What is the Lord's Supper?

The Church & Christian LifeIn theological review

The short answer

It is the meal Jesus gave his church on the night he was betrayed: bread broken as his body given for us, a cup taken as the new covenant in his blood, eaten and drunk together in remembrance of him until he returns. Paul hands it on as something he received from the Lord, and the first church devoted itself to the breaking of bread as it did to teaching and prayer.

The fuller answer

Paul passes on what he received from the Lord himself: on the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said, This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me. The cup follows the same pattern, the new covenant in his blood. The meal is first of all a memory with food: the church eats and drinks its way back to the cross, together, until he comes.

and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

1 Corinthians 11:24 (BSB)

Notice that the verb is plural throughout. The breaking of bread stands in Acts alongside teaching, fellowship, and prayer as one of the things the first church devoted itself to, in common. A private snack of bread and juice at home is not what either text describes. The Supper is the family's table, where the members examine themselves, wait for one another, and proclaim the Lord's death as one body.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Acts 2:42 (BSB)

Christians have argued for centuries over what happens at the table: whether the bread and cup become Christ's body and blood, whether he is present in a spiritual way, or whether the meal is a memorial pure and simple. This page does not settle that argument. What no reading of Paul can avoid is his seriousness: the Supper is communion with Christ and with his people, not a snack, not a show, and not to be taken lightly.

Sources

Berean Standard Bible (BSB)

Review status: in-theological-review. Every Contend page passes a human theological review against the Statement of Faith before it is published as approved teaching. This section is in that queue.

Dig deeper

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What is the church?The church is the people of God, not a building, a brand, or an audience. Jesus called it my church, promised to build it himself, and the first picture of it is a community devoted to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. If you belong to Christ, you already belong to his church. The local congregation is where that belonging takes flesh.Why should I go to church?Because the Christian faith was never designed to be lived alone, and the Bible says so in terms of habit and health, not preference. The first believers devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer, together. Hebrews warns against neglecting to meet, not because God needs attendance figures, but because encouragement needs a room, a table, and other people.What is baptism?Baptism is the sign Christ gave his church of washing, burial, and resurrection. In it a believer is plunged under water and raised again, picturing what Paul describes: buried with Christ through baptism into death, raised to walk in newness of life. It is done in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and it marks a person as Christ's before the watching world.