John 6:
(53) Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (54) Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (55) For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. (56) He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. (57) As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. (58) This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. (59) These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
There probably is no greater dispute among the different region sect than this subject. Whether Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, Mormon, and so on. It sems everyone has their own take or share a similar take with others. I have read what each of the major religions believe on this subject and over the years have been to many of the churches and have experience first hand how they participate on this subject. Now I am no expert on these different religions views on the subject but we can agree the Bible does lay it out pretty simple. I started off here with John 6 because a lot of people use this verse to justify why they believe what they believe. I am just going to state this right here. The Lord’s Supper from what I have read in the Bible is a act we do in remembrance of who Jesus is and what He did on the cross. I DO NOT BELIEVE it is His real body and blood.
Luke 22:
(14) And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. (15) And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: (16) for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. (17) And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: (18) for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. (19) And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. (20) Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Mark 14:
(22) And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. (23) And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. (24) And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. (25) Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.
Luke 22:
(14) And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. (15) And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: (16) for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. (17) And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: (18) for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. (19) And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. (20) Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Ok so here we are looking at the 3 accounts of the Lord’s Supper. In 2 of the accounts, Jesus says do this in remembrance of me. Jesus Himself is in their presence, so no way could the wine or bread be His Real Blood or Real Flesh.
1st Corinthians 11: (26) For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. (27) Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. (28) But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. (29) For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
Here in 1st Corinthians 11:13-34 (I am only refencing a few verses) Paul is explaining a little more detail about the Lord’s Supper, even quoting What Jesus had said. Now the Bible does not give a certain "format/ritual/way” to actually partake communion, other than the breaking of the unleavened bread and drinking the wine. Paul does say not to do it in an unworthy manner. And the best way to view that is to understand what the bread and cup represents. One thing to note, Jesus did not direct how often we should do it only when we did do it, do it to remember Him and His action on the Cross.
Many religions will do this daily, weekly, bi-monthly or monthly, and that is ok. What would not be ok is to state that it has to be done that way. There is nothing scriptural that backs this up. We need to also note that the Bible does not state who only can administer the cup and bread. We know Jesus did at the time, but as soon as Christ died who administered the cup and bread? After Jesus’s death, this act would have been done in homes as people gathered and worshipped together. There would have been no "ceremony” as we see in today’s churches. Would it be possible for me to administer this to my family as head of household? YES! There are no qualifications to serve the Lord’s supper besides believing what it represents. Remember Jesus was doing this with His disciples. One, Judas, He knew was going to betray Him, another, Peter, He knew was going to deny Him 3 times. Why would he instruct "them” on giving the cup and bread, when at the time they were not worthy to receive it. Wouldn’t you say if you are not worthy to receive it, you are not worthy to serve it. You can start to see why the Bible when instructing us in partaking the Lord’s Supper, is saying for to do so in Remembrance of Jesus. Even Jesus Himself says to do so in that way.
We started off on John Chapter 6 with Jesus talking about Eating His Flesh and Drinking His blood. Many religion organizations used those verses for their take or justification on how they view the Lord’s Supper saying it is physically Jesus. Lets go on to the next verses because the disciples were not understanding Him about eating His flesh and drinking His blood.
John 6: (60) Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? (61) When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? (62) What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? (63) It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Jesus was quick to call them out on their thinking of having to "actually eat” His flesh and drink His blood. He is telling them to quit thinking in the flesh and start thinking spiritually. He told them His words are spiritual, not physical. Think of all the parables Jesus spoke, He tried to speak to them on terms they could understand. When we look At John 4 when Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman, and tells her the drink he has she will never thirst. That also is not a physical drink, very spiritual. In the Garden when Jesus was praying in Matthew 26, Jesus asks God to remove this cup, or I will drink from this cup. Once again, this is not a physical saying but very spiritual. Jesus is not here with us in Physical form anymore. Only His spiritual presence is with us. He is currently sitting at the right hand of God.
1st Peter: (21) The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: (22) who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
Hebrews 7: (26) For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; (27) who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. (28) For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.
Here in Hebrews 7, we see Jesus only needed to be sacrificed once. Many use the "Lord’s Supper” saying it is the "sacrifice” of Christ, if that is the case, then when Jesus went to the cross, it would have meant nothing.
This is why I do not believe the bread and wine are Jesus in the physical sense. It goes against Biblical teaching, against Jesus’s teaching, and even against the apostles teachings. I do believe it is a very powerful act we should participate in to remember Christ as He instructed us to do so.
There is so much more on this subject as we could go into subjects like the "Bread of life”, "Living Water” and we will in the future. Today I just wanted to hit on the Lord’s Supper and it importance, and what it is not. I am really excited to read comments on this subject.
COMMENTS
[ posted by Cindy, 03/03/2025 08:51 PM ]
Well, this topic was not on my bingo card! To be honest, I have really not given a lot of thought about it. Sure, I've done it at church before, like many of us. I know it represents the body of Christ. So I had to think and read up.The Lord's Supper is mention in 3 books: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They all record the details of it. It is called The Lord's Supper, That Last Supper, Communion, Passover....depending on who is using it. When Jesus says " do this in remembrance of me" that to me is a spiritual connection of our faith in what He did on the cross for us. And He further states " for as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." 1 Cor 11:26 "shew" means to show, or come to pass. Synonyms for it are demonstrate, establish, prove. To shew would show validity of something. To me it means, Jesus is saying remember what I will do, and continue to remember this and the wait for my return. I think that means we are to continue the act of what he did with His disciples as the reminder of the sacrifice and suffering He did for us, and what the future holds for us with Him when He returns. The bread represented His body, and broken apart as His body that was beaten and scourge by whips. The cup of wine represents the blood he would shed. Symbolism of course. In Old Testament remember they used animal blood for sacrifices. He used that term ( in my opinion) because that was most relatable for them to understand as a sacrifice to them at that time. Jesus was ushering a new covenant with man when he died on the cross. He took on all iniquity, sin, rebellion, shame, etc for us sinners. This new covenant was the path to being forgiven for our sins and to make God and Jesus now available to us personally. We also have to remember that Jesus was indeed victorious and will return to set up His kingdom here on earth. Even tho the occasion was serious, there is gladness for us in the result that Jesus died for our sins. And, again we will sit at a table with Him and God. I also think the Lord's Supper should be a celebration of God's grace for us. To remind us that Jesus dying was for our future. It is also a personal act of representing our faith when we do the Lord's Supper. It is a communion of fellowship with others also. We are made righteous thru Jesus' sacrifice. We are made available to access God individually. Heb 4:16 says " Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." That is what we can do now. We access God's presence thru our words and prayers. A direct line. I think when we do the Lord's Supper, we should give thanks first, as Jesus did. Also come with a heart that understands the real reason for it. Examine ourselves when we partake in it. Do it in a manner worthy of God and for His glory. Let it be the spiritual nourishment of hope, joy, and strength in Christ.