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It was still Thursday evening in the last week of the life of Christ. They had finished supper, Jesus had sent Judas on his way, and now Jesus institutes what we call the "Lord's Supper". We will use Luke's account, again because it is the most complete. Jesus was sitting around the table with the other eleven Disciples and He said to them, "I earnestly desired to celebrate this Passover with you before I died, for I tell you that I shall not eat of it again until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God."
What was He saying. The Feast of the Passover was a celebration of the saving of the firstborn of the Jews in Egypt from the Death Angel by the spreading of blood from a sacrificial lamb on their doorposts. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, it would no longer be necessary to celebrate that Passover because that for which it was symbolic of had come to pass in the crucifixion of Christ. Thus the Kingdom of God would be instituted.
The institution of the Lord's Supper is very familiar to all Christians, but perhaps there is something we can still learn from it. Many questions still remain unanswered for some people. Why did Jesus institute this supper? What is it, a "sacrament, or "ordnance" or "institution"? How often should we partake of it? Who should be allowed to partake of it? What is the meaning of the cup and the bread?
Let us, by examining the scripture, see if we can answer some of these questions. Is it a sacrament, an ordnance or an institution? A sacrament is decreed or ordained by God and the elements turn into that which they are symbolic of, the body and blood of Christ and it is mandatory upon the Christian to do this. An ordnance is decreed or ordained by God but the elements remain bread and wine and are only symbolic of the body and blood of Christ and it is not mandatory that it be observed. An institution is just an established practice of a church. The Roman Catholic Church believes that it is a sacrament. The Baptist and most protestant churches believe that it is an ordnance. As a sacrament it carries great importance in the life of the Christian even to the point of effecting their salvation.
As to how often it is to be celebrated, some churches do it every Sunday, others only quarterly. Jesus said as often as you do this you remember Him until He comes again. As to who should be invited to the Lord's Table, some churches invite only their own church members, others, invite all who claim the name of Jesus.
Who wrote the first account of this event, Matthew, Mark or Luke? Well sense Mark was the first written we would assume that he wrote the first account of this event but not so, Paul in I Cor. 11:23-25 is believed to have been the first written. Paul wrote his account about 30 years after it took place and he did not write about it as a record of the event but rather to condemn the Corinthians for the way they were celebrating it by eating and drinking to excess. They had completely forgotten why Jesus instituted this supper.
Jesus believed that participating in this event would remind us of the redemption that He purchased by the shedding of His blood and to be grateful for that redemption and be alert to His Second Coming.
What about the "state" of the Christian when he takes this supper? Some ministers warn against partaking of this supper unworthily, the Gospel writers do not say this. Jesus ends by telling the Disciples that He will not partake of this again until the day He drinks it new with them, a future state when we, as Saints, shall partake of the everlasting communion with our Lord Jesus. Then they sang a song and went out to the Mount of Olives.
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