The Meaning of the Lord's Supper

Author: Pastor Dale

Luke 22:19–20

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. (ESV)

         The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance instituted by Christ at the last supper with His disciples, in which believers feast together on bread and wine in remembrance of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross, recalling the incredible gift of salvation, and looking ahead to the day when we will drink with him again in the Kingdom of God. There have been several “meanings” of the Lord’s Supper proposed throughout the history of the church, but the best interpretation of Scripture explains the Lord’s Supper as a memorial feast that enjoys the true presence of Christ in the corporate unity of a local church.

Communion elements on a wooden table in a church, symbolizing the Lord's Supper

A Memorial Feast

The Lord’s Supper is memorial in the sense that the bread we eat and the cup we drink are not the actual body and blood of Jesus. Jesus does say “this is my body” and “this is the new covenant in my blood,” but we have no reason to believe Christ turns the common elements of the supper into real flesh every time we partake. It must be a feast of remembering. “Do this in remembrance of me (Luke 22:19). When we taste the bread and engage the senses with the drinking of wine (or juice), we are holistically calling our whole bodies to remember and rejoice in the precious gift of Jesus’ body. Christ became a man so that He could die, and that death was for us. We must never forget this inexpressible gift.

The True Presence of Christ

Secondly, the Lord’s Supper communicates the true presence of Christ in the church. This is distinct from other theologians who have argued for “real presence.” Rather than Christ leaving Heaven to physically join us in the room, John Calvin explained Christ’s “true presence” as a Scriptural alternative. Christ is in and with His people, the church. We are the body and He is the Head. When we gather together and enjoy this sacred meal, we enjoy the true presence of Christ together. He is still seated at the right hand of the Father (Acts 1:9, Hebrews 1:3), but He also spiritually descends to be with us as He does every Sunday. He is Emmanuel (God with us), and wherever two or more are gathered in His name, He is there among them (Matthew 18:20). The Supper reminds us that Christ is before, behind us, within us for all time and forevermore. He is truly present.

Corporate Unity

Finally, the Lord’s Supper serves as a unifying glue for the local church, binding their hearts as one in the message of the Gospel. The primary passage of teaching on the Lord’s Supper, outside of the Gospels, is found in 1 Corinthians 11. Paul rebukes the Corinthian church for their divisiveness, and how they have completely missed the point of the Lord’s Supper. “So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another…” (1 Corinthians 11:33) They were more concerned with filling their stomachs than they were the unity of the church. Paul recites Jesus’ words from the last supper, and calls them to examine their own hearts that they might not take the meal in an unworthy manner, which can have deadly consequences. Instead, the Lord’s Supper ought to be used as a means of unifying power in the Gospel. The cross has broken down the dividing wall of hostility and made one new man (Ephesians 2:14). Every time we take the Lord’s Supper, we remember that our unity is built on the Gospel alone. Nothing else can make one new man from a multiplicity of people with different backgrounds. Blest be the tie that binds – and that tie is the Gospel.

A Sermon We Can Taste

The Lord’s Supper is a precious ordinance, a meal to be examined frequently in the body of Christ. It is for believers only, and should not be taken lightly. There is no special power in the elements themselves, or in the mode by which we partake. The power has always been in the Gospel itself. The Lord’s Supper is a sermon, proclaiming Christ’s death until He comes again.