1.4 Lord's Supper

One of the most common spiritual/religious discussions I would have with kids at school was about the Lord's supper. Many of my classmates came from Baptist or Methodist backgrounds, and we would end up discussing how often the Lord's Supper was to be observed. I added the first two passages to begin the list, a simple defense that the Lord's Supper is an act of remembrance and worship that takes place on the first day of the week, which occurs every week. First Corinthians may be included here because we would often segue into or out of this discussion from the topic of fellowship halls. It also, though, implies that they should be assembling for the purpose of eating the Lord's supper. The other three passages show the institution of the Lord's supper by Jesus with His apostles - He commanded them to "do this in remembrance of me." In Acts 2:46, we see that the early church was "continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."

• 1 Corinthians 11:20-29
• 20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper,
• 21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk.
• 22 What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.

• 23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which 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 He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
• 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the 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, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
• 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
• 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
• Acts 20:7
• 7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.
• Luke 22:17-20
• 17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves;
• 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”
• 19 And when He had taken some bread and 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.”
• 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
• Matthew 26:26-29
• 26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
• 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;
• 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.
• 29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
• Mark 14:22-25
• 22 While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.”
• 23 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
• 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
• 25 “Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

The Lord's Day, or the first day of the week, is mentioned several times in the New Testament. Jesus rose from the grave on the first day of the week (Luke 24:1). In Acts 20, we see that the church had assembled to break bread on the first day of the week. Paul commanded the churches in Corinth and Galatia to set aside money for the collection on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:1-2). In Revelation, John saw a vision of Jesus on the first day of the week (Rev. 1:10-17).

The Lord's Supper is something done collectively, as a group - we must assemble to partake. It helps us remember Christ's death and resurrection. It was the reason for the early church's assemblies- they gathered to break bread. We know this is not a common meal, because Paul makes a distinction between coming together for the Lord's supper and "eating your own supper". Paul's commandment to the Corinthians (and the Galatians) to set aside money for the collection on each Lord's Day shows that the assembly was a regular occurrence, instead of an infrequent one. If we are to follow the pattern of the New Testament, then we will also have regular gatherings on the first day of the week, where we observe the Lord's Supper and set aside money to be used for the Lord's work.

In thinking about this, we also need to examine our hearts. Jesus's death is the greatest gift man has ever received. His resurrection shows God's ultimate power. Through Christ's sacrifice, we have access to God's grace and forgiveness. If we have an example of remembering that sacrifice regularly, why not regularly glorify God for His wonderful gift? If we have hearts that get bored of the gospel, then we need to check our hearts. If we are taking the Lord's supper without thinking about the gospel, then we need to check our hearts. The gospel is good news - it is amazing news - it is humbling and challenging and wonderful. When we properly observe the Lord's supper, we proclaim that news, and God is glorified.