What Does The Bible Say About Worship?

Lord's Supper
Only the coldest heart is not touched when exposed to the account of Jesus’ crucifixion.  
Try to read the record in Matthew 27:11-54 without having tears moisten your eyes and
emotions well up in your heart.  

As long as that scene is vivid in our minds, we think more seriously about the condition
of our lives and the sacrifice Jesus made.  What happens though, after a couple of days
pass?  Do you find yourself forgetting?

Jesus never wanted His death to be forgotten—so He set up a special feast to remind
men of His sacrifice and the redemption His blood would purchase “And as they were
eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to His disciples and said,
‘Take eat; this is my body’.  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them
saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.  For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed
for many for the remission of sins...’” (Matthew 26:26-29).  

Instituted on the eve of His crucifixion, the Lord’s Supper is special because of the event
which it honors. The single greatest event of all history darkened the sun at noon, but
the way our lives run in fast forward motion, we have a hard time remembering what
happened last week, much less 2000 years ago.  Jesus did not want us to forget so He
gave us a memorial which takes us completely out of the mainstream of life for a short
time to have spiritual fellowship with our Lord and brethren.

The Lord’s Supper uses elements originating in the Passover feast—unleavened bread
and fruit of the vine—and gives them an entirely new significance.  

The Passover was an Old Testament memorial of Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian
bondage (Exodus 11-12).  Jesus wanted to “eat this Passover with you before I suffer;
for... I will not longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:15-16).  
When Jesus died for sin, the disciples no longer needed a reminder of their deliverance
from Egyptian bondage. Instead, they needed a reminder of what this Passover
ultimately pointed to—man’s deliverance from sin in Christ.  

The Lord’s Supper is a very simple act, but its simplicity points away from itself and
points to Christ.

The Lord’s Supper is a memorial “... do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19).
Humans tend to be forgetful creatures.   Wouldn’t it be tragic if Jesus’ disciples got so
busy that we forgot about Him and His sacrifice?  The Lord’s Supper is a grand
memorial because it insures that we do not forget about Him.

The Lord’s Supper announces Jesus’ death to the rest of the world “For as often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death...” (1 Corinthians 11:26).  
When we partake of it we tell the world Jesus died, the reason for His death, and the
hope we have on account of His death.  We tell the world that He is alive today, and that
there is no one greater who ever lived , because there is no other memorial to any man
that has lasted as long as the Lord’s Supper!

The Lord’s Supper attests to our anticipation “...you proclaim the Lord’s death until He
comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).  It witnesses to the hope we have—that we don’t serve a
dead man but a living Savior!  Not only do we remember what He did for us, but we also
remember what He is going to do for us!

The Lord’s Supper is a time to look inwardly “But let a man examine himself, and so let
him eat of that bread and drink of that cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28).  It is a time for
introspection—have we lived like people bought by the blood of Christ or have we
crucified again the Son of God and put Him to an open shame?

The Lord’s Supper is a time of communion—of sharing “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?  For we, being many, are one bread and one
body; for we all partake of that bread” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17).  When Christians
partake of the Lord’s Supper together we show that we are unified in the body of Christ
and partakers of the benefits of His blood.  

Early disciples took the Lord’s Supper on Sunday (Acts 20:7).  They assembled on this
day every week (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).  We also share this communion every first day of
the week, not just quarterly or yearly!  

--Rob Harbison