What is The Lord's Supper?
John 6:25–58
The Lord’s Supper is an enacted metaphor of John 6 in which believers participate in Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice by faith—identifying with it, appropriating its benefits, internalizing them, and expressing ongoing dependence and unity—functioning as a means of grace through the Holy Spirit.
Outline
- Jesus as the bread of life in John 6 (eating = believing)
- Institution in Luke 22 as enacted metaphor
- Participation in the body and blood (1 Corinthians 10)
- Communal meal and unity
- Means of grace through the Spirit
- Distinction from other views of the Supper
Themes: Lord’s Supper · Enacted Metaphor · Participation · Means of Grace · Faith · Identification · Appropriation · Unity · Remembrance · Abiding
Key Cross-References: John 6:25-58, Luke 22:15-20, 1 Corinthians 5:7, 1 Corinthians 10:15-21, 1 Corinthians 11:20-29, Hebrews 10:11-13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14, Romans 5:10, Galatians 4:5
MANUSCRIPT
Good morning everyone, please open your Bibles to John 6. Now, although we’ve already preached through this chapter, I’d like to take another look with the specific purpose of preparing our hearts for the Lord’s Supper.
There are differing positions on the significance of the Lord’s Supper, and what is actually happening when we partake, so I think it's important for us as a church to ensure we have a thoroughly biblical understanding of the ordinance.
For instance, the Catholic church slowly developed the doctrine of transubstantiation, teaching that at the moment of consecration by the priest, the substance of the bread and wine is supernaturally transformed into the physical body and blood of Christ, while the outward appearances of bread and wine remain; thus, the faithful literally eat Christ’s physical flesh and drink His physical blood under the forms of bread and wine. This, they believe, is a re-presentation of the sacrifice of Christ to the Father, who then grants forgiveness and grace to those who partake. [CCC 1373–1377; Council of Trent, Session 13].
Some Lutheran traditions, in contrast, hold to what they call sacramental union, teaching that Christ’s true body and blood are really, substantially present “in, with, and under” the bread and wine—without the substance of the elements changing—so that believers receive both the physical bread and wine and the actual body and blood of Christ in the same act, with grace received through faith in the promise attached to the sacrament [Luther, Small Catechism; Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration VII].
The Reformed tradition, following Calvin and the Westminster Confession, teaches a spiritual presence view: the bread and wine remain bread and wine, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, faithful partakers are lifted up to feed on Christ in heaven—truly, really, and spiritually (though not physically or locally) partaking of His body and blood through faith; the Supper is thus a means of grace wherein Christ is offered and received, strengthening believers in union with Him [Westminster Confession 29.7; Heidelberg Catechism Q. 75–79; Calvin, Institutes 4.17.10–11].
Finally, the memorialist view (often associated with Ulrich Zwingli and held by many Baptists and Bible churches) teaches that the Lord’s Supper is a divinely instituted ordinance in which the bread and wine remain unchanged and serve solely as symbolic reminders of Christ’s body given and blood shed on the cross; when believers partake, they obey Christ’s command to “do this in remembrance of me,” publicly proclaim His death until He comes, and confess their faith in the gospel, with no conveyance of grace through the elements themselves but rather through the act of obedient remembrance and reflection on the finished work of Christ [1 Cor 11:24–26].
What I would like to do this morning is look at some key passages, relevant to the Lord’s Supper, and see if we can arrive at a biblical understanding of the ordinance. Our ultimate goal isn’t to decide which of the views outlined should be adopted, but to adopt a biblical understanding of the Lord’s Supper and perhaps recognize which of the positions best reflects what the Bible says. We may even find that none of the positions offers a comprehensive understanding of the ordinance.
Let’s begin in John 6. By beginning here we are already distinguishing ourselves from the memorialist view which does not see a connection between John 6 and the Lord’s Supper.
JESUS IS THE BREAD OF LIFE
A little bit of context - John 6 opens with Jesus miraculously feeding over five thousand people with just five loaves of bread and two fish. The crowd, awestruck and eager to make Him king by force, pursues Him across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum [vv. 16–24]. By morning, the crowd arrives in Capernaum, still seeking Jesus, not because they have come to believe that he is the sent Son of God and only source of ternal life, but because he provided bread for them, and they want more. This sets the stage for Jesus to redirect their focus from physical bread to Himself as the true bread from heaven who gives eternal life. Look at verses 25-27:
John 6:25-27 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
Here Jesus begins to introduce a metaphor. He introduces the idea of “food” which endures to eternal life. It’s “food” that, he says, “the Son of Man” will give. Whereas they were pursuing Jesus for physical food (bread) that perishes, he tells them that they should shift their priorities and work instead for the food that gives eternal life.
Then, after telling them that they should work for the food that he gives, that results in eternal life, he clarifies what it means to “work” for that food. He says in verse 29 in answer to their question, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”:
John 6:29 … “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
So, what do we know so far? We know that Jesus gives eternal life, and that this eternal life is given to those who believe in him (27, 29). He’s couched these spiritual truths in the metaphor of consuming food.
As the conversation continues, Jesus enriches this metaphor with further detail.
In verse 31, the crowd reveals that their minds are still on physical food. They cite God’s provision, in the Old Testament, of manna (or bread from heaven), which sustained the Israelites when they had no food. Let’s read it, and see Jesus’ response:
John 6:31-33 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
As I said, Jesus begins to further enrich his metaphor. Here it’s not just “food” that gives eternal life, but it is “bread.” He is the true bread from heaven. Unlike the temporary bread that gave physical sustenance for a time, He has come down from heaven, from the Father to give eternal life to the world. He is the greater manna.
The question then arises; how can one receive this bread? How can one benefit from what this bread gives? How can one have the eternal life that this bread provides? In response to their request for this bread, Jesus answers in verse 35:
John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Now, when we think about food, we think about eating. If you want the benefits of what the bread can give, you have to consume it. In Jesus’ metaphor, where he presents himself as the bread who gives eternal life, what stands in the place of “eating?” Has he presented himself figuratively as bread, and then gone on to say that he should be literally eaten? What does it say?
He says that it is those who ‘come to me’ who shall not hunger and those who ‘believe in me’ who shall never thirst. Where we would expect him to talk about eating so that one no longer hungers, and drinking so that one no longer thirsts, he has replaced eating with ‘coming to him’ and drinking with ‘believing in him.’
In other words, if anyone would receive the life-giving benefits that he gives, they must come and believe in him. When they do, their spiritual needs will forever be met. The spiritual benefits that he offers are received, not by physical eating, but by faith, or belief. To get this wrong here is simply to misunderstand the metaphor.
We should be careful to allow Jesus’ metaphor to be fully developed and not settle for some hybrid of metaphorical and literal interpretation. As if to receive spiritual benefits, we must physically eat. If someone wants the health benefits of bread, do they come to it and believe in it? No, they eat it. Likewise, if someone wants the spiritual benefits that Jesus gives, do they physically eat him? No, they believe in him. The corollary to eating the bread is coming to Jesus. The corollary to drinking is believing in him. He wants us to see the spiritual truths behind metaphor.
Let’s illustrate this further. Look at verse 54:
John 6:54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Who has eternal life? Those who feed on Jesus’ flesh and drink his blood. What will he do for them? He will raise them up on the last day. Now look at verse 40:
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Who has eternal life? Those who look on the Son and believe in him. What will he do for them? He will raise them up on the last day. Again, we find the metaphor of verse 54 interpreted in verse 40. To eat and drink is to look and believe. It is to come to Jesus and believe in him.
Again, we must allow the metaphor to fully develop. There is no physical act which results in the spiritual benefits. There is no physical eating for eternal life. There is no physical drinking for spiritual benefits. Eating and drinking are interpreted by belief – believing in Jesus.
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
Nevertheless, Jesus has wrapped these powerful spiritual truths in the metaphor of food and eating.
THE BREAD IS HIS FLESH GIVEN
Now, I want you to notice something else. Beginning in verse 51, we see that Jesus gives us further insight into what it means that he is the bread of life. He says:
John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Notice that Jesus expands his metaphor. He doesn’t simply say that he is the bread but that it is his flesh, given for the life of the world, that is the bread. Here he reveals that the spiritual benefits that he provides are a consequence of his sacrificial death – the giving of his flesh, and the shedding of his blood. He carries this through to verse 58:
John 6:51-58 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Wrapped up in this idea of bread, is the crucifixion. It’s the offering of the body and blood of Jesus. Every spiritual blessing flows from this one act: redemption (Eph 1:7), forgiveness (Col 1:14), reconciliation (Rom 5:10), adoption (Gal 4:5), justification (Rom 5:9), and eternal life (Jn 3:16; Rom 6:23). The cross is the fountainhead; apart from Christ’s substitutionary, sacrificial death, there is no spiritual life at all (Heb 9:12; 10:10; 1 Pet 2:24).
To eat this bread, then, is to express saving faith—to believe that Jesus alone, through His death on the cross, is the sole source of eternal life (Jn 6:47; 6:54; Acts 4:12). It is to come to Him in trust, abide in Him by ongoing dependence, and rest wholly on His finished work (Jn 6:35; 6:56; Heb 10:14).
CONTINUAL FEEDING
It’s this ongoing faith and dependence that Jesus emphasizes next in verses 54-58.
54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
Notice, if you’re using an ESV, that there is a shift in terminology starting in verse 54. Instead of the word “eat” we find the word “feed.” This reflects a change in the Greek: from the general verb for eating (esthíō (ἐσθίω)) in verses 51–53 to a term for an ongoing eating (trṓgō (τρώγω)) in verses 54–58. It’s a term that means “to gnaw, munch, or chew continually.” He is emphasizing that coming and believing in him, and relying upon his death on the cross for our spiritual life is not a one-time event, but an on-going, consistent, life-long dependence (Jn 6:54; 6:56; 6:57; 6:58).
This is further reflected by his use of another term in verse 56. He says:
John 6:56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
He’s using the term “feed” to illustrate an ongoing dependence upon him. It’s the person who lives a life fully aware of his perpetual need for Christ and the spiritual benefits secured by the cross, who has eternal life. This is the same truth he illustrates in John 15 with the picture of the vine and branches – the branches abiding in the vine, continually drawing life from it.
To receive Jesus as the bread of life is to believe that he is sent from the Father to give his flesh on the cross, so that all who believe in him might have eternal life. Further, its to embrace Christ alone as the source of ongoing spiritual life. It’s to rest in, and rely upon him for all of our spiritual needs. It’s to recognize our humble dependence upon him, and what he accomplished on the cross, for all spiritual blessings.
Those who possess eternal life, and who will be raised up on the last day, are those who have believed in Jesus and whose lives are marked by a continual, humble, persevering dependence upon him for all spiritual blessings.
I believe these are the spiritual realities that Jesus is teaching through the metaphors of bread, eating, drinking, and feeding.
THE LORD’S SUPPER – AN ENACTED METAPHOR
Now, turn in your Bibles to Luke 22.
Here Jesus and his disciples are observing the Jewish Passover together. Of course, the Passover looked back to the greatest act of redemption in Jewish history – the Exodus. It was then that God had the Jews place the blood of a lamb on their doorposts, as an act of faith, saving them from the final judgment in Egypt. Those who believed in Yahweh then ate the Passover lamb, thus expressing their identification with the sacrifice, and their faith that the shedding of its blood would result in their protection.
At this Passover, the final Passover meal between Jesus and his disciples, Jesus uses elements of the meal, once intended to point backwards to the Exodus, and invests them with greater significance, looking forward to the greater redemption that he would provide on the cross.
Remarkably however, when Jesus chooses which elements of the meal to invest with this meaning, he doesn’t choose the Passover lamb. We know from elsewhere that the Passover lamb directly anticipated Jesus. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:
1 Corinthians 5:7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
And of course, John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).” But for the purposes of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus doesn’t point to the lamb, instead look what he does in Luke 22:
Luke 22:15-20 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
What is it that Jesus points to as representing his body, and his blood? The bread and the drink. He says of the broken bread, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” This, of course, reminds us of John 6 where Jesus said:
John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
He also says in Luke 22 of the cup:
“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
This, of course, reminds us again of his words in John 6:
John 6:53-54 …“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
So, I believe what is happening here is that Jesus is ordaining a means by which his followers can actually express the spiritual realities that he laid out in John 6. He’s giving us an ordinance by which we enact that metaphor. In this way, I think we could refer to the Lord’s Supper as an enacted metaphor.
In John 6, he said if one would have eternal life, they must have faith in him as the sent Son of God, and only source of eternal life. He said that if one would abide in him, they must exercise a continual dependence upon his death upon the cross for our spiritual life. He wrapped these realities in the metaphor of eating and drinking. He said that if one would have eternal life, they must eat his flesh and drink his blood. He said that if one would abide in him, they must continually feed upon his flesh and blood.
With the Lord’s Supper, Jesus provided a means by which his followers could express their faith and dependence upon him, by using the very same objects that he employed in his metaphor in John 6. By physically eating the bread, we illustrate and express our faith and dependence upon Jesus, and his death on the cross for our spiritual sustenance. By continually observing the Lord’s Supper, we illustrate our ongoing dependence upon Jesus, or our abiding in him - that spiritual reality that Jesus illustrated by his use of the term “feed” in John 6.
The act of eating is powerful because it illustrates our internalizing of all the spiritual benefits of the cross. By actually ingesting the bread and wine, representing his sacrifice on the cross, its as if we are applying all that the cross represents to ourselves. We are saying, forgiveness is mine, righteousness is mine, adoption is mine, eternal life is mine. All that the cross has accomplished, all that it attained through the sacrifice of Jesus, I receive as mine.
By drinking the cup, which Jesus said pictured his blood which ratifies the New Covenant, we are saying that all that the New Covenant guarantees is ours. The indwelling Holy Spirit, the brand-new heart, the forgiveness of sins, the addition to the New Covenant community, its all ours, through Jesus.
Further, by eating the bread and drinking the cup, which represent the body and blood of Jesus (1 Cor 10:16; Mt 26:26–28), we are fully identifying with him (Gal 2:20). It pictures a union between us and Jesus (Jn 6:56). We are in him, and he is in us (Jn 15:4–5; Col 1:27). Our sins were placed upon him (Is 53:6; 2 Cor 5:21), his death is now counted as my death (Rom 6:3–4), his life as my life (Gal 2:20; Col 3:4), his victory over sin, death and Satan is mine (1 Cor 15:57; Col 2:15), I now receive all the blessings that only he deserves (Eph 1:3; 2 Pet 1:3), because he is in me, and I am in him (Eph 3:17; Jn 17:23). This is illustrated by the very intimate act of ingesting the bread and drinking the cup (Jn 6:54–56).
By eating the bread and drinking the cup, we are identifying with Jesus, appropriating the benefits of the cross, and expressing our ongoing dependence upon him for spiritual life. This is an act of real spiritual worship, in which the Holy Spirit works, as he does through all the means of grace, to build us up in the faith.
By seeing this connection between John 6 and the Lord’s Supper, we’ve already separated ourselves from those who hold to a strictly memorialist view of the Supper.
Now, I’d like us to turn to another passage – 1 Corinthians 10, where we find Paul illustrating these same truths and more.
PARTICIPANTS IN THE ALTAR
For context, Paul is addressing a serious issue in Corinth: some believers were still attending idol feasts in pagan temples (1 Cor 10:14, 20–21). These were not mere social gatherings; they were sacrificial meals offered to idols (which Paul calls demons). Many Corinthians justified participation by claiming “knowledge” that idols were nothing (1 Cor 8:4), but Paul warns that participating in the meal communicated spiritual realities. Because of the nature of the meal, one couldn’t separate eating the meal from spiritual allegiance with the idol. It wasn’t appropriate for one who belonged to Jesus to take part in a meal which communicated recognition of another god (1 Cor 10:21). Paul illustrates his point by using two points of comparison – the Lord’s Supper, and the Jewish sacrificial system. Let’s read verses 15-21:
1 Corinthians 10:15-21 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
Now, although the primary purpose of this passage is not a lesson the Lord’s Supper, we still learn some important truths about it. The recurring word in this passage is participation. Paul says that when we partake in the Lord’s Supper, eating the bread and drinking from the cup, we are participating in the body and blood of Christ. What does this mean? I think it’s helpful to look at Paul’s illustration in verse 18. He says:
1 Corinthians 10:18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?
In what sense were the people of Israel “participants in the altar” when they ate the sacrifices? Well, first note that the only sacrifices that were eaten by the offerors were the Passover lamb, and the peace offering. The Passover was sacrificed in remembrance of God’s past deliverance from Egypt at the Exodus, and the peace offerings were made as special expressions of thankfulness, devotion, or celebration of covenant relationship with God. These two examples inform our understanding of the Lord’s Supper as an expression of remembrance, and thankfulness.
When the Jews would offer these sacrifices, the Priest would burn some portions of the sacrifice, and sprinkle its blood on the altar. The offeror and his household would eat the rest of the sacrifice. Paul’s point is that there were spiritual realities at play at the point of the altar. The burning of the sacrifice, and the sprinkling of the blood were accepted by God as expressions of faith, devotion, and worship. When the offeror and his household ate the sacrifice, they were identifying with the sacrifice. They were expressing that the blood sprinkled and the sacrifice burnt, were to be counted as theirs. The sacrifice was an expression of their faith, their devotion, and their worship. Therefore, any spiritual benefits promised were theirs also – claimed by them by faith. By eating, they were identifying with the sacrifice and thereby sharers, partakers, participants in the sacrifice and all that it accomplished.
Eating the meat was an act of spiritual worship. It had spiritual significance. It was an expression of faith, worship, and devotion. By partaking, the benefits of the sacrifice were applied to the offeror.
So, that’s one illustration. But then, Paul uses the Lord’s Supper as another illustration. He says:
1 Cor 10:16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
Similar to the Jews who participated in the benefits of the altar when they ate the sacrifice, Christians participate in the sacrifice of Jesus, when they eat the bread and drink the cup. There is, of course, an important distinction. The sacrifices under the Old Covenant were made continually (Lev 1:3–17; 6:8–13; Num 28:3–8; Heb 10:1–3), while the sacrifice of Jesus was a one-time event (Heb 7:27; 9:12, 26, 28; 10:10; 1 Pet 3:18).
Hebrews 10:11-13 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
For this reason, when we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are identifying with a sacrifice which has already been made. We do not, like the Roman Catholics, believe that we are offering once again the body and blood of Jesus as a propitiatory sacrifice. We are looking back, or remembering his once-for-all sacrifice. That is why, Jesus, when he instituted the Lord’s Supper, said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
So, when we observe the Lord’s Supper, we are not merely eating bread and drinking juice. No, God has invested the ordinance with spiritual significance. When we eat the bread, and drink the cup, we are identifying with the sacrifice of Jesus. We are saying,
“We believe that Jesus is the sent Son of God, and only source of eternal life. We believe that he gave himself on the cross so that we could have eternal life. Further, we identify with that sacrifice. His death was our death. Therefore, all that he accomplished on the cross is also ours. The forgiveness, justification, regeneration, and adoption are all ours. Everything he wrought, and all the New Covenant promises that hinge upon it, are ours. The indwelling Holy Spirit, the promise of eternal life, and the inclusion in the New Covenant Community (the church), are ours.”
By ingesting the bread and juice we are signalling that we are internalizing, and appropriating all the spiritual blessings of salvation, through Jesus. We proclaim our ongoing spiritual dependence on Jesus as the sustainer of our life, just as food sustains our bodies (Jn 6:35, 57; Col 3:4). In addition, we are illustrating our spiritual union with Jesus as we take a representation of his body, into our own.
A COMMUNAL MEAL
Notice also what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:17:
1 Corinthians 10:17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
Paul states that the Lord’s Supper not only communicates our union with Jesus, but our union with one another. By sharing the one loaf and the one cup together, we proclaim our unity as Christ’s body. Just as a single loaf is broken and distributed among many, so Christ’s one sacrifice has made us one people, bound together in Him (Eph 4:4–6). When we eat and drink side by side, we visibly confess that we are not isolated believers, but members of one another—sharing the same Savior, the same redemption, the same Spirit, and the same hope (Rom 12:5; 1 Cor 12:12–13). This communal act reminds us that the gospel not only unites us to Christ, but with each other in a living, New Covenant community—the church.
This is why we think its important for those who partake to be baptized. Through baptism the church affirms one’s profession of faith, welcoming them into the covenant community. Through the Lord’s Supper, the church communes with that same believer, continually reaffirming their profession of faith, and their rightful place in the covenant community.
So, Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 10 is that you shouldn’t separate the physical meal from its spiritual significance. That’s what the Corinthians were trying to do with the idol feasts. He’s saying that by eating, they were participating in worship. You can’t do that. You can’t eat a meal meant to identify with the false god, without actually identifying with it.
In the very next chapter of 1 Corinthians, he would rebuke the church for doing something similar with the Lord’s Supper. They were eating the meal without discerning its spiritual significance. They were treating it just like any other meal.
He writes:
1 Corinthians 11:20-22 When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
1 Corinthians 11:23-29 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 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.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Paul’s warning is that we should not separate the spiritual realities from the meal. Whether it be a feast made in respect of an idol, or whether it be the Lord’s Supper. To partake in the meal, is to share in the religion. It is to participate in the spiritual realities.
When Paul asks, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?” he means that the act of eating and drinking is a real, faith-filled sharing in the benefits of Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice, not a sharing in His literal presence in the elements (1 Cor 10:16). “Participation” or koinonia is the same word used in verse 18 for Israel’s peace offerings: by eating the accepted sacrifice, they claimed the covenant peace it secured (Lev 7:15–18). Likewise, when we take the bread and cup in faith, we actively identify with Christ’s death as our own, appropriate its forgiveness and life, and confess our ongoing dependence on Him—all by the Spirit’s enabling (1 Cor 10:17; Jn 6:56). Further, we illustrate our union with one another as one body, forged by the New Covenant.
This is spiritual participation, not because Christ is in the bread in some mystical sense, or in or around the bread in some spiritual sense, or that we are caught up to commune with Christ in heaven, but because faith unites us to what the bread represents: His finished work on the cross (Rom 6:3–5; Gal 2:20). It’s in this way that the Lord’s Supper is a means of grace.
THE LORD’S SUPPER AS A MEANS OF GRACE
When we talk about the means of grace, we are referring to those things which God has ordained for the Holy Spirit to use, to apply the blessings of salvation to the life of the believer. These are the means by which our faith is strengthened, and we are made increasingly like Jesus. The word of God for instance produces faith, challenges us, convicts us, comforts us and changes us. Prayer leads us to consider life through the lens of God’s kingdom priorities, and to depend upon him for all good things. Baptism leads us to publicly confess Jesus, thus orienting our hearts to follow him with our whole lives. The church provides encouragement, accountability, and all the benefits of community.
And notice, that these are “means” of grace. That is, through their exercise, the believer is built up in faith. This is not passive. We must employ the means. We must hear, read, study and obey the word. We must pray. We must engage in church life. When we employ God’s means of grace, we are built up in the faith. We become more like Jesus, and less like our former selves, and the world around us. These are the means by which we persevere in the faith so that we can be found blameless before Christ at his coming.
The Lord’s Supper is one of these means. Grace is conferred to the believer through the Lord’s Supper in the same way that it is conferred through the other means of grace. When we employ the Lord’s Supper as God intended our faith is strengthened, and we grow in grace.
As we come to the Supper, we exercise Faith: We believe that Jesus’ death alone is the source of eternal life and he is our source of ongoing spiritual sustenance (Jn 6:35, 40, 47). Remember in John 6, we saw that believing in Jesus was represented by eating the bread? When we participate in the Lord’s Supper and eat the bread, we do so with a heart of faith and by exercising that faith, our faith is further strengthened.
As we come to the Supper, we practice Identification: That is, like the Jews who identified with the altar when they ate the sacrifice, when we eat the bread and drink the cup, we are identifying with Christ’s death on the cross. We claim His death as ours—our sins upon Him, His righteousness upon us (Gal 2:20; Rom 6:3–5). We consider ourselves dead to ourselves, and alive in Christ. By discerning the Lord’s body in this way, our Christian identity is clarified, and we are built up in the faith.
As we come to the Supper, we also practice Appropriation: That is, as we remember the cross, we take to ourselves every benefit that it secured. We recognize, that forgiveness, justification, adoption, and eternal life, and every other blessing are ours. Beyond this, we appropriate these blessings, orienting our thoughts, emotions, and will to respond as if these things are true.
As we come to the Supper, we practice Internalization: That is, when we ingest the bread and drink from the cup, we contemplate that Jesus is in us in the person of the Holy Spirit, and that we can never be separated from him. We make His sacrifice the core of our spiritual identity, abiding in Him as He abides in us (Jn 6:56).
As we come to the Supper, we practice Unification: That is, we confess our oneness with Christ and every other believer. We consider and express the fact that we are members of the same Covenant Community, united by his blood which ratified the New Covenant (1 Cor 10:17).
Memorialization: We do this in remembrance of Jesus, and his death upon the cross (Luke 22:19).
Proclamation: We proclaim Jesus death every time we partake, and the church will continue to do so all the way until his return (1 Cor 11:26).
Far from being a simple memorial, the Lord’s Supper is a powerful, multi-faceted means of grace, which the Holy Spirit uses to build up God’s people, when they employ it as he ordained. The broken bread and the cup serve to visualize the gospel, and our partaking is a participation in that same gospel.
So, we affirm that there is a spiritual presence when we partake of the Lord’s Supper, but that this spiritual presence is in the person of the Holy Spirit, who uses the Lord’s Supper to build us up in the faith, as he does with the other ordinary means.
CONCLUSION
We began by stating:
There are differing positions on the significance of the Lord’s Supper, and what is actually happening when we partake, so I think it's important for us as a church to ensure we have a thoroughly biblical understanding of the ordinance.
And we said:
Our ultimate goal isn’t to decide which of the views outlined should be adopted, but to adopt a biblical understanding of the Lord’s Supper and perhaps recognize which of the positions best reflects what the Bible says. We may even find that none of the positions offers a comprehensive understanding of the ordinance.
So now, having seen what the Bible says, could we say that one of the stated views neatly encapsulates our understanding of the Lord’s Supper? I don’t really think so. Each fall short in key ways.
With Transubstantiation, Rome completely misses the metaphor. Because Jesus, with bread in his hand, said “this is my body.” The Catholic church holds that the bread literally becomes the flesh of Jesus, and the wine literally becomes his blood, but only after the Priest’s prayer of consecration. The outward appearance remains the same, but they are in actuality the flesh and blood of Jesus. In this way, Jesus is physically present. Moreover, Rome teaches that the Mass is a true propitiatory sacrifice. That is, they believe that God’s justice must still be appeased through sacrifice. Christ’s body and blood must be continually re-presented (not merely remembered) and offered anew to God for the sins of the living and the dead (CCC 1366–1367; Trent, Session 22, Canon 1). This contradicts the once-for-all finality of the cross (Heb 7:27; cf. Heb 9:12, 26; 10:10). Suffice it to say, this view fails the test, relying upon mysticism and contradicting scripture at many points.
Consubstantiation (or “sacramental union”) fares little better. Lutheran’s also miss the metaphor. They teach that Christ’s true body and blood are really, substantially, and personally present, not that the bread and wine literally become flesh and blood but that in some sense, the “true body and blood of Jesus is ‘under the bread and wine’”. By placing Christ’s body “in, with, and under” the bread and wine, it still ties grace to physical presence rather than faith alone. I believe it is merely a derivative of transubstantiation without the transformation (Formula of Concord, SD VII). Scripture nowhere locates Christ in the bread; it locates Him at the right hand of God (Heb 1:3; 8:1), and his presence is always with believers in the person of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-18).
The Reformed spiritual presence view, as articulated in the Westminster Confession (29.7), rightly rejects any carnal or corporal presence of Christ “in, with, or under” the elements, insisting that worthy receivers “inwardly by faith, really and indeed… spiritually, receive, and feed upon, Christ crucified” while the bread and wine remain unchanged.
Yet it overreaches by positing a unique “spiritual feeding” at the Table—where believers are “lifted up” to commune with the ascended Christ in a sacramental moment distinct from the Spirit’s ordinary application of Word and prayer (WCF 29.7; Calvin, Institutes 4.17.10–11). This halts Jesus’ metaphor in John 6 (eating = believing, Jn 6:35, 40, 47) by introducing a novel presence and mechanism—not the indwelling Spirit (Col 1:27; Eph 3:17)—but a special heavenly encounter tied to the rite. Scripture offers no such distinction: the Spirit feeds us on Christ always through faith (Jn 6:56–57), and the Supper confirms that feeding by visible confession, not by mystical ascent.
So, that leaves us with the memorialist view of the Lord’s Supper. Does that mean that we must be memorialists? I’m not convinced. While this view correctly rejects the gross errors of the Catholic view, and the claims of Christ’s special presence in the Lutheran view, and the suggestion that believers are spiritually lifted up to commune with the ascended Christ in the spiritual presence view, it strips away too much of the spiritual significance of the Supper. It leaves the believer with a mere memorial; it disconnects the spiritual realities of John 6 from the Supper. In my view, to say that the Lord’s Supper is “just remembrance” ignores how 1 Corinthians 10:16–18 speaks of active participation in Christ’s body and blood. That is, in all the benefits of his sacrifice.
Whereas I would agree that Christ is not present in the Lord’s Supper in some form distinct from the Holy Spirit’s abiding presence with believers, I recognize that the Lord’s Supper is a robust means of grace, through which the Holy Spirit actively strengthens our faith, as we employ it as God intended, including identifying with his sacrifice, appropriating its blessings, internalizing its realities, and unifying with Christ and his people – all this to be done by faith and done continually. I think that all of this is what it means to truly “feed on Christ’s body and drink his blood.” These are the spiritual realities pictured and participated when we eat the bread and drink the cup, employing this means of grace as God designed it.
What do we call this view? I don’t know, but I believe it is scriptural.
Proposition:
When we partake in the bread and wine at the Lord’s Supper, we communicate our faith in Christ’s sacrifice as the only efficacious source of eternal life [1 Cor 11:26; Jn 6:47, 51; Jn 6:53]. Further, we identify with his sacrifice, claiming it as our own, internalizing its spiritual significance, and appropriating its benefits (participate) [1 Cor 10:16; Jn 6:56; 1 Cor 10:18]. Further, we show forth our spiritual union with Jesus, and with everyone else who belongs to him, partaking with us [Jn 6:56; 1 Cor 10:17]. We do this continually to express our ongoing dependence upon Jesus for spiritual life, and our persevering faith in him [Jn 6:54-58; Jn 15:5; Jn 6:40; 1 Cor 11:28-29]. Thus, the Supper is a living parable—the metaphorical bread of John 6 enacted to communicate and confirm the spiritual realities of faith.
