Notes on the Lord’s Supper
Early in the history of the church, there was no true consensus of when one should take the Lord’s Supper.
Some of the early church fathers had some things to say about it. Cyprian (died 258 A.D.); served in Carthage and was beheaded for his faith. He spoke in some of his writings about what he called the “daily sacrifice” which was taking the Lord’s Supper every day. Chrysostom (345-407 A.D.) worked with the early Greek Church and would often complain about the relatively small number of folks who showed up for the daily partaking of the Lord’s Supper. Augustine (354-430 A.D.) said that the partaking of the Lord’s Supper was different from place to place. Early on there was no set pattern; some observed it daily, some weekly, some at other times. Basil (died 379 A.D.) served the church in Caesarea and wrote a lot of letters. In one he mentions that they “commune four times in the week, on the Lord’s Day, the fourth day, the preparation day and the Sabbath.” Ambrose (died 397 A.D.) also encouraged his followers in Italy to partake daily.
Another major characteristic of the early observance of the Lord’s Supper was its lack of formality and ritualism that often occurs today. It was observed very simply and in connection with a fellowship. Paul got onto the church in Corinth about the way they connected the two.
“The disciples followed their Lord’s example, celebrating a love-feast, which would be enriched with memories of their Master and teaching from His nearest disciples, and closing with the more solemn thanksgiving for the broken body and the cup of blessing which Jesus had consecrated” (Hastings, Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. 2, p. 68).
The Lord’s Supper began, “we believe, as a fellowship meal — the Love Feast” (William Barclay, The Lord’s Supper, p. 57).
“At first the communion was joined with a ‘Love Feast,’ and was celebrated in the evening, in memory of the last supper of Jesus with His disciples. But as early as the beginning of the second century these two exercises were separated, and the communion was placed in the morning and the love feast in the evening” (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 2 — Ante-Nicene Christianity, p. 239).
As is natural, or at least within the confines of human nature, some revered the things of God sometimes more then God Himself, and eventually the elements (bread and wine) were viewed as being sacred. Whenever something becomes more then it is, there needs to be some sort of regulation on its use. Plus, if it is revered then you can control who can give it out, and thus control who gets it. Hippolytus, who was martyred in the middle of the 3rd century, taught that believers must show the most intense reverence for the elements of the Lord’s supper or the Eucharist (the Greek word for thanksgiving). He taught that it should be received early in the day before any other common food was in the stomach; none of it must be dropped or spilt, which would defile it on a dirty floor. Hippolytus warned the members of the church that they must never “leave the sacred bread about the house where an un-baptized person, or even a mouse, might accidentally eat it.” Later, it would be taught that should a mouse eat a crumb of the bread that had fallen to the floor, it would thereby receive eternal life! The church even passed out leaflets and taught commonly that, to keep mice from infesting Heaven, the elements had to be protected!
The Lord’s Supper for Martin Luther was a divine sign of the union between all believers and Christ. He even tried to “restore” the Lord’s Supper to its original state as simply a commemoration of the atoning death of Christ and a communion of believers with Him. Luther observed a weekly communion as the end of the regular service on Sunday.
John Calvin encouraged a monthly observance, in a reverent manner, of the Lord’s Supper.
Through the work of the reformers, the age of the Reformation swept through Europe and with it a desire to read the word of God on an individual basis. This prompted many believers to refocus most of their ideas and indoctrinated rituals that had no real base in the Bible.
John Calvin wrote this about the Lord’s Supper:
But as the blessings of Jesus Christ do not belong to us at all, unless he be previously ours, it is necessary, first of all, that he be given us in the Supper, in order that the things which we have mentioned may be truly accomplished in us. For this reason I am wont to say, that the substance of the sacraments is the Lord Jesus, and the efficacy of them the graces and blessings which we have by his means. Now the efficacy of the Supper is to confirm to us the reconciliation which we have with God through our Savior’s death and passion; the washing of our souls which we have in the shedding of his blood; the righteousness which we have in his obedience; in short, the hope of salvation which we have in all that he has done for us. It is necessary, then, that the substance should be conjoined with these, otherwise nothing would be firm or certain. Hence we conclude that two things are presented to us in the Supper, viz., Jesus Christ as the source and substance of all good; and, secondly, the fruit and efficacy of his death and passion. This is implied in the words which were used. For after commanding us to eat his body and drink his blood, he adds that his body was delivered for us, and his blood shed for the remission of our sins. Hereby he intimates, first, that we ought not simply to communicate in his body and blood, without any other consideration, but in order to receive the fruit derived to us from his death and passion; secondly that we can attain the enjoyment of such fruit only by participating in his body and blood, from which it is derived.
All that has been said about this has shaped the modern concept of the Lord’s Supper. The real problem with it is that to truly understand the Lord’s Supper, we need to look at how the Lord Himself understood it and what He meant when he said “this is my Body and this is my Blood”.
When Jesus was celebrating the Passover feast with His disciples, the meal had two parts: the first was the eating of bread, and the second was the telling of the Exodus story. For the bread portion, the head of the household would hold the unleavened bread (symbol of having no sin); then he would recite a formula taken from Deuteronomy 16:3; “This is the bread of affliction which our fathers ate when they came out of Egypt.” Then the head of the household would recite the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper at the Passover Meal. He would have been filling the role of the head of the household during this Passover meal. The meal was all about the defining moment when God delivered them from bondage and slavery. It is in this spirit that the Lord’s Supper functions for us today! Jesus is our “Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7); the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Is it any wonder why Jesus said, “How I have longed to eat this Passover with you before my death!” (Luke 22:15).
The whole thrust of the meal is to remember what the Lord had done for them and for us. There was bread and wine on the table and the whole meal hinged around five cups.
At the start of the meal, candles are lit and a prayer is offered to bless the first cup of wine: “Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, the Creator who brings forth the vine from the earth with its fruit” (Genesis 1:11).
This first cup is called the Cup of Sanctification, signifying “I the Lord will bring you out from under the yoke of slavery” (Exodus 6:6); this was God setting the children of Israel apart for Himself.
The second cup, the Cup of Plagues is filled and passed round. The ten plagues on Pharaoh’s Egypt are verbally recounted (Exodus 7:14-12:36):
Blood, Frogs, Lice, Flies, Cattle Disease, Boils, Hailstones, Locusts, Darkness, Death of the Firstborn
This Cup of Plagues is the last cup before the Passover Lamb is considered (see Luke 22:17).
It was after this point that Jesus instituted ‘the Lord’s Supper’. He took the bread (laid aside earlier) and gave thanks (Matthew 26:26): “Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, the Creator who brings forth bread from the earth”, according to the Jewish custom. Then He broke the bread and passed round the third cup of wine, called the Cup of Blessing or the Cup of Redemption. Jesus said “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20).
The final cup of wine, the Cup of Praise, is drunk as the meal concludes with the singing of the remaining ‘Halel’ (or Hallelujah) Psalms (115-118) and the ‘Great Halel’, Psalm 136 “God’s love endures for ever”. These psalms are probably the ‘hymn’ mentioned in Matthew 26:30. Psalm 116 is important to the Lord’s prayer in the garden of Gethsemane.
The fifth cup that was never drunk was the cup for Elijah. This was the cup that the Jews used to symbolize the coming Messiah. They were waiting for a voice crying from the wilderness that was Elijah, reborn/returned, and he would come before the Messiah.