It was on the night of His betrayal that the Lord Jesus Christ gathered His disciples together and gave them instructions as to the celebration of the Supper.
The Passover was finished. At that table Jesus sat as one of them, but Judas had gone out. The Lord rose, assumed the position of host, established the Lord's Supper, and dispensed the elements, for "the Lord Jesus…took bread…when he had given thanks he brake it", and "After the same manner also he took the cup" (1 Cor 11.23-24). The act of breaking bread and drinking wine was not new, but there was to be a new principle in it, and Christ invested it with a fresh meaning.
In this way the Lord gave us a memorial to remind us of His sacrificial offering. In using the words, "This is my body…This cup…is my blood", we are not to take the utterance literally, but symbolically as in many other places such as John 10.9, "I am the door", and John 15.5, "I am the vine".
As we break the bread it reminds us of a body that under the judgment of God was broken for us. The wine speaks of the poured out life of the Son of God and the shedding of that precious blood that cleansed us from the guilt of sin.
Luke 22.19 tells us that Jesus commanded that we were to do this. Paul (1 Cor 11.24-25) repeats this statement and it is therefore our sacred responsibility to carry out the wish of the Lord. Attendance upon this becomes an acid test of our obedience for He said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (Jn 14.15).
There are six vital points to which Paul's letter calls attention (1 Cor 10-11).
The Lord's Supper is:
1. An act of remembrance - its object: "This do in remembrance of me" (11.24).
2. An act of testimony - its meaning: "Ye do shew the Lord's death" (11.26).
3. An act of thanksgiving - its character: "When he had given thanks" (11.24).
4. An act of communion - its hallowed experience: "The communion of the blood of Christ"; "The communion of the body of Christ" (10.16).
5. An act of responsibility - its necessary exercise: "Let a man examine himself" (11.28).
6. An act of anticipation - its joyous outlook: "Till he come" (11.26).
The first three are doctrinal and illuminating in their reading.
The last three are practical and stimulating in their results.
Concluded.
