The Scriptural Basis for the Lord's Supper
There are several passages that deal directly with the Lord's Supper, along with a number that deal more generally with the idea of the Supper rather than the Supper itself...
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."(Matthew 26:26-29)
And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."(Mark 14:22-25)
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (Luke 22:17-20)
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:16-21)
But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another-- if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home--so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come. (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)
These are the explicit passages that deal directly with the Supper. Like baptism, we should look first to the specific passages before we interpret based on the ancillary passages. What do these passages instituting the Supper as a whole tell us?
- First, in the Gospel we see a rejection that this is literally His body and blood since His body and blood are present at the table in their actual sense, not in the bread and wine. He isn't giving His disciples His literal body at the Last Supper, nor is it literally present in future celebrations of it.
- Next a couple of key things in the 1 Corinthians passages. It is an act of remembrance and declaration. By the supper, we are remembering Him and showing our union with one another in the New Covenant community (1 Cor 10:17). We are one body partaking in one bread, in one cup: The body and blood of Christ. Similar to baptism, it is an outward sign of an inward union with Christ. Likewise we are making a declaration. The Supper must not be a passive act. Should our attitude be: "Pass me the cracker and grape juice and I will take it". Certainly not! It is a profession, a declaration. It requires an act of faithful declaration on the part of the partaker, after self-examination. I went quite a few months recently before partaking again of the Supper, not wanting to partake in an unworthy manner and bring judgment upon myself.
- The Supper is not the same as other functions in the church. many churches treat it with less reverence and importance than they do VBS or fellowship meals. It is a specially mandated ordinance along with baptism. From Benjamin Keach's Catechism:
There are several passages that deal directly with the Lord's Supper, along with a number that deal more generally with the idea of the Supper rather than the Supper itself...
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."(Matthew 26:26-29)
And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."(Mark 14:22-25)
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (Luke 22:17-20)
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:16-21)
But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another-- if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home--so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come. (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)
These are the explicit passages that deal directly with the Supper. Like baptism, we should look first to the specific passages before we interpret based on the ancillary passages. What do these passages instituting the Supper as a whole tell us?
- First, in the Gospel we see a rejection that this is literally His body and blood since His body and blood are present at the table in their actual sense, not in the bread and wine. He isn't giving His disciples His literal body at the Last Supper, nor is it literally present in future celebrations of it.
- Next a couple of key things in the 1 Corinthians passages. It is an act of remembrance and declaration. By the supper, we are remembering Him and showing our union with one another in the New Covenant community (1 Cor 10:17). We are one body partaking in one bread, in one cup: The body and blood of Christ. Similar to baptism, it is an outward sign of an inward union with Christ. Likewise we are making a declaration. The Supper must not be a passive act. Should our attitude be: "Pass me the cracker and grape juice and I will take it". Certainly not! It is a profession, a declaration. It requires an act of faithful declaration on the part of the partaker, after self-examination. I went quite a few months recently before partaking again of the Supper, not wanting to partake in an unworthy manner and bring judgment upon myself.
- The Supper is not the same as other functions in the church. many churches treat it with less reverence and importance than they do VBS or fellowship meals. It is a specially mandated ordinance along with baptism. From Benjamin Keach's Catechism:
Q. 99. Wherein do Baptism and the Lord's Supper differ from the other ordinances of God?
A. Baptism and the Lord's Supper differ from the other ordinances of God in that they were specially instituted by Christ to represent and apply to believers the benefits of the new covenant by visible and outward signs.
In the Reformation Study Bible, the note reads: "The Lord's Supper has past reference to Christ's death. It has a present reference to our corporate participation in Him through faith. It has a future reference in that it is a pledge of His return" (The Reformation Study Bible, p. 1659) That really is helpful, that the Supper is past, present and future in nature. He is a crucified and risen Lord, we are declaring that we are His church and we anticipating His future fulfillment of all that He has promised and purchased by His body and blood. We are to partake of the Supper to show that we are a people united to Christ, redeemed by His blood. That is enough and I don't think that we are faithful by trying to add meaning to the Supper than is not warranted by the text. Christ is present at the Supper, but He is present in Spirit whenever two or three are gathered in His name (Matt 18: 20). We are often too cavalier in our observance of the Supper, in it's infrequency and it's lack of solemnity. But as with everything we can swing too far the other way, and it seems many brothers in Christ are drifting dangerously close to Rome with their mysticism about the Supper.
The Lord's Supper is ultimately an act of worship. worship of Him. The church is all about faith in the Risen Lord, and that is what we should focus on when we pray, when we sing, when we baptize, when we take the Lord's Supper and especially when we preach.
A. Baptism and the Lord's Supper differ from the other ordinances of God in that they were specially instituted by Christ to represent and apply to believers the benefits of the new covenant by visible and outward signs.
In the Reformation Study Bible, the note reads: "The Lord's Supper has past reference to Christ's death. It has a present reference to our corporate participation in Him through faith. It has a future reference in that it is a pledge of His return" (The Reformation Study Bible, p. 1659) That really is helpful, that the Supper is past, present and future in nature. He is a crucified and risen Lord, we are declaring that we are His church and we anticipating His future fulfillment of all that He has promised and purchased by His body and blood. We are to partake of the Supper to show that we are a people united to Christ, redeemed by His blood. That is enough and I don't think that we are faithful by trying to add meaning to the Supper than is not warranted by the text. Christ is present at the Supper, but He is present in Spirit whenever two or three are gathered in His name (Matt 18: 20). We are often too cavalier in our observance of the Supper, in it's infrequency and it's lack of solemnity. But as with everything we can swing too far the other way, and it seems many brothers in Christ are drifting dangerously close to Rome with their mysticism about the Supper.
The Lord's Supper is ultimately an act of worship. worship of Him. The church is all about faith in the Risen Lord, and that is what we should focus on when we pray, when we sing, when we baptize, when we take the Lord's Supper and especially when we preach.
3 comments:
Arthur, I found my way to your blog. Wow! Quite a testimony and wow also on eight children!
Question: I might have missed it, but do you agree with most Reformers that we "feed on Christ" and are nourished by Him as He is present in the supper?
Or, do you lean more Zwinglian in your view.
Hey Les,
I would say I am undecided. Most Baptist churches, to our shame, make too little of the supper and celebrate it far too rarely. It just seems to me that alarm bells go off when we put too much mystical nature to the supper. I guess I would hold to a view of the supper than is more Zwingli than Calvin, that it is primarily declarative and memorial, a communal event in the church. I don't see mandate for making the elements or the event become more than what the text says. As I mentioned, where two or three are gathered in His name, He is there. Is He there more because of an observance of the Supper?
BTW, this is more of an online musing for me. Unlike virtually every other issue I haven't come to a dogmatic position on the supper yet.
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