Before we look at the only scripture where we actually have the words “Lord’s Supper,” we will look at when the supper was first instituted by our blessed Lord. In Luke 22:19-20 we read, “And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ Likewise He also took the cup after SUPPER, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” If we were to read verses 14-18, we would see that the Lord had just “eaten the Passover” with His disciples. The Passover Supper was a Memorial Feast to celebrate God’s deliverance of every first-born son in Israel by the death and blood-shedding of a sacrificial lamb (see Exodus 12:1-14). When the angel of death “passed through” the land of Egypt to destroy every first-born son, every house that had killed a lamb and applied it to their doorposts and lintel was “passed over,” for God had said, “When I see the blood, I will PASS OVER YOU” (verse 13). After the Passover Supper the Lord used the BREAD and the WINE on the table to institute the Lord’s Supper, with the “bread symbolizing His body” which would be laid down in death and the “blood symbolizing His blood” which would be shed to prove that He had truly died for sinners so they could be redeemed. It is so important to see that the “bread and wine” are simply SYMBOLS; they are NOT “turned into the body and blood of Christ” as some teach. The Lord’s Supper can be called a “Remembrance Feast” for it is a time when true believers look back, by faith, to the cross where the Lord Jesus laid down His life as a sacrifice for our sins and then His blood was shed that has “washed our sins away” (Revelation 1:5 with 1st John 1:7). The “bread and wine” on the table REMIND US of this truth. So, like the Passover, the Lord’s Supper is a Memorial Feast. Both suppers bring to mind God’s way of delivering souls from death by the death and blood-shedding of a sacrificial lamb (the Passover Lamb being a literal lamb which foreshadowed the Lord Jesus, the “Lamb of God”…see John 1:29 and 1st Peter 1:18-19).

Now let us turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 11 where the Apostle Paul was inspired to write about the Lord’s Supper. In verses 17-22 the apostle had to correct the saints at Corinth for coming together in an unworthy manner, for they were eating food and drinking wine to excess BEFORE sitting down to eat the Lord’s Supper. In a scathing rebuke, Paul told them, “Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.” After scolding them for their selfishness and indulgence, he goes on to say, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” In these words, Paul is reminding them what the Lord’s Supper is all about; it is a solemn reminder of what it cost the Lord Jesus to redeem us. It is NOT a time for feasting on all kinds of food and wine to excess! If you read on in verses 27-34, Paul writes to warn them if they do come to partake of the Lord’s Supper in an “unworthy manner” (verse 27) they will be “judged by the Lord” (verses 28-34).

Before we close, I would like to point out several other key things about the Lord’s Supper:

1) It is ONLY FOR BELIEVERS. Judas Iscariot (who was NOT a true believer) had already left the upper room BEFORE Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper (see John 13:21-30 where Judas “went out immediately” at the end of the Passover Supper). See also 2nd Corinthians 6:14-17.

2) It is often referred to as “The Breaking of Bread” (see Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7; 1st Corinthians 10:16).

3) It is not limited to the “first day of the week” (1st Corinthians 11:26 says, “For AS OFTEN as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes”).

4) It is a privilege to partake of the Lord’s Supper, but the believer is accountable to the assembly for their walk. If sin breaks out and goes unconfessed, they are subject to the discipline of the local assembly (see Matthew 18:15-17).  (DO)  (567.5)