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LORD’S SUPPER
AUTHOR: Capoccia, Tony
PUBLISHED ON: May 6, 2003
DOC SOURCE: CCN
PUBLISHED IN: Bible Studies

                              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.

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Box 115
Galveston, IN 46932
Modem (317)-452-1535       
October 21, 1986

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