6.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• Jesus Christ gave a new feast to his church: the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist, Holy Communion).
• We should celebrate the Lord’s Supper:
  1. to proclaim and remember the death of Jesus.
  2. to be strengthened by the body and blood of Jesus.
  3. to prepare for the return of Jesus.
• In this way, the Lord’s Supper is a feast that is about the past, present, and future.
• Only true believers may celebrate this wonderful feast.

6.2 Luke 22:7, 14–20←⤒🔗

^22:7 Then the day for the feast of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.

…

^22:14 Now when the hour came, Jesus took his place at the table and the apostles joined him.

^22:15 And he said to them, 'I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

^22:16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.'

^22:17 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, 'Take this and divide it among yourselves.

^22:18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.'

^22:19 Then he took bread, and after giving 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.'

^22:20 And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

© NET Bible

6.3 – 1 Corinthians 11:23–29←⤒🔗

^11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread,

^11:24 and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'

^11:25 In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.'

^11:26 For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

^11:27 For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

^11:28 A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup.

^11:29 For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself.

© NET Bible

6.4 From Passover to the Lord’s Supper←⤒🔗

The Passover was the biggest feast that the Jews celebrated every year. For this feast they had to slaughter a lamb and eat it with special bread. In this way, they had to remember how God rescued their forefathers out of Egypt.

On the evening before he was crucified, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. On that evening, he also showed them the real meaning of the Passover. He is the Passover Lamb that would die for them. He is the bread they must eat and the wine they must drink. Now the Passover feast was changed into a new feast.

In our second passage, from 1 Corinthians, Paul teaches the church how to celebrate this new feast. Because it is Jesus who gave us the feast, it is called the Lord’s Supper. (Sometimes it is also called Holy Communion or the Eucharist.)

The Lord’s Supper is the feast that the church should still celebrate today. Some churches celebrate it only a few times in a year. Other churches celebrate it every Sunday.

Why did Jesus give this special feast to his church? In the passages that we have read, we can find three reasons:

1. To proclaim and remember the death of Jesus.
2. To be strengthened by the body and blood of Jesus.
3. To prepare for the return of Jesus.

6.5 To proclaim and remember the death of Jesus←⤒🔗

In 1 Corinthians 11:26 we read, “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death…” When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we are preaching! We are telling each other, and the rest of the world, that:

• God sent Jesus Christ to die for us on the cross.
• Jesus Christ gave his body and his blood, so that all our sins can be forgiven.
• Jesus Christ gives us eternal life.

God knows that we need something to remind us of these truths. Otherwise we will easily forget them! We need something that we can see and touch – to assure us that these things are really true. That is why we have the Lord’s Supper. That is why Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24–25).

6.6 To be strengthened by the body and blood of Jesus←⤒🔗

When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, Jesus Christ is also there with us. Just as the bread and wine feed our bodies, Jesus Christ feeds our souls with his body and blood.

How is Jesus there with us, to feed us with his body and blood? It is through his Spirit. When we are eating the bread and drinking the wine, the Spirit works in us to feed us and strengthen us, and to make us one with Jesus Christ. We become strong again in our faith, every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

The Lord’s Supper also strengthens us because we are celebrating it together. It helps us to feel one with each other. We all sit around the same table of the Lord. We all share in the same promises. We are one in faith, and one with our Lord Jesus.

Can someone celebrate the Lord’s Supper if he does not really believe in Jesus? No, because then he is sinning against the body and blood of Jesus. Then he is bringing God’s judgement on himself (1 Corinthians 11:27–29). Only true believers may celebrate this wonderful feast.

6.7 To prepare for the return of Jesus←⤒🔗

Let us look again at 1 Corinthians 11:26. It says, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.” Every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we are also looking forward to the greater feast that is coming. That feast will be celebrated on the day when Jesus comes again. In the Bible it is called the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6–9).

In that great wedding feast, Jesus Christ, the bridegroom, will come to live with his church, the bride. Every time the church celebrates the Lord’s Supper, she is preparing for that wonderful day that is coming!

We can say that the Lord’s Supper is a feast that is about the past, the present, and the future:

• The past: we remember what Jesus did for us on the cross.
• The present: our faith is strengthened now, while we eat and drink the bread and wine.
• The future: we are looking forward to the day when Jesus comes again.