, and that draw us together as a community and group of people. For the church – for followers of Christ – the Lord’s Supper (also called the Lord’s Table, or Communion, or Eucharist) is such a memorial. Unfortunately, many people either fail to appreciate and value this special practice of the church, while many others view it wrongly, expecting the wrong outcomes from doing it. Today, we will look at what the Bible teaches about this special memorial of the church so that we can understand and participate in it in a truly meaningful, life-changing way.
It is a special practice of the church.
The Lord’s Supper is a special practice of the church. By this I mean that it is a distinct and unique thing that the church does, and which does not occur any other way. It is only the church that should do this and only the church can properly understand its purpose.
Jesus commanded it.
In the evening that Jesus prepared to die on the cross, he participated in something called the Passover. This was a special practice of the nation of Israel. It was a meal that helped the people of Israel appreciate, remember, and understand how and why God rescued them from slavery in Egypt hundreds of years before. In this meal, they would eat bread and mutton (or lamb meat) and drink juice, among other things. But at this final Passover meal, Christ introduced a new approach and perspective. Notice what he says:
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 22:19-20)
In this meal, Christ shifted the focus and purpose of the meal from remembering how God saved Israel from slavery in Egypt to how God was about to save his people, not just Israel, from slavery to sin. It is also interesting to note that this Passover meal that Christ served to his disciples does not mention eating lamb or mutton meat. Though all four gospels describe this meal, all say nothing about eating lamb. This turns our attention away from sacrificial lambs to Jesus Christ, who would become the once for all Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. The sacrifice of lambs provided a vivid illustration of what Jesus Christ would come to be and do for us – to rescue us from sin.
When Jesus served this meal and made these changes to the way the Passover was carried out, he said twice, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Later in Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, he pointed this out as a command not only to the twelve disciples who were in that room with Jesus, but as a command to all of Christ’s followers for centuries to come (1 Cor 11:24-25). So then, this was a special command from Jesus for all of his followers for centuries to come, and it signaled a shift away from observing the Passover Meal to observing this new Lord’s Supper, instead, focusing not on the sacrifice of lambs but of Christ himself.
The church does it together frequently.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he also said to observe the Lord’s Supper “as often” (1 Cor 11:26), a word which means many times, repeatedly, and often. This special practice, then, is like baptism because it was commanded by Christ to his followers. But unlike baptism, it was commanded to be done not once but often.
So, do you remember what Jesus said about his command of baptism? He said to teach his followers to “be baptized” and then to “keep” or “do” “all the other things that he commanded them” (Mt 28:18-19).
This means that Christ calls people to believe on him as God and Savior first, and to express or show that faith soon afterwards through baptism. And to be baptized is to be immersed after knowingly, consciously, personally believing on Christ as God and Savior.
Only after a person has been baptized in this way should they participate in the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the first command, and this happens once. This is that moment when the church acknowledges a person as a genuine and serious follower of Christ. Then the Lord’s Supper is a special command which follows baptism. And unlike baptism, it should not happen once but often.
This raises the question of how often should we observe the Lord’s Supper? The NT doesn’t require a specific amount of times or frequency. It only says to do it often or frequently. What we do see is that they observed the Lord’s Supper on Sunday, the first day of the week, because that’s when Christ rose from the dead. We also see that there were examples of churches observing the Lord’s Supper as frequently as once a week.
Throughout history, we see churches observing the Lord’s Supper weekly, monthly, and sometimes even daily. While no specific frequency is required, frequency and regularity of some kind is appropriate and something which Jesus calls for us to do.
Whenever you see in the NT the phrase “breaking bread,” this is not just a reference to eating food together but refers specifically to observing the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:46; 20:7; 27:35; 1 Cor 10:16; 1 Cor 11:23-26).
So, when we study the NT, we see that the Lord’s Supper is a special practice of the church. Like baptism, Jesus commanded it for his followers to do. People who believe on Christ should first be baptized, then they should participate in the Lord’s Supper with their church on a regular, repeated basis after that. That’s why we mention this before each Lord’s Table observance at Brookdale. We want to remind everyone of the importance of believing on Christ and then being baptized first, to follow Christ’s command.
We should do it with the proper mindset.
Why should we participate in the Lord’s Supper? Let me give you six biblical reasons for doing so which I hope will both motivate you to participate more regularly and which I also hope will enable you to participate in a more meaningful way whenever you do participate.
To obey and submit to Christ as Lord
First, just as baptism provides a special God-given way for followers of Christ to show publicly at the start of their relationship with him that they have decided to follow him, so the Lord’s Table provides an ongoing way for Christ’s followers to show their ongoing faith and commitment to him. To be sure, once a person believes on Christ for salvation, their salvation and status as God’s child is permanent. It can never go away, so observing the Lord’s Supper does not keep a person in relationship with Christ, nor does it somehow increase the odds of a person’s salvation. But it does provide a special, regular way to say, “I’m serious about following Christ.”
To remember Christ’s death
Second, Paul makes it very clear in 1 Cor 11:23-32 that Christ said, “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” He did not say, “Do this for your salvation,” but rather, “Do this to remember him.” By “remember,” Christ certainly means that participating in the Lord’s Supper helps us not to forget about his death. After all, how well do we keep Christ’s death clearly in mind on a daily, weekly basis? Sadly, not very well. So, a monthly or weekly Lord’s Supper observance provides a regular checkpoint that ensures we will keep Christ’s death clearly in view.
But “to remember” means more than “keep in mind” and “not forget.” It means to savor the significance of something, or to appreciate and understand more deeply how important and significant the death of Christ truly is, and to do so in a way that increasingly affects, changes, and improves the way we think, feel, and live.
To express thankfulness for Christ’s death
Third, we should observe the Lord’s Supper in order to express appreciation and gratitude for Christ’s death. It’s a way to say, “thank you,” something we can never say well enough, frequently enough, or seriously enough. To be sure, the best way to say “thank you” to Christ for his death on the cross is to do what he says on a daily basis, even when doing so is hard and causes suffering in our lives.
In 1 Cor 11:24, Paul tells us that before Christ broke the bread and distributed the juice to his followers on the night of that first Lord’s Supper, he “gave thanks” first. This means that he “rejoiced” and “was glad.” Would you have rejoiced or been glad if you were Jesus in that moment, just hours away from crucifixion for other peoples’ sins? If Christ was thankful for his coming sacrifice, how much more grateful should we be in return?
Observing the Lord’s Supper is a God-given way to say thank you to Christ that is special in its own way. And the more that you are living a faith-based, sacrificial life for him, the more special and meaningful your feelings of thankfulness to Christ will be when you observe the Lord’s Supper. You will identify with and appreciate his suffering even more because of what you are going through for him, and this will only deepen your relationship with him more and more.
So, here’s a question for you. Should we participate in the Lord’s Supper as though we are serious, somber, and sorrowful for the death of Christ and our sins? Or should we participate in a happy, joyful way instead, celebrating Christ’s great love for us and his salvation from our sins? The answer is yes.
Emotions rarely come into our hearts single file. They often occur all at once, as when a parent witnesses the marriage of their grown child. On one hand, they feel excited that their child is getting married, but on the other hand, they feel sad that their child is going away. In fact, they probably feel some other emotions, too. It’s complicated!
The point is that when we observe the Lord’s Supper, we should do so with our whole heart and mind. We should feel both deep, sober sadness and seriousness over Christ’s death for us, while at the same time feeling profound and real glad and joy.
To proclaim and portray the gospel
Fourth, the things we do in the Lord’s Supper illustrate and portray things for us. They are like object lessons and visuals. They help us see and understand important truths about the death of Christ and our salvation. They go beyond just teaching and preaching to involving our whole senses – sight, taste, hearing, smell, and touch. And of all the things that the Bible teaches, why does God choose to teach us only some things – that is remind us of some things – not only through reading and teaching but through a regular, repeated object lesson and memorial that we act out?
In 1 Cor 11:26, Paul says that every time we observe the Lord’s Supper together as a church, “we proclaim the Lord’s death.” This “proclaim” means to “teach” or “announce” something. So, whenever we observe the Lord’s Table, we are acting out the gospel, the good news of Christ’s death for our salvation.
Christ chose for this one, ongoing, repeated object lesson to focus on one very special truth and reality – that followers of Christ are truly united with him. When he died, we died. His death was our death. And he felt and experienced the full penalty, pain, and punishment for our sin. And in doing so, he has united us completely with him. Those who believe on him are united inseparably to him, and this happened at the cost of his greatest possible suffering.
Remembering this frequently helps put everything else that he commands in Scripture and everything that we experience, go through, and suffer for him into its proper perspective. How can I give up when I am regularly reminded of his death for my sin? How can I complain about his commands (even the hard ones, and even when they cause pain, hardship, and suffering in my life) when I am regularly reminded of his far greater suffering for me? How can I be discouraged and lose hope when I am regularly reminded of my close, unbreakable relationship to God through him and my close, inseparable union and oneness with him?
To look forward to Christ’s return
This leads me to a fifth mindset we should bring to observing the Lord’s Supper. We should do so expectantly, with an enthusiastic look to the future. In 1 Cor 11:26, Paul says that we not only “proclaim the Lord’s death” whenever we observe the Lord’s Supper, but that we do so “until he comes.” By saying “until he comes,” he is referring to what Jesus said when he observed the first Lord’s Supper with his disciples.
- I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. (Lk 22:18)
- I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (Jn 14:3)
So, Christ is looking forward to when he returns to this world to establish and reign over God’s perfect kingdom on Earth forever. That day is still coming, and when it does, one of the things we will do is sit down with him, perhaps just once, or perhaps also on a regular basis, to observe the Lord’s Supper together with him at the host and the one who is officiating the meal. What a moment that will be, when we will see him face to face, and will eat a meal commemorating his death for our sins – with him at the head of the table.
Bible teacher and pastor Thomas Schreiner says this:
The Last Supper is meant to picture not only the fulfillment of past promises of God and the present impending death of Jesus, but just as much the assured future of an even greater meal in the coming kingdom of God.
So, whenever we observe the Lord’s Supper, we should keep this future time clearly in view and have great hope in our hearts as we look forward to a future in which Christ rules and reigns over this world forever.
To show the unity of the church
Sixth, and finally, we should observe the Lord’s Supper in a harmonious way. It is something that we should do not privately, but together with our church when it gathers together for worship. And Paul tells us that we should examine our hearts to be sure that we are doing so in a “worthy manner” (1 Cor 11:29).
In a general sense, this means that we should participate in the Lord’s Supper in a respectful, reverential, and serious way – not a flippant, casual, careless way. But more specifically, when we see what Paul is talking about in 1 Cor 11, we see that he focuses on how people in the church were treating one another as “the Lord’s body.”
When tourists visit the 911 Memorial in Manhattan, NYC, they approach one of the two large, indented caverns in the ground, imprints of where the Twin Towers once stood. As they do, they see the names of people who died there engraved around the edge of the guardrails and they hear the rush of water falling silently down the inner walls of the memorial. And as they approach, they see signs which urge tourists to be respectful, thoughtful, and quiet. These instructions aim to preserve an attitude of seriousness and respect for the lives that were lost there. If tourists are spotted being careless and wild on that site, security guards will usher them away.
The same sense of respect should be offered – and far more – for the death of our Lord for our sins. But Paul points out that it is not only how we think about Christ himself that matters – it is how we think about and behave towards one another, because we are – in fact – the body of Christ. The church – any gospel preaching, Bible teaching church – is in a very real sense the body of Christ.
To knowingly despise or mistreat another person within the church is to disrespect Christ himself. For this reason, we must examine our hearts before we observe the Lord’s Supper to ensure that we are not knowingly harboring feelings of bitterness or hatred towards one another and that we are not knowingly tolerating ongoing, unresolved sin and wrong behavior towards one another.
Paul takes this warning so seriously that he says to violate this warning may even – and does actually at times – cause people to become physically, emotionally, and mentally weak and sick as a consequence, and if left unresolved and unrepented of, people may even die as a result. Why? Because of ongoing disrespect to Christ by observing the Lord’s Supper while tolerating open, ongoing mistreatment and resentment of fellow believers in the church (1 Cor 11:27-34).
Bible teacher Guy P. Waters says this:
By implication, the fact that the Supper is a family meal reinforces a distinction between the church and those who are not part of the church. That is, Jesus does not invite all humanity to his Table. He invites his disciples to come. When we partake of the Lord's Supper, we are declaring to one another and to the world around us that we are no longer part of the world. By the grace of Christ, we have been brought out of the world and into the family of God.
So, now that we have taken a close look at how we should approach and participate in the Lord’s Supper, let’s bring things to a close by acknowledging what happens when we observe the Lord’s Table together as a church.
Participating in it brings spiritual closeness & nourishment to the church.
In history, some have argued or debated over what actually happens when the people of a church participate in the Lord’s Supper.
Anglican and Roman Catholic churches teach something which theologians call “transubstantiation.” This means that Anglican and Roman Catholic churches believe that though the physical properties of the bread and juice do not become the physical body and blood of Jesus in a scientific and external way, the bread and juice do transform into the body and blood of Christ in other actual and significant ways – “in substance.” And in saying this, the Anglican and Catholic Church portrays and views the Lord’s Supper as though the sacrifice of Christ is happening in some way as the Lord’s Supper is occurring.
This belief is faulty, though, for numerous reasons. First, it wasn’t actually taught by the church until 1215 AD, more than a thousand years after the beginning of the church. This teaching continues to this day, although it was moved into a footnote in the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission in 1971, merely stating that the bread and juice undergo a “mysterious and radical change,” without explaining how it actually happens.
Second, this wrong idea relies upon medieval philosophy rather than careful Bible study. And third, because it presents the death of Christ and his sacrifice as something that is actively happening in an ongoing way every time the church participates in the Lord’s Supper.
But this is clearly not the case. John 19:30 tells us that Christ said of his sacrifice, “It is finished.” And the NT book of Hebrews clearly states multiple times that the death of Christ on the cross was “once for all” (Heb 7:27; 9:12).
When we participate in the Lord’s Supper, we are not experiencing the forgiveness and covering of our sins – this occurred already and completely the moment we believed on Christ. We are, instead, remembering Christ’s death and forgiveness of our sins. To portray the death and sacrifice of Christ in anyway continuing today through the observance of the Lord’s Supper is contrary to the gospel.
Thankfully, Martin Luther rejected this wrong view of the Lord’s Supper. He taught, instead, though that though the bread and juice does not become the body and blood of Christ, his body and blood are somehow present “in, with, and under” the bread and juice, much like how an iron rod becomes red hot when it is placed into the fire, even though the iron remains iron, and the fire remains fire (an illustration Martin Luther used himself). But even this is not based on careful Bible study and is more confusing than helpful.
The proper view of what happens when we observe the Lord’s Supper, though, is what Scripture teaches – that the bread and blood are simply tokens, visuals, symbols, and memorials of the real body and blood of Christ. There is absolutely no body or blood of Christ involved in the Lord’s Supper at all. The bread and juice simply remind of those things, causing us to experience a more profound, impactful moment of remembering, appreciating, and understanding how important and significant Christ’s death is for us.
When a follower of Christ participates in the Lord’s Supper, from a physical, material standpoint, the act does nothing other than give your body abt. 10 calories of nutrition. Participating doesn’t remove sins, increase your chances of going to heaven, or decrease the time you may be required to spend in purgatory (in fact, there is no such thing as purgatory anyway, for purgatory – like infant baptism – is taught nowhere in Scripture).
So, what happens when you participate in the Lord’s Supper?
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. (1 Cor 10:16-17)
Here’ Paul describes what we do when we observe the Lord’s Table as “communion.” This means that we benefit spiritually from doing this by thinking deeply about the death of Christ and that we also benefit spiritually from doing this by doing this together as a church. When we do this, we are saying, “We belong to Christ and we belong to each other because of Christ’s death.”
When we observe the Lord’s Supper, we remind ourselves clearly that this is who we are. We are a church. A united body of people who believe on Christ, who are one with Christ, who are children of God together because of Christ. We are not who the world tells us we are, we are not who our own hearts tell us we are. We are what the cross tells us we are – we are followers of Christ and children of God through the sacrifice of Christ for our sins.
By doing this, we learn and grow in our relationship with Christ and with each other in a special way that we cannot do by ourselves or through singing, praying, preaching, or teaching alone. In this way, it is a special practice of the church, one which Christ calls everyone who believes on him and has been baptized as a believer should do regularly with their church.
As Jesus himself said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” And FWIW, our next Lord’s Table observance will be on May 18th!
Discussion Questions
- Do your family or friends have any special habits to remember important events or people in your collective history?
- What is the relationship between the Passover and the Lord’s Supper? How does this demonstrate the relationship between the Old and New Testaments?
- What are some considerations for how often a church observes the Lord’s Supper? Are there any Biblical ones?
- What are some practical ways that we can savor the significance of and appreciate the Lord’s Supper? As a church? As individuals?
- What emotions do you feel when you partake of the Lord’s Supper?
- How can we honor God with these emotions?
- The Lord’s Supper proclaims the Gospel to our hearts and minds as we participate in it. What are some ways that the Gospel can connect to our lives because of this remembrance?
- What are we saying when we observe the Lord’s Table?
Posted in Sermon Manuscript
Posted in The Lords Supper, Communion, The Lords Table, Eucharist, Remembering, Ecclesiology
Posted in The Lords Supper, Communion, The Lords Table, Eucharist, Remembering, Ecclesiology
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