Exploring Christian Symbols / Part 4

Exploring Christian Symbols
Part 4

THE LORD’S SUPPER

The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act to remember the redemptive death of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Him with all our heart and worship Him. The bread represents the body of Christ, and the cup the new covenant in His blood. “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” Christ Himself chose a memorial. He did not ask us to build statues or monuments. As long as we are on earth, He would like us to remember Him and His death while eating and drinking a simple symbolic meal (1 Cor. 11:24-26). Apart from representing Christ’s physical body, the one loaf also represents Christ’s spiritual body, made up of all the born-again believers on earth (1 Cor. 10:17). The Lord’s invitation to every believer is, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Do you value this invitation? Do you respond to it regularly? Do you take part in the Lord’s Supper?

Terms Used: Three terms are used for this symbolic act. Since Jesus started this symbolic meal by breaking the bread, sometimes we refer to the whole event simply as the Breaking Of Bread (Acts 2:42; 20:7). The Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:20) is another general descriptive term used to draw attention to the fact that the symbol refers to a meal, and initially an evening meal. Meals and tables are commonly used as expressions of friendship and fellowship. The term Lord’s Table (1 Cor. 10:21) is only used once in the New Testament. It is mentioned in contrast with “the table of demons.” The context makes it very clear that believers who desire to participate in the Lord’s symbolic meal must make a complete break with all satanic or demonic activity. The term “table” highlights the fellowship aspect of this symbolic act – genuine fellowship with Christ. The Lord’s Table is not the piece of furniture on which we place the bread and the cup. It is used figuratively to speak of our communion with Christ. When we participate in this memorial, we should move beyond forms and procedures and seek to have moments of true communion with Christ. These two facts – that it is the Lord’s supper and the Lord’s table – remind us that we are His guests, and He sets the rules.

Some Background: Centuries before the Lord Jesus instituted this symbolic meal of remembrance, there was a Jewish custom where friends and family would gather together to eat and drink in memory of a dead person (Jer. 16:7). We don’t know exactly what took place at these events. If, as some suggest, those gathered would eat, drink and recall together special events in the life of the dead person, this custom could share some similarities with the Lord’s Supper. But if the purpose of the meal was to mourn and comfort each other to relieve the sense of loss, this would clearly have no relation to the Lord’s Supper. The Christian symbol is a memorial, a feast, a celebration, an act of worship, an expression of gratitude. We do not mourn during the Lord’s Supper neither do we have a sense of loss, because we are participating in the presence of the living resurrected Christ (Mt. 18:20).

The Lord’s Supper And The Passover Feast: Christ chose the Passover Feast as the setting for the first symbolic supper. The disciples prepared for the Passover in an upper room, and “while they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat, this is My body.’ Then He took the cup...” (Mt. 26:19-29).

The Passover Feast and the Lord’s Supper have interesting similarities. The first Passover meal was eaten by the Israelites on the night before they left Egypt. A lamb without defect was killed. (In the Lord’s Supper we recall that Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, was killed.) The lamb’s blood applied to the door frame gave protection from judgment. (We receive forgiveness because of the blood of Christ.) The meal also marked a sovereign act of deliverance. (The death of Christ has freed us from slavery in the kingdom of darkness.)

Christ and His redemptive sacrifice stand at the historic center of these two symbolic acts: The Passover viewed Christ’s redemptive work as a future event; the Lord’s Supper now views it as a completed event (1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 9:28).

Jesus, The Bread Of Life: After feeding the 5000, Jesus and His disciples made their way to Capernaum. The next day the crowd found them and joined them in the synagogue (Jn. 6:25-59). The Lord knew that their prime desire was to get more free bread to eat. They wanted physical satisfaction. But the Lord’s desire was to awaken spiritual consciousness in them and lead them to find completeness and satisfaction in Him. “Do not work for bread that spoils,” He said, “but for food that endures for eternal life” (6:26-27). He then compared Himself with the manna, the bread that God miraculously provided to feed the Israelites in the desert (6:31-32). Jesus was calling them to come to Him and receive eternal life. Then Jesus added, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (6:53).

Was Jesus here referring to the Lord’s Supper? Probably not. Although the same words are used (eat, drink, body, blood), the context is very different. Notice that the effects of this eating and drinking are those connected with conversion: “If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever” (6:51,58); without it he will have no life in him (6:53); by eating and drinking he has eternal life and will be resurrected (6:54); he will have a relationship with Christ (6:56); he will live because of Christ (6:57). Participating in the Lord’s Supper does not cause these blessings. These are conversion blessings.

In John 6 it is more natural to understand the words “eat and drink” as equivalent to the other terms Jesus used in this passage: “come to Me,” “believe in Me,” and “looks to the Son” (6:35-40). We come to Christ once for salvation. We then “feed on Him” daily to strengthen our spiritual life. This feeding on Him includes those moments we spend together around the Lord, worshiping Him and participating of the Lord’s Supper. Our souls find their delight in Christ, a process that yields strength, joy and satisfaction – the spiritual equivalent to what happens to our body when we eat a good meal.

Joy And Freedom In Worship: The Lord’s Supper could have been designed as a “once only” event, like baptism. But knowing how we are, Christ chose a symbol that would be repeated regularly. If we have been Christians for a number of years, we know how easy it is for Christ to lose that central place in our hearts. We enjoy the blessings and slowly forget the Blesser. We get absorbed in work, studies, family and community life. Our passion for Christ can even be replaced with love for doctrine or enthusiasm for some ministry. The Lord’s Supper is a time set apart when Christ is central in our hearts and minds. In this time of relative stillness, the Spirit of God desires to rekindle love, gratitude and passion in the hearts of redeemed men and women.

During this symbolic act, we choose to stop, refocus, remember, give thanks and worship. Has your participation in the Lord’s Supper become cold and mechanical? Have you become spiritually passive during these events? Worship is not limited by talent or age. It is a genuine expression of our hearts.

Perhaps you are prone to be critical of other people’s participation during the Lord’s Supper. May I invite you to turn your attention away from them and focus on Christ? You will never enjoy collective fellowship with Christ – which is the essence of the Lord’s Table – when you focus on others. The Lord knows that we are not perfect. It is because of Christ and His grace that He seeks, receives and enjoys the worship of our sincere and redeemed hearts.

Relax, pray, sing and let the Lord lead. Surely He can do it: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17). Let’s live this freedom. We know that the Father seeks worshipers who worship Him in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:24). The Lord Jesus enjoys having those He redeemed gathered around Him, praising, thanking and worshiping Him. God the Father is pleased. And we also need these moments in the presence of Christ to warm our hearts and refocus our vision. And we need these moments regularly.

By Philip Nunn

Look for the conclusion of our study of Christian Symbols next month.