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Bible Study - Foundations of Faith
The Lord's Supper
The bread and the wine are not miraculously changed into the body and blood of Christ, because the Bible clearly says that we eat bread and drink wine in the Sacrament. However, since Christ says clearly "This is My body" and "This cup…is My Blood," it is true that those who commune, that is those who eat bread and drink wine, are partaking of Christ's true body and His true blood. Jesus said it, therefore it is true. St. Paul wrote, "…whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:29). This leaves no doubt that by the eating of the bread and the drinking of wine in this holy act, God is sacramentally and spiritually feeding all who partake of them with Jesus' true body and true blood.
Someone else may ask whether some special kind of bread must be used, or if any kind of beverage can be used in the administration of this Holy Supper. The Bible, according to 1 Corinthians 11:25, records that Jesus said, "This do…" In other words Jesus left an explicit formula of what was to be used. Bread was on the table in the Upper Room the night Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. It was the time of the celebration of the feast of the Passover, therefore we know that the bread was "unleavened" bread, or bread without yeast.
The drink on the table was the juice of the fruit of the grape vine, the Greek word for that juice was "oinos," which means fermented grape juice, or "wine." It is known that it was wine from studying the first miracle of Jesus when he turned water into wine in John 2:1-11. Other beverages, since they were not present at or spoken about at the time of the institution of the Lord Supper, should not be used.
Who should receive this Sacrament of the Altar?
We find the answer in the teachings of the Bible. Again, let us look at 1 Corinthians 11:28-29, "A man ought to examine himself before he eats of that bread and drink of that cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgement on himself."
For any person to be a proper or worthy recipient of the Lord's Supper, that person must:
- be able to examine him/herself,
- be able to see him/herself as a sinner, in need of forgiveness and salvation,
- be sorry for the sins committed and repent of them,
- be full of faith and able to recognize or know that the body and blood of Christ is present in the Sacrament,
- be willing to amend his/her sinful life, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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