The Lord's Supper

Today, the church where I serve celebrated the Lord’s Supper. I must confess that I cherish the Supper because it is a real means of grace to the believer. More importantly, the Supper, among other things of course, is a sacred occasion for believers to feast on the body and blood of the risen and exalted Lord Jesus.

Unfortunately, the Lord’s Supper is a sacrament that the contemporary Reformed church has neglected in both doctrine and practice. Historically, however, Reformed Theology has made significant contributions to the doctrine, practice, and piety of the Lord’s table. For example, when I read John Calvin, I am amazed at his reflection upon the spiritual presence of Christ in the Supper. Of course, Calvin did not invent the doctrine that Christ is really and spiritually present in the Supper. He learned this truth from Holy Scripture. The Bible teaches that the Lord’s Supper is communion (Grk. koinonia) with the risen Christ.

Although most people think that 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 is the only Lord’s Supper passage in the book of 1 Corinthians, this simply is not so. Paul also speaks of the Supper in 1 Corinthians 10:16, which says, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation (koinonia) in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation (Grk. koinonia) in the body of Christ?” Paul’s two questions anticipate an affirmative response. "Yes, the cup of blessing that we bless is indeed a participation in the blood of Christ, and, yes, the bread that we break is indeed a participation in the body of Christ." In other words, when the believer receives the bread and the wine by faith, he communes with the risen Christ. There is real participation. There is real communion. There is real fellowship.

So then, as I celebrated the Lord’s Supper with God’s people this morning, I was feasting on the body and blood of Jesus Christ, not physically but spiritually. The body of Christ remained at the right hand of the Father, but by the Holy Spirit my spirit was raised by faith into heaven where I feasted on the body and blood of Christ. The body and blood of Christ were as real to my faith as the bread and wine were to my senses. Even more significant, I can say that I ate and drank the gospel. The gospel is that real.

The Supper is precious to me because it reminds me of the reality of Christ and the gospel. Christ really exists, and the gospel is really true. That is objective and outside of me. Nevertheless, God wants me to taste and see that Christ is good (Psalm 34:8). He wants me personally to appropriate the benefits of the broken body and shed blood of Christ. That is why Jesus says to us, “Take, eat. Take, drink.” We must personally appropriate the body and blood of Christ by faith, and Christ has given us the Supper as a sacrament to strengthen our faith. When we celebrate the Supper, our faith is nourished and strengthened, and our union with Christ is invigorated. All this comes from the Holy Spirit who makes the Supper a real means of grace, namely, a real communion with the risen Christ who is seated at the Father’s side.

If you want to read more about the Lord’s Supper in Reformed Theology, I highly recommend Keith Mathison’s book, Given for You: Reclaiming Calvin’s Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper (Presbyterian and Reformed, 2002). I would also encourage you to read Robert Letham’s The Lord’s Supper: Eternal Word in Broken Bread (Presbyterian and Reformed, 2001). Finally, there is the classic text by Ronald Wallace, Calvin’s Doctrine of Word and Sacrament (Eerdmans, 1957). Happy reading!