What do we receive in the Lord's Supper

Even in its name, the Lord’s Supper is designated as a meal shared by the church. When Christians gather at the altar to celebrate Communion they eat and they drink. Just as Jesus did when He gave this practice to the church, we use bread and wine. We see, taste, touch, and maybe even smell the bread and the wine so it is easy for us to grasp the fact that we are receiving them.

But how can bread and wine be a means by which God works in our lives? The Bible teaches that it is not only bread and wine that we receive in Communion. Rather in, with, and under the physical elements, joined with them in a mysterious way that we’ll never understand until Jesus returns, God also gives the very body and blood of Jesus. We can be sure of this because we can be sure of God’s Word. Jesus’ words are spoken every time we receive Communion; “Take and eat, this is my body given for you. Take and drink, this is my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Just as we believe that God actually forgives sin through the meal, we also believe that we receive the true body and blood of Jesus.

This belief that the body and blood are truly present in the Lord’s Supper is one that divides the church around the world and one that maybe you have struggled with personally. However, it is firmly grounded in Scripture. At the core of the belief about Christ’s presence in Communion is a belief about the Word of God. God’s Word is described in the Bible as being living and active (Hebrews 4:12). God’s Word does things in people’s lives (1 Thessalonians 2:13) and just as the rain wets the earth so also God’s Word accomplishes its purposes (Isaiah 55:10-11). God’s Word is powerful and it possesses the capacity to create so when God speaks something, His words become reality. In Genesis 1, God creates with His Word. God said let there be light, and there was light. Psalm 33:6 and 9 and Hebrews 11:3 both identify God’s Word as the means by which God brings things into existence. So when Jesus’ words are connected to ordinary bread and wine, God’s Word brings the presence of His body and blood. The Bible also calls the eating and the drinking a participation in or fellowship with the body and the blood (1 Corinthians 10:16).

Those who deny the real presence of Jesus talk in terms of the bread and wine representing or signifying the body and blood. Their original reasoning for this language was the belief that Jesus could not have ascended to the right hand of God and be truly present in the Lord’s Supper. Many who originally supported this theological stance also struggled to understand how Jesus could be both human and God. The opponents to the real presence of Jesus also make grammatical errors by turning “This is my body “ into “This represents or signifies my body.” This can be complicated so I would love to talk through any issues with you if you have additional questions.

You may wonder why God would use bread and wine to work in our lives. Though I cannot provide a full answer, I do see His willingness to do so as extremely loving. In Communion, as with the waters of baptism and a pastor speaking forgiveness, God provides something physical to accompany His Word of promise which we cannot see. God did this throughout the Bible. He told Moses that He would help him lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and gave him two physical experiences to accompany the promise (Exodus 4:1-7). After they left Egypt, God promised to be with the people and they could see His presence in a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. And when Jesus forgave a paralyzed man’s sins, something that could not be observed, He also healed the man so that he could walk in order to provide observable evidence of His ability to forgive.

I am trying to be short, but feel like this paragraph needs to be added in this section. When we talk about what we receive in Communion, it is important to know that we receive the body and the blood of Jesus by the power of God’s Word. When the Word is spoken, the presence of Jesus’ body and blood become a reality. However, we must distinguish how we receive the benefits of the Lord’s Supper. The benefits or the gifts that God gives through the meal are only received by faith. It is our faith that clings to and brings into our lives the reality and the fulfillment of God’s promises to forgive our sin and give us life. This distinction is important to note because the body and the blood are present by the Word of God and are present whether the one receiving them believes or not. However, the benefits are only received by faith and the Bible teaches that receiving the body and the blood without faith is actually detrimental (see next section).