The Meaning of the Lords Supper

Lords Supper, an ordinance that is to be observed repeatedly throughout our Christian lives, as a sign of continuing in
fellowship with Christ.
- The Old Testament sacrificial meals continually pointed to the fact that sins were not yet paid for, because the
sacrifices in them were repeated year after year, and because they looked forward to the Messiah who was to come
and take away sin (see Heb. 10:14).
- The Lords Supper, however, reminds us that Jesus payment for our sins has already been accomplished, so we now
eat in the Lords presence with great rejoicing.
The meaning of the Lords Supper is complex, rich, and full. There are several things symbolized and affirmed in the
Lords Supper:

A) Christs Death. When we participate in the Lords supper we symbolize the death of Christ because our actions give
a picture of his death for us. When the bread is broken it symbolizes the breaking of Christs body, and when the cup is
poured out it symbolizes the pouring out of Christs blood for us.
(1 Cor. 11:26).

B) Our Participation in the Benefits of Christs Death. As we individually reach out and take the cup for ourselves,
each one of us is by that action proclaiming, I am taking the benefits of Christs death to myself. When we do this we
give a symbol of the fact that we participate in or share in the benefits earned for us by the death of Jesus.
(Matt. 26:26).

C) Spiritual Nourishment. Just as ordinary food nourishes our physical bodies, so the bread and wine of the Lords
Supper give nourishment to us. But they also picture the fact that there is spiritual nourishment and refreshment that
Christ is giving to our soulsindeed, the ceremony that Jesus instituted is in its very nature designed to teach us this.
(John 6:5357)
D) The Unity of Believers. When Christians participate in the Lords Supper together they also give a clear sign of their
unity with one another. In fact, Paul says, Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all
partake of the one bread
(1 Cor. 10:17).
When we put these four things together, we begin to realize some of the rich meaning of the Lords Supper: when I
participate I come into the presence of Christ; I remember that he died for me; I participate in the benefits of his
death; I receive spiritual nourishment; and I am united with all other believers who participate in this Supper.
- In this Supper I am actually eating and drinking at a foretaste of the great banquet table of the King. I come to his
table as a member of his eternal family. When the Lord welcomes me to this table, he assures me that he will welcome
me to all the other blessings of earth and heaven as well, and especially to the great marriage supper of the Lamb, at
which a place has been reserved for me.
- Finally, as I take the bread and cup for myself, by my actions I am proclaiming, I need you and trust you, Lord Jesus,
to forgive my sins and give life and health to my soul, for only by your broken body and shed blood can I be saved. In
fact, as I partake in the breaking of the bread when I eat it and the pouring out of the cup when I drink from it, I
proclaim again and again that my sins were part of the cause of Jesus suffering and death. In this way sorrow, joy,
thanksgiving, and deep love for Christ are richly intermingled in the beauty of the Lords Supper.
- We meet him at his table, to which he comes to give himself to us. As we receive the elements of bread and wine in
the presence of Christ, so we partake of him and all his benefits. We feed upon him in our hearts with thanksgiving.

If baptism is the sacrament of initiation, given only once, the Lords Supper is the sacrament of continuing fellowship
with God, to be received over and over again.
- It has past, present, and future references: we look to the past as we remember his death, to the present as we
receive nourishment, and to the future as we anticipate his coming, remembering the Lords death until he comes
(1 Cor. 11:26; cf. Rev. 19:9). Our present nourishment comes by feeding on Christ (1 Cor. 10:1618; cf. John 6:5358),
and by a closer relationship with others in the body (1 Cor. 11:1822; notice the confessions reference to communion
with him, and with each other, as members of his mystical body). So the Lords Supper is a means of grace, a way in
which God equips us to better serve him.
- Whenever we take the Supper, as when Israel took the Passover and the other meals, we renew the covenant
relationship between God and ourselves. Further, meals with God also provide continuing nourishment and fellowship
with him.

- So when we take the Lords Supper, we should reflect on the past, the present, and the future. We should remember
Christ in his death, thanking him for his complete salvation. The Supper is called a thanksgiving (Matt. 26:27; Luke
22:17, 19; 1 Cor. 11:24), hence the word eucharist. In the present, we know that we can gain spiritual nourishment
only from Christ (John 6:3559; 1 Cor. 10:16). By eating and drinking, we participate in his body and blood, and we
sense a greater union with him. Calvin, who emphasized that Christ is not physically present in the Supper but lives
physically in heaven, thought that the Supper was not so much Christs coming to be with us as our being caught up to
heaven to be with him, as we join him in the heavenly places. And then as we eat and drink, we look forward to the
greater banquet to come (1 Cor. 11:26). We eat only little bits of bread and drink little cups of wine, for we know that
our fellowship with Christ in this life cannot begin to compare with the glory that awaits us in him.


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How Is Christ Present in the Lords Supper?
A The Rest of Protestantism: A Symbolic and Spiritual Presence of Christ. In distinction from Martin Luther, John
Calvin and other Reformers argued that the bread and wine of the Lords Supper did not change into the body and
blood of Christ, nor did they somehow contain the body and blood of Christ. Rather, the bread and wine symbolized
the body and blood of Christ, and they gave a visible sign of the fact that Christ himself was truly present.10 Calvin
said: By the showing of the symbol the thing itself is also shown. For unless a man means to call God a deceiver, he
would never dare assert that an empty symbol is set forth by him. . . . And the godly ought by all means to keep this
rule: whenever they see symbols appointed by the Lord, to think and be persuaded that the truth of the thing signified
is surely present there. For why would the Lord put in your hand the symbol of his body, except to assure you of a true
participation in it? (Institutes, 4.17.10; p. 1371) Yet Calvin was careful to differ both with Roman Catholic teaching
(which said that the bread became Christs body) and with Lutheran teaching (which said that the bread contained
Christs body). But we must establish such a presence of Christ in the Supper as may neither fasten him to the element
of bread, nor enclose him in bread, nor circumscribe him in any way (all which things, it is clear, detract from his
heavenly glory). (Institutes, 4.17.19; p. 1381) Today most Protestants would say, in addition to the fact that the bread
and wine symbolize the body and blood of Christ, that Christ is also spiritually present in a special way as we partake of
the bread and wine. Indeed, Jesus promised to be present whenever believers worship: Where two or three are
gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matt. 18:20).11 And if he is especially present when Christians
gather to worship, then we would expect that he will be present in a special way in the Lords Supper:12 We meet him
at his table, to which he comes to give himself to us. As we receive the elements of bread and wine in the presence of
Christ, so we partake of him and all his benefits. We feed upon him in our hearts with thanksgiving. Yet we must not
say that Christ is present apart from our personal faith, but only meets and blesses us there in accordance with our
faith in him. In what way is Christ present then? Certainly there is a symbolic presence of Christ, but it is also a genuine
spiritual presence and there is genuine spiritual blessing in this ceremony.

- In our confession we see a distinction between the real presence of Jesus and the physical presence of Jesus. When it
articulates this notion of the real presence of Jesus, what it means is that spiritually speaking, He is really present.
- With respect to the human nature of Jesus, Calvin said that the human body of Jesus could not contain the infinite
deity of the Son of God. This is simply another way of saying that while the human body of Jesus is not omnipresent,
the divine nature of Christ is. Yet Calvin not only said that Christ is truly present in the Lords Supper, touching His
divine nature, but that in the Lords Supper, those who are partaking are truly strengthened and nurtured by the
human nature of Christ. How is this possible if the human nature is not omnipresent? Calvin said He is made present to
us by the divine nature.
- Remember that when you are in communion with the divine nature, you are in communion with the person of the
Son of God and all that He is. When I meet Him here in the divine nature and enter into communion with the person of
Jesus, this divine nature remains connected and united to the human nature. By communing with the divine nature,
Im not communing with just the divine nature; Im also communing with the human nature, which is in perfect unity
with the divine nature without having the human nature take upon itself the divine ability to be in all these different
places. Remember, at no time is the human nature separated from the divine nature; thus, you can maintain the unity
of the two natures and maintain the localization of the human nature without deifying the human nature. And yet, the
person of Christ can be present in more than one place at more than one time by virtue of the omnipresence of the
divine nature.
- We meet the actual person in all of our various churches and enter into blessed communion with the whole Christ by
virtue of the contact we have with the divine nature, but His human body remains localized in heaven. This is
consistent with the way Jesus speaks in the New Testament when He says, Im going away, yet I will be with you. The
presence He promises of Himself in the New Testament is a real presence and real communion with His people.
- Because of the omnipresence of the Son of God in His deity, we really meet the whole Christ in the Lords Supper and
are nurtured by the Bread of Heaven.