THE LORD'S SUPPER

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

MATTHEW 26:26-29 KJV

The Bible teaches that the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion is one of the ordinances that the church must obey because through it we commemorate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; the bread represents his body and the wine his blood. The bread cut into pieces tells us that the Lord's body was crushed for our sins (Is. 53:5), and the wine tells us about the blood of the new covenant that was shed for the forgiveness of sins.

The night the Lord was betrayed, he instructed his disciples to celebrate the Supper in memory of Him (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24-25); For this reason, we must obey this instruction by periodically celebrating the Supper, in the order and with the guidelines that the Bible indicates (Matt. 28:20; John 8:31; 1 John 3:22)

1. THE FIGURE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, EXODUS 12

5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. (Ex. 12:5-8 KJV)

Before Israel left Egypt, the Lord told Moses that the people should participate in the Passover, in which a lamb without blemish should be sacrificed, the blood of the sacrifice should be sprinkled on the door and window lintels, roasted and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter boils. They were also to eat it with their loins girded up, with their shoes on, and with the staff in their hand.

From that moment on, every time the Israelites celebrated the Passover, they remembered how God had freed them with a powerful hand from the slavery of Egypt, until He took them to Canaan.

Similarly, the Lord's Supper now reminds us of how God saved us from slavery of the devil and sin through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in us to free us, restore us, and lead us to abundant life.

2. THE BREAD AND THE WINE, MARK 14:12-26; LUKE 22:7-20; JOHN 6:48-66; 13:1-30; 1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-34

22 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. 23 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. 24 And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. 25 Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. 26 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. (Mark 14:22-26 JKV)

Every time we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we are announcing the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus until He returns for us (1 Cor. 11:26)

We must pay attention to that fact the Lord commands us to celebrate his death and not his birth, because the celebration that takes place in the world of his supposed birth is a pagan feast.

Let us look at some of the biblical teachings about bread and wine:

A. The meaning of bread, John 6:55

The Bible explains that Jesus is the bread of life and the living bread that came down from heaven, therefore those of us who eat of him do not die, but live forever (John 6:48; 6:50-51, 58)

The bread we eat at the Lord's Supper represents death, that is, the death that the Lord suffered to pay for our sins.

Just as the bread was broken so that all the disciples could eat from it; after the Lord was crucified and descended into the lake of fire, His body was cut into pieces and ground for our sins (1 Cor. 11:23-24; Is. 53:5)

The bread also represents communion with the body of Christ, that is, communion with our brothers in the faith; which teaches us that no Christian can be independent of his brothers, because since we are one body we need each other (1 Cor. 10:16-17).

B. The meaning of wine, John 6:55

The wine represents the blood of the Lord Jesus that was shed for the forgiveness of sins, to give us life and peace with God (Heb. 9:22; Col. 1:20).

Wine represents the life and resurrection of the Lord, for he conquered death (Heb. 2:14)

The Bible shows that the Lord shed his blood several times, each of them containing many blessings for us1; the blood shed on the cross is the new covenant that expired the old covenant made with Israel (Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20).

The blood of the Lord cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7), purifies us (Heb. 9:13; 22), frees us (Eph. 1:7; Heb. 9:12), and also makes us fit for every good work (Heb. 13:20-21).

Although the blood of Jesus Christ was shed for redemption, the Israelites asked for the blood to fall on them for condemnation when they said "His blood be on us, and on our children" (Matt. 27:24-25).

It is important to clarify that the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper are not transformed into the body and blood of the Lord (transubstantiation), but only represent his body and blood (consubstan-tiation)

3. THE GUIDELINES FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE LORD'S SUPPER, 1 CORINTHIANS 11

26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. (1 Cor. 11:26-29 KJV)

To participate in the Lord's Supper in the order that God has established, we must pay attention to the instructions that the Bible gives us for it; let's see at some of them:

A. Celebrate it periodically, 1 Corinthians 11:26

The Bible does not indicate the minimum or maximum number of times to participate, but it does establish that it should be done periodically.

B. Eating bread and wine, 1 Corinthians 11:26

The Bible establishes that we must eat bread and wine, not only bread because it represents death and not only wine, but both, bread and wine.

C. We must participate without excess, 1 Corinthians 11:21

The Corinthian church made the mistake of falling into excesses, for some took their food and were satiated, others went hungry and some even got drunk.

D. We must eat worthily, discerning the Body of the Lord, 1 Corinthians 11:27, 29

The Bible teaches us that we should not eat the Lord's Supper unworthily1, that is, we should not eat it treating the bread and wine with irreverence or as something common and ordinary, without keeping in mind its profound meaning.

When the Christian eats and drinks the Lord's Supper unworthily, he is guilty2 of the Lord's body and blood; that is, he is under the penal effects of having eaten it unworthily.

To eat the Supper worthily we must discern3 the body of the Lord, that is, we must recognize that it is not just any bread or any wine that we are going to eat, because they represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

E. We must examine ourselves, 1 Corinthians 11:28, 31

Before participating in the Supper we must test1 ourselves and examine4 ourselves, that is, we must take care of our spiritual state, our faults and not of others (Matt. 7:3) to come to terms with the Lord, ask for mercy and forgive us; and be approved by Him.

F. We must wait for one another, 1 Corinthians 11:33

Before eating the Lord's Supper we should wait for one another, because we are one body, so as not to make the mistakes of the Corinthian church, who for some time were disorderly and irreverent in celebrating the Lord's Supper.

4. SOME BENEFITS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER, JOHN 6:53-56

53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. (John 6:53-56 JKV)

The Bible shows that there are many benefits that we receive when we participate orderly and worthily in the Lord's Supper; some of them are:

A. We have life zoe, eternal life and we will rise again, John 6:51-54

B. We abide in the Lord, John 6:56

C. We will be living, John 6:57

D. Our spiritual eyes are opened to recognize the Lord, Luke 24:30-31

E. We are strengthened, healed and have life, 1 Corinthians 11:30

F. We will not be judged or condemned with the world, 1 Corinthians 11:31-32

G. We will be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:48

The Lord's Supper is a feast of liberation and blessing that is prepared for the people of God; to put ourselves to accounts and seek communion with Him; therefore we must eat it with devotion and joy of receiving His blessings.

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