The Importance of Communion

What is Communion?

LORD’S SUPPER (also commonly called Communion or Eucharist). Memorial rite involving wine and bread; one of the two universally acknowledged sacraments of the Christian Church (along with baptism).

Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition Lord’s Supper (Communion)

Lord’s Supper (Communion). The sharing and partaking of bread and wine symbolizing the congregation’s *union with Christ and communion with one another by virtue of Jesus’ broken body and shed blood.

Different terms used to refer to this Sacrament

Lord’s Supper

The Last Supper

The Breaking of bread

Holy Communion

The Eucharist (Greek word for thanksgiving)

The Mass

Holy Sacrifice

Holy and Divine Liturgy

Where in Scripture is it recorded?

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

1 Corinthians 11:17–34 ESV

But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 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.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.

Mark 14:22–25 ESV

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 26:26–29 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Luke 22:14–23 ESV

And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had 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.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 ESV

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

Let’s Examine each record of the Four main recordings in Scripture

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

In this passage the Lord’s Supper was taken at a “Love Feast”

Oldest account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper

Paul reports the account as he learned it in Antioch in A.D. 40-50

In this account the bread is broken at the beginning of the meal and the wine is drank at the end of the meal. There was a main meal.

Some are sick and some are asleep (dead) because of their ungodly conduct at the Supper

Mark 14:22-25

This Supper can also be called the Last Supper as it is indeed the last meal Christ had with his disciples before he was crucified

Jesus took and blessed the bread “as they were eating”. There was food.

They all drank from cup

They sung a hymn right after the meal

Matthew 26:26-29

The same points noted in Mark 14:22-25 can be noted here as well

Luke 22:14-23

Jesus and his disciples were having the Passover meal. A yearly holy day set apart for the Israelites to observe the Exodus from Egypt, particularly the passing over of the Israelite firstborn males when the firstborn of Egypt were struck down in the last of ten plagues. Also: “Feast of the Passover,” “Passover Meal,” and “Pesach.”

When and how frequent is communion to be taken?

There’s no clear instruction on “how often” we should take communion.

In Acts 20:7, 11 the church at Troas gathers “on the first day of the week” (cf. Luke 24:1) to break bread, and Paul takes it in hand. Connected with that is the proclamation of the Word. The exact time seems to have been Sunday rather than Saturday night.

Communion, frequency of. On a possible interpretation of Acts 2:46, the apostolic community communicated daily, and from such passages as Acts 20:7 and various 2nd cent. writers, it seems that the members of the local churches all communicated at the Sunday Eucharist. But in later times, even though attendance at the Liturgy was general, communion became very infrequent.

History of the Lord’s Supper around the time of the early church

Prayers were offered for a church meal which was held on the Lord’s day

Didache. The Didache (cf. Wengst 1984: 43–57) in chaps. 9–10 offers prayers for a church meal which was held on the Lord’s day, i.e. on Sunday (Did. 14:1), a meal consisting of the breaking of bread (ibid.) and which was called eucharistia (9:1, 5). The procedure looks like this: A prayer is spoken, first over the cup of wine (9:2) and then over the bread (9:3–4). There follows, then, in reverse order, the consumption of the bread and wine (cf. 9:5; “eating … drinking”). In conclusion we have an afterdinner prayer (10:1–6), which gives the celebration the character of a regular meal (cf. 10:1: “After you have finished your meal, give thanks in this way”). The contents of these prayers closely resemble the Jewish-Hellenistic table prayers. They suggest that the elements of the meal are life-giving spiritual food (10:3): “To us you have given spiritual food and drink and eternal life through Jesus, your servant.” Bread in particular is seen as the symbol of the eschatological gathering of the people of God into one church (9:4: “As this piece of bread was scattered over the hills and then was brought together and made one, so let your church be brought together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom”). Finally, they stress also the eschatological orientation of the entire celebration (10:6 “Let Grace come and let this world pass away … Maranatha”). In 14:1–3 the sacrificial aspect is added which, however, cannot be related generally to prayer and life-style. Directly related to that are the church offices of bishops and deacons, mentioned in 15:1–2. They take over the functions of prophets and teachers and play a role also at the celebration of the Supper.

A daily meal with bread and wine (or grape juice) over which a priest pronounces a blessing, is known also in the Qumran community (1QS 6:4–5): “And when a table has been prepared for eating or the new wine for drinking the priest shall be the first to stretch out his hand to bless the first-fruits of the bread and the new wine.

Significance of the bread and wine

What Is the Lord’s Supper? Chapter Six: The Presence of Christ

Consider the Westminster Confession again:

In the sacrament we partake not only outwardly the visible elements, but also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, but not carnally or corporally, but spiritually, receive and feed upon Christ crucified, all the benefits of His death: the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally in, under, or with the bread and wine; but really, as spiritually, present to the faith of believers, as the elements themselves are to the outward senses.”

The Bread and wine are symbolic of the “blood and body” of Christ. They are not his physical blood and body but symbols of them. We do however partake of Christ “in a spiritual sense”

Further Significance

The Lord’s Supper unites the people of God with their Lord. We are having fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ when we partake of the bread and wine.

The Lord’s Supper also unites the past, present, and future. We are proclaiming the Lord’s death while acknowledging his presence now and also looking forward to his return.

Blessing and Judgment

What Is the Lord’s Supper? Chapter Seven: Blessing and Judgment

one of the strong principles that came out of the Protestant Reformation in reference to the Lord’s Supper is what we refer to as “the fencing of the table.” In some churches, before the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the minister will warn people who are not members in good standing of an evangelical church that they should not participate in the sacrament. He will remind the congregation that the Lord’s Supper is only for Christian people who are truly penitent. There are even some churches that won’t allow you to participate in the Lord’s Supper unless you are a member of that particular congregation. If you’re a visitor you’re discouraged from participating even if you are a Christian.

The purpose of fencing the table is not to exclude people out of some principle of arrogance but rather to protect people from the dreadful consequences that are spelled out here by the Apostle Paul, where in this chapter he speaks of the manducatio indignorum, which means “eating and drinking unworthily.” When a person participates in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner, instead of drinking a cup of blessing, they are drink a cup of cursing. They are eating and drinking unto damnation, and God will not be mocked. If people celebrate this most sacred of activities in the church and they do it in an inappropriate way, they expose themselves to the judgment of God.

What Is the Lord’s Supper? Chapter Seven: Blessing and Judgment

Oscar Cullman, the Swiss theologian, said that the most neglected verse in the whole New Testament is 1 Corinthians 11:30: “That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” Some scholars believe that the meaning of 1 John 5:16–17 is that God will not send Christians to hell who misused and abused the Lord’s Supper, but He might take their lives.

The point that Paul makes here is that the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is a sacrament that involves and requires a certain discernment. We are to discern what we are doing. We are to come with a proper attitude of humility and repentance. Of course, the point is not to exclude people from the table. Nobody is worthy, in the ultimate sense, to come and commune with Christ. We, who are unworthy in and of ourselves, come to commune with Christ because of our need. But we are to come in a spirit of dependence, not arrogantly, confessing our sins and trusting in Him alone for salvation. If we handle these sacred things in a hypocritical manner God will not hold us guiltless. That’s why we need to explore the significance of this sacrament.

In participating in the Lord’s Supper, we meet with the living Christ, receive the benefits of communing with the Bread of Heaven, and yet at the same time we must keep ourselves from any form of behavior or distortion of this sacrament that would cause the displeasure of God to fall upon us.

Conclusion

1 Corinthians 11:28 ESV

Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.