The Lord's Supper
Jesus gave bread and the cup so His Church would remember His sacrifice, proclaim His death, commune with Him, and share one table.
Summary
The Lord's Supper is the covenant meal Jesus gave His Church on the night He was betrayed. Through bread and the cup, believers remember His once-for-all sacrifice, proclaim His death until He returns, receive spiritual nourishment by faith, commune with Christ, and express their unity as one body. The meal does not repeat the cross. It directs the Church to the completed sacrifice and the coming wedding feast.
Remember, Proclaim, Commune
Jesus takes the signs of an ordinary meal and gives them a gospel meaning the Church must preserve.
Jesus Instituted The Meal
During Passover, Jesus breaks bread and identifies it with His body given for His disciples. He calls the cup the new covenant in His blood (). The exodus meal looked back to rescue from slavery; Jesus now centers covenant remembrance on His own saving death.
Paul says he received this institution from the Lord and handed it to the Church (). Communion is not a later custom that churches may redesign at will.
Four Truths At One Table
- Remember: call Christ's self-giving death to believing attention.
- Proclaim: announce the gospel visibly until He comes.
- Commune: participate in Christ's body and blood by faith ().
- Unite: share one bread as one body ().
| The Supper looks backward to the cross, upward to the living Christ, around to His body, and forward to His return. |
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The Cross Is Complete
declares Christ's offering once for all and contrasts it with repeated sacrifices that cannot finish the work. Communion does not offer Jesus again. It receives and proclaims the benefits of the sacrifice already accomplished.
That makes the Table a place of assurance, gratitude, repentance, and hope—not an altar at which human action completes redemption.
Support
- The Biblical Meaning Of Communion: traces Passover, covenant, participation, unity, and future feast.
- Preparing For Communion: turns self-examination into confession, faith, reconciliation, and hope.
- : records Jesus' words of institution and new-covenant meaning.
- : explains participation in Christ and one-body fellowship.
- : joins institution, proclamation, examination, and care for the body.
Questions
Is It Only A Symbol?
Is Communion Only A Symbol? answers no. The elements are signs, yet Christ appointed them as a real means of fellowship and spiritual nourishment for believers. Their power is not material magic; the risen Christ feeds His people by the Spirit through faith.
Must I Be Worthy?
No sinner is worthy by personal merit. Participants should come trusting Christ, confessing known sin, discerning His body, and refusing careless rebellion. The Table is for needy believers, not performers who have outgrown grace.
How Often Should It Be Taken?
The New Testament commands repetition but gives no universal calendar. Churches should celebrate it regularly enough that it truly shapes worship, while preserving careful teaching, pastoral oversight, and the congregation's shared participation.
How Should I Respond?
Receive the bread and cup with faith, gratitude, self-examination, love for Christ's body, and expectation of His return. Let the visible gospel send you back into the week ready to forgive and serve.
Sources
- : gives the institution and new-covenant words.
- : establishes communion with Christ and one-body participation.
- : supplies the Church's practice, purpose, warning, and examination.
- Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Westminster Confession chapter 29: gives a historic Sola Scriptura Protestant synthesis of remembrance, nourishment, communion, and Christ's once-for-all sacrifice.