In the upper room, the same night in which He was being betrayed, the Lord Jesus took a loaf of bread and a cup of wine and instituted the Lord's Supper. The remembrance that He ordained for His own was marked by a sweet simplicity, and a profound significance. The act of eating and drinking come freighted with symbolism that contributes to the meaning of the Lord's Supper.
Throughout history, and in all cultures, sharing a meal is an important symbol of fellowship, and the Lord's Supper is no exception. Observing it requires physical togetherness – the disciples in Troas "came together to break bread" (Acts 20.7), and the believers at Corinth came "together into one place" (1 Cor 11.20).
But, as Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 10, the breaking of bread demonstrates a unity and proclaims a fellowship that go beyond mere physical co-location. It proclaims our fellowship with Christ: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" (v.16). To understand this verse we need to notice the two comparisons that Paul draws. First, he points out, under the Jewish order, fleshly sacrifices were offered upon a literal altar, and as the offerer took and ate his portion of the peace offering, he partook of the altar (v.18). He did not literally bite a chunk from the altar of burnt offering, but, by eating his portion of the peace offering he expressed his fellowship with the altar and his part in the sacrifice. Similarly, those who sat at meat in the idol's temple were doing more than eating a meal. The act of eating from "the table of demons" and drinking from "the cup of demons" (v.21, JND) was an expression of fellowship with the demons who were connected with the idol. The "communion of" the body and blood of Christ (also translated as "a participation in" (ESV) and "the sharing of" (NET)) must be understood in the same way. As we partake of the elements we demonstrate our oneness with Christ, our part in His sacrifice, and in the blessings that have flowed from that sacrifice.
In the breaking of bread, then, we declare fellowship with Christ, vertically. But we also bear witness to a horizontal fellowship, declaring our unity with those who partake. When we gather together to bless the cup, as we add our "Amen" to the words of the brother who audibly gives thanks, and to break the bread, as we take our portion from the loaf, we proclaim that "we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread" (1 Cor 10.17). In the context, it is not the unity of all believers that is expressed but the unity of those who partake. It is true that Paul most often uses the metaphor of the body to refer to the dispensational Church that includes all believers of this Church Age. It is important to notice, however, that v.16 sets the parameters for our understanding of v.17. And v.16 clearly describes the action of a gathered company – breaking "the bread" and blessing "the cup". Apart, perhaps, from a very short period in the immediate aftermath of Pentecost when all who were believers were gathered in assembly fellowship at Jerusalem, the Church, the body of Christ, could never have been said to have given thanks for the cup, or broken the bread. And there is nothing to indicate any change in the meaning of "we" between the verses. We bless, we break, and "because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread" (v.17, NET). It would be difficult to think of a more eloquent expression of unity than that which the Lord has given. At the commencement of the breaking of bread, the one loaf sits as one unified object. At the end of the meeting it has been divided into many pieces, and each piece has become part of a believer. And so we proclaim not just our unity with Christ, but also the bond that unites us one to the other.
The unity we affirm as we break bread has two vital implications. The first implication is Paul's main point in this section of the epistle. If we express fellowship with Christ and our fellow-believers, we must ensure that we are free from other contradictory or contaminating fellowships. "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils" (1 Cor 10.21). The man who sits at the Lord's Table on Sunday morning should not be found at a meal in an idol's temple throughout the week. While the expression "the Lord's Table" has often been understood as a description of believers' continual enjoyment of God's provision, such an interpretation places considerable strain upon the language of this passage. Not only does the word "partaking" in this verse indicate a physical – rather than a spiritual – participation, Paul's words require us to understand partaking of the Lord's Table as a distinct, discrete, and visible event, comparable to the act of sitting at the idol feast. Thus, a proper understanding of the Lord's Supper has important ethical implications – it will keep us pure in a defiling world. The second implication of the fellowship we express as we break bread is also vital: the fellowship we profess must exist practically.
Second, the breaking of bread has an individual, as well as a communal, aspect. Eating and drinking are personal acts. I cannot delegate someone else to eat for me, or to drink on my behalf. It is something I must do for myself. Each of the Lord's commands – "take", "eat", "drink" – require a personal obedience from each individual. It is not sufficient to be present while He is remembered, or to listen to others remember Him. We must each remember – audibly or inaudibly. And surely this should not seem an onerous duty, but the inevitable result of our occupation with Himself. Strange and sad it is if so great a subject should lose its wonder, if we are reduced to uttering the same conglomeration of quotations and clichés week by week. May God grant us an ever fresh and ever deepening appreciation of His Son, and may we resolve: "Yea, while a breath, a pulse remains I will remember Thee".
And the individual nature of the act also has important and serious implications. Paul stresses the responsibility of each believer: "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" (1 Cor 11.27-29). The Corinthian believers had begun to treat the Lord's Supper as though it were just another meal, and their lack of care had dire personal consequences. Many were "weak and sickly", and some had even died. Their example stands as a stark warning to us.
Third, eating and drinking are inextricably linked with nourishment. It is by eating and drinking that our physical life is maintained, and our physical strength increased. God's Word teaches neither trans - or con - substantiation. As we observe the Lord's Supper, the loaf and the cup neither become nor contain the body and blood of the Lord Jesus. They remain, at all times, "Only bread and only wine". Yet we could hardly sit down to remember the Lord Jesus and to obey His command, and not find our souls nourished, and "our feeble love…fed". The Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ for our blessing, and it deepens our appreciation of and fellowship with Christ and strengthens our souls to meet the demands of another week. Bread and wine are first mentioned in Scripture in Genesis 14.18, when Melchizedek met Abraham, and strengthened him for his encounter with the king of Sodom. Week-by-week, and day-by-day we face a more formidable foe, and nothing will fortify us for that encounter like our remembrance of our Saviour, His sacrifice, and His return.
On the first day of each week we break bread, giving the act the preeminent place in our lives. Our partaking may last only seconds, the emblems circulate in only minutes, and the whole meeting last less than a couple of hours. But that simple act has implications and effects that infiltrate our whole week, and every aspect of our lives. Let us remember that we come to the Lord's Table, to partake of the Lord's Supper. The Supper is stamped with His character and His authority, and the apprehension of what we do as we sit down with Him should loom large in our lives, dominating our thoughts and directing our deeds on every day of the week.
To be continued.
