As an advocate of frequent observance of the Lord’s Supper, I think it’s important to consider a variety of the themes that are found in it’s meaning. In fact, I think highlighting these different themes can help broaden the understanding of a church. Below are a few of the themes that are found when we partake…
(1) The Death of Christ – When we participate in the Lord’s Supper we remember the death of Christ because our actions give a picture of His substitutionary death for us. When the bread is broken, we remember the breaking of Christ’s body, and when the cup is poured out it symbolizes the pouring out of Christ’s blood for us.
(2) Forgiveness of Sins – The author of Hebrews wrote, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb. 9:22). Thus, the Lord’s Supper reminds believers that their sins are forgiven due to Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross.
(3) Renewal – The Lord’s Supper provides both vertical and horizontal renewal. By properly partaking of the Lord’s Supper, believers publically renew their commitment to Christ. By partaking, believers affirm their faith in Christ. In fact, the Lord’s Supper proclaims the gospel, as it is focused on and serves as a remembrance for the death of Christ. Since it provides spiritual nourishment and refreshment, it is fitting to refer to it in terms of renewal. Yet the renewal is not just towards Christ. The Lord’s Supper also provides renewal for our commitment to Christ’s church. Both 1 Cor. 10:16-17 and 11:29 indicate that there is a connection between the Lord’s Supper and church unity. Finally, by celebrating the Lord’s Supper, Christians renew their commitment to Christ’s work and His future return (1 Cor. 11:26). Hammet notes:
“The renewal called for by the Lord’s Supper thus looks back to the past in remembrance, looks around in the present to the fellowship we experience with Christ and the body of believers, and looks ahead to the consummation, when Christ returns.” (John S. Hammett, Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches, p. 283)
(4) Thanksgiving – While partaking of the Lord’s Supper, believers are to be thankful for Christ’s work on the cross. Furthermore, we are reminded that Christ Himself thanked the Father when He broke bread. Thus, the “Eucharist” (thanksgiving) reminds us of God’s grace.
(5) Eschatological Expectation and Anticipation – Isaiah indicated that there would one day be an eschatological banquet feast (Isaiah 25:6-8). When He instituted the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus reminded His disciples of this idea by saying, “For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God… I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes” (Luke 22:16, 18). Paul built on this theme when he wrote that “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). Finally, at the end of the age, we are told that believers will be encouraged to “rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come” (Rev. 19:7). When we fellowship at the Lord’s Table, we prophetically proclaim and experience a picture of what will one day occur when Jesus returns.
Luke is a pastor-theologian living in northern California, serving as a co-lead pastor with his life, Dawn, at the Red Bluff Vineyard. Father of five amazing kids, when Luke isn’t hanging with his family, reading or writing theology, he moonlights as a fly fishing guide for Confluence Outfitters. He blogs regularly at LukeGeraty.com and regularly contributes to his YouTube channel.
Good stuff man! Do you guys observe the supper weekly?
I don’t think the reasons given in (3) hold up, in the attempt to support “vertical and horizontal renewal.” My two cents on it, with an explanation of what’s renewed and new. In short, the verses given don’t support it, nor does saying the same thing multiple times support whatever we say, nor quoting others who don’t support what they say. Best to support our stuff, brother, as you did in 1,2,4,5. (This is all just “what I think,” subject to anyone’s corrections 😉
Writing it out in longhand, definitionally, if we think of “renewal” as in what happens when we renew a book, the Lord’s Supper doesn’t do that, in the sense of ‘no renewal, no book anymore.’ Best to look at our presuppositions, and whether we really believe Jn 4:14: that what Christ gives us at the beginning has something in it that happens repeatedly and forever — renewal! — after someone “drinks the water that I will give him,” that water itself “will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life,” i.e. the renewal from then on is already present on the inside. If anyone is in Christ, a new creation, 2 Cor 5.
So instead of catering to the near-universal anxiety about future imbibement (like that which plagued the Israelites after the Exodus … notice the “springs” language before all that complaining, in Ex 15:27 ), the Lord’s Supper has a better function, the proclamation you mentioned. wherein lies the “renewal” — The proclamation is of what is already known by us, 1 Cor 11:26, so it is a renewed reminder to one another, that our Lord died, and yet is coming. It is a renewed reminder to one another of Christ, the source of our already-functioning renewal, from the inside out as Larry Crabb once said.
But in unbelief, the Israelites didn’t trust God, despite what He already did for them (Nm 14:11). Let’s not be like Moses in his weakness who catered to their demand to ‘show me the money!’ (water, Nm 20:10). Rather, It is we, some renewed new peeps, that provide proclamation of the renewal, proclaiming that it is in Christ, to one another and to the world.
But you’re apt to say, “sure, sure, assuming all that, all that view of yours, instead, show me why I didn’t support my view. I used verses.” OK. In retrograde, compared to the constructive part, here goes.
Is the Lord’s Supper a participation, a la 1 Cor 10:16-17, in the present moment, in the Lord’s body and blood, or is it a renewal of our commitment to participate? What would you rather have repeatedly toward any good thing xyz, a participation in xyz, or a renewal of your commitment to partcipate in xyz? Certain, we cannot co-opt real participation in the body and blood of Christ by saying that it’s merely a renewal of our commitment to participate. Talk (1 Cor 4:20), or the real deal?
As for the other Bad Lord’s Suppers can ruin church unity, in the verse you referenced, 11:29. Because a sin can ruin X, doesn’t mean that not sinning is what renews X. Oops! I’m gonna post this, though it’s a little sketchy! Lord bless.