The Lord's Supper

   The Lord Jesus Christ gave us two specific commands for the Church;
to baptize and to celebrate a communion time in honor of Him. Baptism
by its nature can only be experienced once per believer, but the Lord's
Supper is to be an ongoing celebration.

   A. ORIGIN

   The command to celebrate the Lord's Supper was given during the
celebration of an Old Testament feast called the Passover. Jesus said
to His disciples that He would celebrate the Passover with them
(Matthew 26:18). But during the Passover meal Jesus did something quite
out of the ordinary for that feast; instead of focusing on the past
event He pointed to a new celebration that would be done in remembrance
of Him. Jesus identified Himself with the Passover Lamb and said that
the Lamb was ". . .His body given for you; do this in remembrance of
me." (Luke 22:19). In effect Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament feast
and made it now a time of remembrance of His shed Blood for us. We find
that the early church followed that command and began to practice the
observance of the Lord's Supper on a regular basis (Acts 2:42).

   B. SIGNIFICANCE

   The Lord's Supper has numerous meanings: one is the remembrance of
the Lord and what He has done for us, and the second aspect being the
fellowship of this special time. Jesus told His disciples to do this,
and it can be implied that it is the Church who is being told to come
together and do this in remembrance of the Lord. We are told to
remember His death for us, which speaks of the past. We are looking at
a time in history that is specific and can say, "this is the moment
when Our Savior bore our sins." And by going through the same motions
and words of that night we somehow transport that past event into the
present, which makes it very much a part of our lives. In Luke 22:20
Jesus said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. . ." So the
significance has a present reality in that it instituted the new
covenant which is presently at work in our lives.

   The Lord's Supper also has a future meaning which is indicated in
Matthew 26:29, "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." Jesus points us towards the day in the future when we will
"break bread" with Him. Thus, when we celebrate the Lord's Supper
today, we can think of that glorious day coming, when we will be with
our Jesus and enjoy His fellowship.

   C. MODE

   The sharing of the bread and the wine occurred at the passover meal.
But having a meal is not a requirement for the remembrance today.
However, the early church appeared to have a love feast prior to the
actual celebrating of the elements. However, a church meal would
greatly enhance a sense of being a family. The Scriptures indicate that
the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup occurred during
the meal (Matthew 26:27). But most scholars agree that the
"remembrance" only includes the bread and the wine. There is a certain
practice indicated in the Scriptures that apply to the celebration of
the supper: first the giving of thanks for the blessing of salvation
that the elements symbolize (Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke
22:19, 1Corinthians 11:24-25); and secondly, after the prayer, the
elements are shared with the people for them to eat and drink. The
actual elements are shown in Scripture to be bread and wine.

   The custom of the day had a great impact on the elements used. Bread
and wine were commonly used for nourishment and had become symbols of
the spiritual nourishment and blessing of God (Genesis 14:18, 27:28,
37; Amos 9:13). Thus they were fitting symbols to be used at that
feast. Today because of our different cultures we have somewhat
differing elements. While we still use a type of bread, it is the wine
that most often is changed. Our society raises people who have had very
little exposure to wines as children, mainly due to refrigeration of
other drinks. Also our wines are far more "potent" than the wines of
the "Bible Times" that were "cut" with water. The emphasis in Scripture
is not on the nature of the bread and the wine, but on their symbolic
significance.

   A few words need to be said about the "bread" used by most churches.
Nothing should ever be used that would be offensive to the mouth, for
this is to be a rather solemn moment. I have observed that often
churches use little pieces of tiny hard bread that has the consistency
and taste of a piece of chalk! This is distracting to the communion.
The use of "fresh" cracker pieces would be an improvement on the
"chalk."

   D. EFFICACY

   "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in
him." (John 6:56). "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has
eternal life." (John 6:54). The efficacy of the Lord's Supper is in the
form of blessings as the two previous verses reveal. Like our
understanding of the efficacy of Baptism, we know that there is no
saving grace offered through the Lord's Supper. For salvation is by
faith and faith alone. Whenever we are given a command from the Lord,
we can expect a blessing from the obedience to the command. John 6:56
seems to indicate that partaking of the Lord's Supper draws us in close
fellowship with the Lord. I believe much in the same way that the sin
reduces the joy of the fellowship, so also taking of the bread and the
wine restores the blessings of salvation.

   John 6:54 speaks of the eternal life that is given to those who will
partake in the broken body and shed blood of Our Savior. While this has
a direct meaning of initial salvation by faith in Christ, I believe
that it could have a secondary reference to the daily blessings
associated with eternal life. I think of it in much of the same way as
the abundant life promised in John 10:10. Close fellowship with Christ
is attained by being obedient to His commands. Part of the blessing is
a direct result of the requirement that the believer confess his sins
by an examination of his soul. Failure to do this will result in the
person eating and drinking judgment upon himself (1Corinthians 11:29).

   E. SUBJECTS

   The Lord's Supper was given by Christ to the Church through the
disciples. In other words it was given to all believers. In Acts 2 we
find Peter calling people to "Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven." (Acts
2:38). The text follows that those who accepted his message were
baptized, and in verse 42 we find them devoting themselves to the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. This thought is
carried on and expanded in 1Corinthians 11:29, where the Bible says
that anyone who comes to the table better examine himself to see if he
has the proper perspective on the significance of who the Lord is. This
implies that not only are we to be certain that Jesus is truly the Lord
of our lives but that our present relationship with God and man
(especially the Church) be examined for possible need of repentance.
This does not mean that we must all be perfect all of the time, but we
better be trying to live a lifestyle that is characterized by holiness.
Because if we set our standard less than the perfection that Christ
calls us to, then we are in danger of eating and drinking judgment upon
ourselves.

   F. APPLICATION

   In the local church the Lord's Supper must be given careful
significance. It should be clearly pointed out that only self-examined
believers are to participate. I agree with most Bible scholars who
would have the Lord's Supper on the first day of the week (Sunday)
during the evening service. Usually those who come to this service are
the true believers. It could also be advantageous to alternate between
the morning and evening services to help those who may have jobs that
require them to work every Sunday night for example.

   The importance of calling for a confession and a turning away from
sin cannot be overemphasized. There must be a time for the deep
searching of the soul. I would even aid this by reminding the
congregation of our local sins, such as; gossiping, laziness,
overeating, disregard for the authorities (speeding), submissiveness of
wives, and the requirement for husbands to love their wives as Christ
loves the Church. Also it is important to give the people a reasonable
period of complete silence to confess their sins silently before the
Lord.

   Lastly, I would call for a more frequent observance of the Supper.
The context of the New Testament gives clear indication that this was
done regularly. Acts 20:7 indicates it was celebrated whenever they met
together on the first day of the week. Even more often is suggested in
Acts 2:46, where they observed it whenever they met together. I suggest
it be done on a weekly basis. Many would be quick to disagree, saying
it would make the celebration much too familiar. I say no! Because that
kind of logic would have us pray once a month, or give our money once a
month, or even come to Church on a monthly basis in order to "keep it
all special." The celebration of the Lord's Supper is vital to a
healthy Christian life and needs to be done on a regular basis.

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