The Lord’s Supper: A Holy Remembrance and Humble Examination

The Lord’s Supper: A Holy Remembrance and Humble Examination

"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. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." — 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 (KJB)

The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper is a sacred observance established for the purpose of remembrance. It is not a mere ritual or a social tradition, but a spiritual act where believers look backward to the cross and forward to His return. According to the King James Bible, we do this to "shew the Lord's death till he come." The bread represents His body, broken for us, and the cup represents the New Testament in His blood. By partaking, we are publicly testifying that our life and salvation are found entirely in the finished work of Jesus Christ. This is the "why" of the ordinance: to keep the sacrifice of Christ at the forefront of the believer’s mind and the church’s mission.

The setting for this ordinance is any gathering of believers where the Lord is honored. While often observed in a formal church service, the power of the ordinance lies not in the architecture of a building, but in the humble hearts of those gathered. Whether the assembly is large or small, formal or informal, the requirement remains the same: it must be a gathering characterized by unity and a recognition of the Lord's presence. When believers come together to eat this bread and drink this cup, they are acting as "one body," and therefore their hearts must be aligned with the holiness of the One they are remembering.

The Lord’s Supper Today

The Lord’s Supper Today

When we look at the Lord’s Supper, we must rightly divide between the kingdom program for Israel and the revelation given to Paul for the Body of Christ. In the Gospels, the Supper was instituted by the Lord on the night He was betrayed, and for Israel it was directly tied to the Passover. It pointed forward to the coming kingdom where Christ promised He would drink the cup “new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” For them, it was a covenant meal, anticipating earthly blessings and the reign of Christ on earth.

Paul, however, gives us a different perspective. He is the only apostle who directly instructs the Body of Christ about the Supper, and he does not connect it to Israel’s Passover or their covenant hope. Instead, he presents it as a memorial of Christ’s death, the very foundation of our salvation, and tells us to proclaim His death until He comes. The focus is not on covenant promises but on the cross and its meaning for us today.

This is why Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 about partaking “unworthily.” The issue is not whether we are personally worthy—none of us are in ourselves—but whether we treat the Supper lightly or as common. In Corinth, believers were abusing it, turning it into a feast, dividing by class, and dishonoring Christ. Paul’s correction was to restore its spiritual meaning: to remember His body and blood given for us.