Questions About The Lord's Supper

Questions About The Lord's Supper

Dear Mr. Waddey:
Does the Bible require Christians to worship by eating bread and drinking wine?   Does it specify that they should consume some of both?   Does it specify that in this act of worship the bread becomes the body and the wine becomes the blood of Christ?
-Maria

Dear Maria:
Yes, the Lord teaches us to include in our worship a symbolic meal memorializing the death of Christ on the cross. You can read about Jesus instituting this sacred memorial in Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:19-20 and I Corinthians 11:23-29. It was done the night of his betrayal , the day prior to his crucifixion. He and his apostles were gathered for the traditional Jewish Passover meal (Matt. 26:17-19). Included in that feast were wine and unleavened bread. After they had concluded that meal, he took the unleavened bread and announced to them, "This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19). He then took a cup of wine and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me" (I Cor. 11:26). Notice that he says repeatedly, "This do in remembrance of me." This tells us the nature of the communion service. It is a memorial of Jesus' death for our sins.   Also, it is a symbolic meal. They had already eaten the feast of the Passover. The bread and wine are taken in token amounts since they are not designed to filled the belly or satisfy the appetite, but to remind us of what Christ suffered for us.

The Catholic church teaches that the literal bread and wine are miraculously transformed by the prayers offered by the priest during the sacrifice of the mass and thus their members believe they are eating the real body and blood of Jesus. The official name for this belief is transubstantiation. They cite John 6:53 "I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves." They fail to notice that Jesus explains what he meant by those words later in the same chapter. "It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit and they are life" (John 6:63). Thus he spoke of his teaching in this verse. If we were eating the real flesh and blood of our Lord, it would be cannibalism. Drinking of blood was forbidden by God in both the Old and New Testaments (Gen. 9:4; Acts. 15:28-29).

The apostles and early Christians all understood Jesus' teaching to mean that they should include this memorial meal in their weekly service. Thus we read in Acts 20:7, "And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread...." This is universally understand to be referring to the Lord's Supper. Many historical references survive from the first and second centuries that mention the weekly observance of the Communion service. By the way, it is called the Lord's Supper, because he ordained it. It is described as Communion, because that word means "a joint sharing together."

All the saved are expected to participate in eating both the bread and wine. Notice in Matthew's account, Jesus "gave (the bread) to the disciples, and said, Take eat..."(26:26). He took gave the cup "and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it" (26:27). The meaning is clarified in other translations, "Drink from it, all of you" (New International Version). For centuries the Catholic Church reserved the cup exclusively for the priests. In recent years they have allowed the laymen to commune with both elements.

Churches of Christ, strive to worship and serve the Lord just as the early Christians did...as the Bible teaches. We commune on the first day of the week, partaking of bread and wine in memory of our Lord's death. I encourage you to visit and worship with one of our congregations in your community. Be sure to take your Bible with you.

Sincerely,

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