downloadTheology & History
The Lord's Supper, Part I (Biblical)
Protestants commonly use the term Lord's Supper for the act of worship that centers about the table of the Lord. The Lord's Supper originated with Jesus' last supper with his disciples, in the context of the Passover, and shares with the Passover the theme of the Lord's deliverance of Israel. As interpreted in the Gospels and by Paul, the Lord's Supper is symbolic of Christ's death, a memorial that places the worshiper at the Cross. It is the ratification of the covenant between the Lord and the people of God, an emblem of the communion or mutual participation of all members of the body of Christ. The Supper is a proclamation of the gospel and a symbol of faith in Christ.
Introduction
The expression "Lord's Supper" (kuriakon deipnon) occurs only once in the New Testament (1 Cor. 11:20), where it refers not only to the special Christian rite of breaking the bread and drinking the cup, but also to the "love feast" that accompanied it. The expression "breaking of bread," found several times in Acts (Acts 2:42; 20:7, 11), may be another reference to the Lord's Supper; certainly it became so in the subsequent history of the church. Later names for the Supper, such as Eucharist or Communion, are not used in the technical sense in the New Testament. The former, however, is derived from Jesus' act of thanksgiving (euchariste) before offering the cup to his disciples (Mark 14:23) and the latter from 1 Corinthians 10:16, where Paul writes of the "communion" (koin'nia) of the body and blood of Christ. The Lord's Supper, by whatever name, began with the Last Supper of Jesus and his friends before his death. The principal texts dealing with this subject are Matthew 26:26–29, Mark 14:22–25, Luke 22:14–20, and 1 Corinthians 11:23–26. Apart from Paul and the synoptic Gospels, the New Testament is virtually silent on the rite of the Lord's Supper, although allusions to it may be present in John 6:22–59; Acts 2:46; 20:7, 11; Hebrews 6:4; 13:10; 2 Peter 2:13; Jude 12; and Revelation 14:15–20. The early church may have felt a need to keep its central act of worship a "mystery" or secret hidden from the prying eyes of a hostile culture; the general silence of the New Testament could also mean that the Lord's Supper was well known, at least within the church, and it was unnecessary to mention it except where disorders called for clarification.The Lord's Supper and Passover
Whether Jesus' last supper with the disciples was an actual Passover meal (and there is some question in this regard with respect to the interpretation of the Gospel accounts), his words instituting the new Christian meal were spoken in the context of the Passover celebration and may be understood accordingly. The liturgy of the Passover began as the presiding person (usually the family head) pronounced a blessing (kiddush) over the first cup of wine, which at Passover was always red. After he and the others present had drunk the cup, they took bitter herbs and ate them after dipping them in a fruit sauce (haroset). Next came the explanation of the feast as the food for the meal was brought in. The son asked his father why this night differed from other nights, and the father explained why the different foods were eaten: the Passover lamb because God passed over the house of our fathers in Egypt (Exod. 12:26–27), the unleavened bread because our fathers were redeemed from Egypt (Exod. 12:39), and the bitter herbs because the Egyptians embittered the lives of our fathers in Egypt (Exod. 1:14). After this the family or group sang the first part of the Hallel (Ps. 113 or Pss. 113–114). Then came the drinking of a second cup, after which the president took unleavened bread and blessed God with these words: "Blessed art thou who bringest forth bread from the earth." He then broke it and distributed it to the guests. At this point the meal proper was consumed, ending with another prayer by the president, a prayer of thanksgiving for the meal pronounced over a third cup of wine, "the cup of blessing" (cf. 1 Cor. 10:16 nasb). After supper the group sang the remainder of the Hallel, through Psalm 118. The liturgy concluded with a fourth cup of wine, taken to celebrate God's kingdom.Jesus' Words of Institution
It is not possible to be certain exactly what Jesus said when, following the Passover ceremony, he singled out the bread and the cup of wine for special consideration and reinterpretation. The principal texts that relate his words do not agree in every detail and have been translated into Greek from Jesus' original expressions in a Semitic language. When all sources are woven together, the words over the bread take the following form: "Take (Matthew, Mark), eat (Matthew), this is my body (Matthew, Mark, Luke, Paul), which is given for you. Do this for my remembrance (Luke's longer text, Paul)." The saying over the cup is also recorded variously: "All of you drink from it, for (Matthew) this (Matthew, Mark, Luke, Paul) cup (Luke, Paul) is my blood of the covenant (Matthew, Mark; 'is the new covenant in my blood,' Luke, Paul), which is poured out (Matthew, Mark, Luke) for many (Matthew, Mark; 'for you,' Luke) for the remission of sins (Matthew). Do this as often as you drink it for my remembrance (Paul)." These cup words are followed immediately in Matthew and Mark by Jesus' promise not to drink again of the fruit of the vine until he drinks it new with his disciples in the kingdom of God. The same eschatological hope is found also in Paul, though worded differently, and he too places it after the cup saying. Luke, on the other hand, couples the promise not to drink of the fruit of the vine with a similar promise not to eat again of the Passover until its real meaning is fulfilled in the kingdom, and he places both these sayings before the words spoken over the bread and the cup. Essentially, then, there seem to be two accounts that are independent of each other—that represented by Mark and that of Paul. It is difficult, and perhaps unnecessary, to know which is older, for there are "primitive" elements in each. And despite all the minor differences between the accounts, they are in substantial agreement.Meaning of the Lord's Supper in the Synoptic Gospels
A Symbol of Christ's Death
The bread and wine of the Last Supper are a symbol of the Lord's body and blood, a symbol of his death: "This is my body given," Jesus said, "This is my blood poured out." The verb is need not mean "is equivalent to"; often it conveys merely the idea of represents or signifies (as in the interpretation of the parables, Matt. 13:38; cf. John 10:9, 14). It would have been almost impossible for Jesus to have equated the bread with his body and the wine with his blood, and then have asked his Jewish disciples to eat and drink. It is more likely that they viewed Jesus in the tradition of the prophets of Israel and interpreted his words and actions accordingly. As the prophets had predicted future events by symbolic and dramatic actions (1 Kings 21:11; Jer. 19:1–11; Ezek. 4:3), so Jesus broke the bread and took the cup as an acted parable to denote his impending death and to point out its meaning. Several other ideas cluster around this basic symbolism of the Last Supper.A Substitutionary Death
The Lord interpreted his death as a substitutionary event, one of self-giving in behalf of others, universal in scope: "This is my body given for you"; "this is my blood poured out for many." This "many" is not to be understood as a limiting expression, in the sense of "some, but not all." It is a Semitic way of contrasting the many with the one, resulting in the meaning "all" (cf. Matt. 10:28 with 1 Tim. 2:6; Rom. 5:18 with Rom. 5:19).Ratification of the New Covenant
Jesus further interpreted his death as the means of ratifying the new covenant proclaimed by Jeremiah (Jer. 31:31–34). This may be observed in his words, "my blood of the covenant" (Mark 14:24), which are almost identical with those of Exodus 24:8, where the ratification of the old covenant with Israel is recorded. But the addition of the pronoun my indicates that Jesus placed his blood in contrasting position to that of the covenant-inaugurating animal sacrifice of the Old Testament and that he viewed his death as fulfilling and bringing to an end the old covenant and as the supreme sacrifice necessary to introduce the new and give it permanent validity.A Means of Forgiveness
There are also elements in the account of the Supper that indicate that Jesus interpreted his death as the consummate act of the Servant of the Lord described in the prophecy of Isaiah. This is particularly clear in Matthew, who adds the words "for the forgiveness of sins" to the saying about Jesus' blood poured out (Matt. 26:28; cf. Isa. 53:12: "He poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors").Passover Themes: Deliverance, Messianic Anticipation
Perhaps the most obvious meanings attached to the Lord's Supper are those associated with the Passover, since apparently the Lord's Supper originated in a Passover context. In the first century, Passover was in reality a celebration of two events: it looked back to commemorate Israel's deliverance from the oppression of Egypt (Exod. 12:14, 17; Mishnah, Psaim 10.5), and it looked forward to anticipate the coming messianic kingdom (Mishnah, Psaim 10.6; cf. Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, Mkhilta, Exod. 12:42; Rabbah, Exod. 15:1). Two themes are prominent in the narrative of the Last Supper. Selecting only two elements from the liturgy of the Passover—the unleavened bread and the cup after the meal—Jesus seemed to be saying, "As Israel was spared from death at the hand of the destroying angel and delivered from servitude to Pharaoh by the death of the Passover lamb and the sprinkling of its blood, so you are spared from eternal death and freed from slavery to sin by my body broken and my blood poured forth." In Jesus' action, the original meaning of the Passover has been superseded. Christ is the Paschal Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7), and by his death becomes the author of a new exodus, the Redeemer of an enslaved people. Such, at least, was the understanding of the early church, an understanding most beautifully expressed in a sermon of Melito, Bishop of Sardis (died c. a.d. 190): For this one, who was led away as a lamb, and who was sacrificed as a sheep, by himself delivered us from servitude to the world as from the land of Egypt, and released us from bondage to the devil and from the hand of Pharaoh, and sealed our souls by his own Spirit, and the members of our bodies by his own blood. This is the one who covered death with shame and who plunged the Devil into mourning as Moses did Pharaoh. This is the one who smote lawlessness, and deprived injustice of its offspring as Moses deprived Egypt. This is the one who delivered us from slavery into freedom, from darkness into light, from death into life, from tyranny into an eternal kingdom, and who made us a new priesthood and a special people forever. This is the passover of our salvation. (Homily, 67, 68)The other theme of eschatological expectancy is also present in the Lord's Supper. It is found in Jesus' promise not to eat the Passover or drink the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall have arrived. This promise is not a word of despair but a note of joy. Jesus sees beyond the darkness of Calvary to that time when he would share with his disciples the messianic banquet and enjoy with them the life of the age to come (cf. Isa. 25:6–8).
Massey H. Shepherd has summarized the meanings of the Last Supper in these words: "Thus Jesus offered his disciples in the Supper a full participation in the atoning benefits of his own self-offering on the cross—deliverance from the bondage of this world, remission of sins, incorporation into the new people of God, an inner obedience of the heart to the will of God, and the joy and benediction of his presence and fellowship in the age to come."