We humans seem to naturally gravitate to making things complicated. If something can be simple, our tendency is to over explain, embellish and complicate whatever it is we are dealing with. We especially do this with Biblical things.
In the New Testament we should be struck by the utter simplicity that characterized life in the early churches. While we are given a broad picture of early church life, many details or particulars are left untouched by the inspired writers of the New Testament. That lack of detail, which fuels our over complication, is troublesome for us. So what do we humans do with Biblical things? From the birth of the Church on Pentecost, the simple message of the gospel and church fellowship lost its original simplicity and became enmeshed in a quagmire of ecclesiastical machinery and theological speculation... i.e. “over complication” to the nth degree!
The Lord's Supper is a case in point. There is a simplicity about this ordinance in the New Testament, albeit sketchy. Yet in post-apostolic times the remembrance meal became embedded in hierarchical church structures so that it became a mysterious ritual to be "administered" by the "ordained," and ended up being the source of endless speculation about "what happens" in the so called "sacrament."
The evidence in the New Testament, in the book of Acts and other epistles, indicates that this remembrance meal, and the instruction which accompanied it, was a center-piece in Christian assemblies (Acts 20:7). Eating together in the "breaking of bread" and remembering the Lord in the Supper were virtually synonymous in Christian worship. Unfortunately, many things have changed in this practice since the early days. Let's explore some basic points concerning the Lord's Supper, based on 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 and compare them with our conceptions and practices.
The Historical Structure of the Supper
First of all, it will be helpful to isolate the threefold historical structure that exists in the institution of the Supper itself. Only by holding these three perspectives in proper balance can we even hope to approach the Supper correctly.
1. Remember the Past
In the Lord's Supper we remember the past. The covenant that brings us the forgiveness of sins was ratified, or "cut," by the shedding of Christ's blood. The Lord instituted the Supper on the eve of His impending death in the context of a Passover meal. "Remembrance" itself is a covenantal word. The Israelites were often commanded to "remember" God's acts of covenant faithfulness. In the Supper, Jesus has given us an ordinance by which we continually remember that our blessings were purchased by means of a costly [highest] price.
2. Enjoy the Present
In the Lord's Supper, we enjoy the present. Jesus has brought us into fellowship with others in the new covenant. When we come together "as a body of believers," we can eat as a body in the presence of the Lord Jesus. The emphasis here is on a joyous meal, a covenant celebration. Again, in the Old Testament covenantal meals which celebrated the mighty acts of God on their behalf were to be enjoyed (Exodus 24:11). The pattern of redemptive history is that celebratory meals [remembering and honoring] follow covenant enactment.
3. Look Forward to the Future
In the Supper, we look forward to the future: "you do show the Lord's death until he comes." This ordinance is to be repeated ("as often as you do it") until Christ returns. Each time we proclaim His death in the Supper, we are also reminded that He is returning. In His death, burial and resurrection Christ was removed from us physically. The Holy Spirit now gives us Christ's presence. When He returns, our faith will become sight.
Given these three dimensions - past, present, future - it is no wonder that in the early church the Lord's Supper was "the central event in Christian worship." Although there is overlap, we might rightly generalize and say that in the Supper our faith looks back to the cross (Rom. 3:25), our love for Jesus and the saints is kindled by the Spirit (Rom. 5:5), and our hope is stirred up as we long for His return (Heb. 9:28; 1 Cor. 13:13).
The Lord's Supper is a reminder of what Jesus did in the past, a symbol of our present relationship with Him and a promise of what he will do in the future.
The past dimension gives the Supper its objective character - we come together to remember the definitive work of Christ. The present dimension emphasizes the Supper's social character - in order to remember His body, we must be one body (1 Cor. 10:16,17). The future dimension recognizes the tension of Christian experience - we enjoy now only the first-fruits, and long for the full harvest (Rom. 8:18,23).
The bread and wine are memorials of Jesus' death on the cross (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:26). In the Lord's Supper, we each eat a piece of bread in remembrance of Jesus. When we drink the "fruit of the vine," we remember that Jesus' blood was shed for us, and that it signifies the new covenant. The Lord's Supper looks back to the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Jesus' death shows how much God loves us — so much that he sent his Son to die for us, so that our sins may be forgiven and we may look forward to the promise of eternal life. This is good news for us personally, although we should be deeply saddened by the enormous price that had to be paid for us.
Christians look back to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as the defining moment in all of human history. This is how “one who believes” escape death and the slavery of sin, and this is how “followers of Christ” are freed to serve the Lord. The Lord's Supper is a memorial of this defining moment, a turning point, in history.
The Lord's Supper also pictures our present relationship with Jesus Christ. The crucifixion has a continuing significance to all who have taken up a cross to follow Jesus. We continue to participate in his death (Rom. 6:4; Gal. 2:20; Col. 2:20) because we participate in his life (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:6; Col. 2:13; 3:1). We begin the journey at our baptism and we live the journey until our death or His glorious return.
Paul wrote, "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10:16). With the Lord's Supper, we show that we share in Jesus Christ. We participate with Him, commune with Him, become united in Him. The Lord's Supper helps us look upward [heavenward], to Christ.
In John 6, Jesus used bread and wine to graphically illustrate our need to be spiritually nourished by him: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.... Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him" (verses 53-56). The Lord's Supper reminds us that real life is found only in Jesus Christ, with him living in us.
When we are aware that Jesus lives in us, we also pause to think what kind of home we are giving Him. What kind of life are you living? We must allow him to change our lives so that we live the way he wants us to. Paul wrote, "A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup" (1 Cor. 11:28). The Lord's Supper helps us look inward, to examine ourselves because of the serious implications of this remembrance and the foreshadowing of His return.
As we examine ourselves, we need to look around, to other people, to see whether we are treating one another in the way that Jesus commanded. If you are united with Christ and I am united with Christ, then we are united to each other, whether we like that or not, it is Christ’s expectation that we care for one another through thick and thin. The Lord's Supper, by picturing our participation in Christ, also pictures our participation (other translations say communion or sharing or fellowship) with each other (1 John 1:3, 7). Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 10:17, "Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf." The Lord's Supper pictures the fact that we are “one body” in Christ, “one with each other” with responsibilities toward one another.
The Lord's Supper is rich in meaning. That is why it has been an important part of the Christian tradition throughout the centuries. Over complication has made it a lifeless ritual, done more out of habit than with meaning. Some have overreacted to the complications put upon its simplicity by stopping the celebration entirely. The better response to God, is to restore the meaning and live by its past, present and future.
