The Lord’s Supper, also known as the Eucharist, Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Table, is a sacrament instituted by Jesus during the Passover meal. It is a symbolic representation of Jesus’ body and blood, given for the forgiveness of sins. The Passover meal, which originated in Exodus, was a commemoration of God’s deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Over the years, it had evolved into the Passover Seder by the time of Jesus, which included specific rituals such as drinking four cups of wine, ceremonial hand washing, and eating unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Jesus’s observance of this Passover with his disciples, as recorded in the Gospels (Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:17-25, Luke 22:7-22, and John 13:21-30), described as “the Last Passover,” was a pivotal event as he changed the liturgy and instituted new ordinances, symbolizing his impending sacrifice and the substitutionary atonement. The bread and the third cup of wine, which Jesus reinterpreted as his body and blood, became central symbols of the new covenant between God and humanity. As prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Ezekiel 36-37, this covenant promised forgiveness of sins and internal renewal through Jesus’s sacrificial death.
Paul’s writings in 1 Corinthians provide additional instructions for the practice of the Lord’s Supper in the church. They emphasize the importance of partaking in a worthy manner, self-examination, and recognition of the elements as symbols of Christ’s body and blood. The Lord’s Supper is to be observed by believers in remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice until his return. It should be taken with reverence and self-examination and only by those who have saving faith in Jesus.
The Lord’s Supper is a memorial of Jesus’s sacrifice, a proclamation of his death, and an anticipation of his return. It is a time for believers to look back with gratitude, look around at their fellow believers, look up to Christ in heaven, and look forward to his second coming. The Supper serves as a foretaste of the future Marriage Supper of the Lamb, where believers will be united with Christ in the kingdom of God.
The Believer’s Authority
August 14, 2024
