For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after Supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

Three Declarations Of The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper is one of the fundamental elements of the New Testament church. After the three thousand were baptized for the remission of sins at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit directed the hearts of the saints to follow a pattern of worship that would include the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, and prayers. The first Christians established the pattern of the New Testament worship. As the church grew, the struggles began with understanding the significance of worship in truth and spirit. During Paul’s third missionary journey, he writes several letters to the church in Corinth to reestablish what he had taught them during his eighteen months with them on his second missionary journey. Among the doctrines that needed to be reaffirmed was the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper. The saints at Corinth had turned the remembrance of Christ into a common meal.

Paul wanted to impress three things upon the church at Corinth to show how important the Lord’s Supper was. First, the Lord’s Supper is a divine institution ordained by the Holy Spirit. Paul was not at the Passover meal where Jesus broke bread with the twelve. The apostle was known as Saul of Tarsus and a member of the Jewish leadership. Less than ten years after the death of Jesus, Paul stood watching as his fellow Jews stoned Stephen to death. Then Paul took it upon himself to personally orchestrate a severe persecution against all who were of the Way.

Paul reminds the Corinthians that he received from the Lord the institution of the Lord’s Supper. The brethren had turned something divine into something carnal. By divine revelation, Paul had learned what happened that night in the upper room and what Jesus said. The apostle did not appeal to the words of men. His authority came from the word of God. The Lord’s Supper is not a human creation but a decree by the Father that every Christian remember the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son. Jesus suffered greatly to save man from the wrath of God. God demands and charges the church to remember each week (every seven days) that Jesus suffered and died and by God’s power, was raised from the dead.

The second thing Paul wanted the Corinthians saints to remember is the sacredness of the memorial. Jesus instituted the Supper the night He was betrayed. During Supper, Jesus washed Judas’s feet before sending the betrayer out to do his bidding. Jesus knew what Judas was going to do, and He knew what Peter would do. He told them both He knew what they were going to do. The disciples did not understand what Jesus meant when He said His body would be broken for them. They could not have imagined how much their lives would change in the next few hours. The new covenant, the blood of Jesus, required a sacrifice. Jesus knew He was about to deliver His body over for beatings and scourging. The Son of God knew He was going to suffer an incredible death as His blood flowed from His stricken body.

Taking the Lord’s Supper is the remembrance of the inhumanity of man against man. To the world, Jesus of Nazareth was nothing more than a criminal like the two men He was crucified with. Those crucified with Jesus deserved their sentence of death because they were sinners. The man in the middle had lived nearly thirty-three years and never sinned. Jesus was perfect before God, and yet the world was killing Him. They murdered the Prince of life. The Lord’s Supper is a remembrance of what Jesus did to take the place of sinful man. He suffered so that men would not suffer. His death brought life into the world.

A third and final message of the Lord’s Supper is that God demands it be done. Jesus did not institute the Supper as a suggestion for men to trifle with, deciding when and how to take of it. The Lord’s Supper is observed in the New Testament church every first day of the week. Luke shows how the early church followed a pattern of weekly remembrance of the memorial feast. Eating the bread and drinking the cup proclaims that Jesus is risen and that He is coming back, and when Jesus returns, He expects to find His disciples practicing and keeping His memorial. Jesus went to prepare a place of eternal life for all those who believe, and He is coming back to receive those saints to Himself. The Lord’s Supper is the divine memorial of the love of God to send His Son to die for the sins of the world. It requires a memorial of remembrance. For as often as you …