The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper

(Mat 26:26-30)  While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” {27} Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. {28} This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. {29} I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” {30} When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

  1. Biblical Names for this Ordinance
  2. The Lord’s Supper

         – (1 Cor 11:20)  When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat

  1. The Lord’s TABLE

– (1 Cor 10:21)  You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.

  1. COMMUNION (KJV) or SHARING (NRSV) or PARTICIPATION (NIV)

– (1 Cor 10:16)  Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?

  1. The BREAKING of Bread

– Matthew 26:26-27 (above)

– (Acts 2:42)  They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

  1. EUCHARIST from eucharisteo, translated “thanks” in Matthew 26:27.
  2. Similarities Between the Passover and the Lord’s Supper
  3. SACRIFICIAL Meal

– The Passover consisted of both a sacrifice and a meal and was the most important of all the sacrificial meals. A lamb was sacrificed as an atonement for sin. The lamb was then roasted and eaten at a meal with unleavened bread – Exodus 12:1ff.

– (1 Cor 5:7-8)  Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast–as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. {8} Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

– (1 Pet 1:18-19)  For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, {19} but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

  1. SEAL of the Covenant

– As a commemoration, Passover was also an affirming of the covenant between God and Israel strengthening their allegiance.

– Jesus speaks of the cup as a sign of the covenant which was about to be ratified through His sacrificial death.

– (Luke 22:20)  In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

  1. Only for BELIEVERS

– (Exo 12:43)  The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover: “No foreigner is to eat of it.

– (1 Cor 11:29)  For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.

  1. What the Lord’s Supper Represents
  2. Christ’s DEATH

– (Luke 22:19-20)  “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me…”This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

– (1 Cor 11:26)  For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

  1. The UNION of the Believer with the Crucified Christ

– As we look upon the symbols, we are reminded of Christ’s death for our sins. As we partake of these symbols we are reminded of our spiritual union with Christ.

– This union is expressed in the language of Paul, when he refers to the church as the body of Christ, each of us being members of that body.

– Properly partaking of communion, however, does more than remind us of our union with Christ, but in the act of remembrance and commemoration, actually strengthens and deepens that relationship.

– (1 Cor 10:16-17)  Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? {17} Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

  1. The Union of Believers with One ANOTHER

– See 1 Corinthians 10:17 above

– The loaf of bread symbolizes Christ’s body, not only His physical body, broken for us on the cross, but also His mystical body, the church.

– The act of believers partaking of one loaf symbolizes the unity of the body of Christ which is nourished by Christ, the Bread of Life.

  1. The Significance of the Lord’s Supper
  2. It depicts Christ’s death as the SEAL of the New Covenant

– (Exo 24:6-8)  Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. {7} Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.” {8} Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

– (Mat 26:28)  This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

– (Luke 22:20)  In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

  1. It is a MEMORIAL Feast

– (Luke 22:19)  And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

  1. A PROCLAMATION for the Present

– (1 Cor 11:26)  For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

  1. A PROPHECY for the Future

         – See 1 Corinthians 11:26 above

  1. Participation in the Lord’s Supper
  2. Normally on the First Day of the Week (Sunday)

– (Acts 2:42)  They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

– (Acts 20:7)  On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.

Note: We are not limited to Sunday as the following passage points out, but this is the norm.

– (1 Cor 11:25)  In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

  1. EVERY First Day of the Week

– Acts 20:7 (above) would indicate every first day of the week.

– “During the first two centuries the practice of weekly communion was universal and it was continued in the Greek Church until the seventh century. Such as neglected it three weeks in succession were excommunicated” – Robert Milligan

  1. Participation should not be taken lightly

– (1 Cor 11:23-31)  For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, {24} 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.” {25} In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” {26} For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. {27} Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. {28} A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. {29} For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. {30} That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. {31} But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.

– We Should Partake:

         1) With THANKFULNESS

         2) With THOUGHTFULNESS

         3) With Self-Examination and REPENTANCE