(March 10, 2024) Dr Jim McClure shares some important truths…

Some years ago my wife Jean and I attended a church where the service went on longer than intended. The Lord’s Supper was to celebrated at the end of the service, but the significance and the solemnity of the ceremony had been removed. However, as the communion table had already been prepared, people were invited to serve themselves with the bread and wine… if they wished.

The result was that some did, some didn’t. I confess that Jean and I were among those who didn’t.

This significant celebration has been given different names by different churches – The Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, Eucharist, the Mass. The important thing about this sacrament is not what we call it or how often we celebrate it, but what it signifies and what our attitude to it should be!

1. The Context
(i) Passover remembrance
1Corinthians 5:7 states, ‘Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.’  What does that mean? What has the Lord’s Supper got to do with to the Passover?

Paul was reminding the Corinthian Christians that the Lord’s Supper traced its roots to the Passover meal which was celebrated yearly to remember the deliverance of the Israelites from the severe oppression they’d experienced when enslaved in Egypt. Under Moses and Aaron’s leadership, Pharaoh had been strongly challenged to release them. But despite nine previous disasters in Egypt that should have convinced Pharaoh to set the Israelites free from their oppression, he had repeatedly refused.

The final disaster that Moses warned both the Egyptians and Israelites about concerned the death of every firstborn son in Egypt. In obedience to God’s instructions, Moses advised the Israelite families to sacrifice lambs and paint their blood on the doorframes of their houses so that the Lord would ‘pass over’ their houses and spare their firstborn sons (Exodus 12:13).

That night, when death swept through Egypt, only the families of the Israelites that had the blood of the lambs on their doorframes were saved (v29) and, after 400 years in captivity, the Israelites finally left Egypt.

The yearly Passover celebration commemorated a most significant turning point in Jewish history. It was a key date in their calendar; and at the time of Jesus the population in Jerusalem would have risen by five times at Passover.

(ii) Prophetic relevance
Passover was more than just a historic event in the life of the nation of Israel – it was, particularly, a sign pointing to a more significant event that was to take place about 1400 years later in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

On the night Jesus was betrayed, He celebrated the historic Passover meal with His disciples, revealing that there was an even more profound spiritual significance to that meal. This was a Passover meal with difference because Jesus pointedly associated it with His own saving mission!

• The blood of the lamb that had been put on the doorposts at the first Passover signified protection and deliverance from slavery.
• The blood that Jesus shed on the cross has provided forgiveness, salvation and eternal life for all who trust in Him!
• The Passover was a sign of God’s covenant with Israel when He secured their release from Egypt.
• The covenant that Jesus secured for Jew and Gentile alike through His death and resurrection, was so much more profound.

Jeremiah had predicted this new covenant: ‘The time is coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah’ (Jeremiah 31:31). But Hebrews 7:22 tells that ‘Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.’

Whenever we participate at the Lord’s Supper, we are affirming that new and ‘better’ covenant that God has secured for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

2. The Challenge
In his teaching on the real meaning of the Lord’s Supper, Paul addressed several interrelated issues. Generally when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we focus on the verses that relate to the eating of bread and drinking of wine. Central though that is, there were other crucial aspects that Paul addressed. He particularly mentioned the challenge and importance of Christian fellowship.

In many ways Paul was addressing a background that was quite different from ours when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper in church! He began his comments: ‘In the following directives I have bo praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good’ (1Corinthians 11:17). That would have caught their attention!

When the Lord’s Supper is celebrated today, it usually takes place in a church building, in the context of a worship service. Generally there is a solemn attitude that encompasses it before the worship leader launches into the formality of this sacrament. But here, in 1Corinthians 11, Paul used a different approach. He started by rebuking the people with very strong words.

Let’s read exactly what he wrote: ‘In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. Don’t you have homes 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 praise you for this? Certainly not!’

Paul was addressing some very serious issues in the church and didn’t mince his words which were very confronting. I’m sure that a number of people would have felt uncomfortable or even angry by the things he wrote about many aspects of their behaviour. Certainly some of them would have squirmed!

Let me give you some background of what Paul was writing about…

The early church had a custom that was called an Agape (or Love) Feast at which those who belonged to the church would come together to enjoy fellowship and share their food around a common meal. And it was a good custom. It’s still a good idea for Christians today to have meals together from time to time to develop relationships and build a sense of belonging, a principle that all churches today need to continually work on. However, sometimes when people get together, things don’t always go as planned. Such was the case with the church in Corinth.

It had a socially mixed congregation and the differences were obvious – some people attending the meal were rich and others were poor, some brought lots of food which they did not share, and others would have been slaves who had very little to share. In fact, the poor people probably looked forward to the meals in the hope that they would get something good to eat!

The purpose of the meal was to develop and experience fellowship and the Greek word that is often translated as ‘fellowship’ refers to a sharing relationship, that is, sharing their lives with each other. Also, an important part of this meal was the celebration of the Lord’s Supper which would take place towards the end of the meal. The Lord’s Supper expressed their common union with the Jesus Christ who loved all of them so much that He gave Himself to and for them.

But in the Corinthian church something was seriously wrong with their get-togethers and Paul was quite angry when he heard it. Some of those attending gorged on the food and didn’t share it; others were left hungry. Some drank too much wine. Instead of fellowship being developed, the opposite was the case. Social differences were sadly evident and social behaviour left so much to be desired.

Clearly fraction and friction, not fellowship were apparent, and spiritual values were certainly lacking. And Paul was far from happy. In fact, the tone of this letter shows that he was incensed by what was happening in that church! The gospel message and the meaning of Christian fellowship were being wholly misrepresented.

In that context the Lord’s Supper had ceased being a shared meal in commemoration of Christ’s loving self-sacrifice in which He went to the cross to give Himself for us; instead it had become a part of a self-indulgent, divisive, party. The powerful message of Jesus’ death on the cross and its significance had been totally corrupted. It is unsurprising that Paul was livid!

What he wrote then must also challenge us to examine ourselves today; as Paul advised in verse 28, everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

So, in that ‘self-examination’ what conclusions do we each come to? Is our attitude towards some fellow Christians inconsiderate, negative and divisive or caring, positive and upbuilding? That challenge to each of us is unavoidable.

• God wants us to have authentic relationships with each other, relationships that are mutually encouraging rather than discouraging.
• He wants us to choose to love one another not just in word but also in action.
• He wanted the Corinthians to experience and enjoy a sense of oneness when they came together.
• Indeed, it was a central component of Jesus’ prayer on the night before He was crucified. He prayed to the Father, ‘I pray also for those who will believe in me … that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you’ (John 17:20-21).
• The Lord’s Supper presents a personal challenge to us – before we participate we must reflect on our attitude and our behaviour towards fellow Christians.

3. The Communion
After rebuking the Christians in Corinth for their attitude when they came together to celebrate, Paul told them what the Lord’s Supper is really about. He continued his letter with these words with which we are more familiar –

‘I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.’

The last meal that Jesus ate with His disciples before His betrayal, arrest and crucifixion – what we call the ‘Last Supper’ – is mentioned in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In Luke 22:15 we read that Jesus said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.’

Then He gave thanks to God for the bread and the wine, and gave them to His disciples saying that the bread is His body and the wine the new covenant in His blood. That appears to have been an odd thing to say! What really did Jesus mean? Let’s explore it further…

One day when He was preaching, Jesus made this statement: ‘I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world’  (John 6:48-51).

His audience didn’t like what they heard and took offence at His words saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ (John 6:52). Of course, Jesus was speaking figuratively as he had done many times before, but His accusers choose to misinterpret His words and to be incensed and to react to what He said. Did you notice that the people in those days were just as quick to take offence… just as people are today?

Jesus was saying that, like the manna that God had given the Israelites when they wandered in the wilderness, He, Jesus, had also come from heaven and, also like the manna, He gives us life – is eternal life! (v58). 

Here’s the point Jesus was making – we need to internalise Him into our lives! Paul asked the Christians in Corinth, ‘Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you?’ (2Corinthians 13:5) And, to the Christians in the Colossian church  he explained, ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Colossians 1:27). To the Galatians he wrote, ‘I no longer live, but Christ lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20).

The imagery that we find in the Lord’s Supper is powerful! The phrase, ‘Eating His body and drinking His blood’, signifies our internalising of His very being. The New Testament affirms frequently that when we repent of our sins and put our trust in Christ as our Saviour, He takes up residence in our lives, that is, He lives in us, sharing our lives! He has a relationship with us.

• That is the point we need to grasp concerning the Lord’s Supper!
• Jesus doesn’t want us to keep Him at the perimeter of our lives but to invite Him into our very being.
• He does not want to be apart from us but to be a part of us!
• The Lord’s Supper isn’t merely a ritual, but an affirmation that we have welcomed Jesus into our lives.

But there is a problem – we may have participated in it so often that we have become blasé about it and it may have become for us a  lifeless ritual in which we participate! The Lord’s Supper is not a mere religious tradition, a meaningless ritual. It is a precious, incomparable meal that, in its simplicity, dynamically expresses the spiritual reality that Christ lives in us. He never leaves us, never forsakes us. He will always be with us, as He has promised, to the end of the world.

While the Lord’s Supper is a pointer to a past event, it reminds us of the present reality of the indwelling Christ and is also a pointer to the future to which Paul refers in Colossians 1:27, ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ This hope is not wishful thinking. The Greek word translated here as ‘hope’ refers to an anticipation and confident expectation. It is a firm assurance that Jesus will deliver what He has promised.

Christian hope, which is centred on the reality of the indwelling Saviour, is based on the knowledge that because Christ lives in us, we have the assurance that the grave has lost its power and that one day we shall see Jesus, our Saviour, face to face.

And as we await His glorious return, the Lord’s Supper reminds us afresh of the truth that Christ in us is our hope of glory.

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Dr Jim McClure, author of several books and Bible studies, offers them free in electronic version in EPUB, Kindle and PDF formats.

 Looking for Answers in a Confusing World is particularly recommended. Questions seeking enlightenment on biblical perspectives are welcomed. Link: jbmcclure@gmail.com
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