The Lord’s Supper is a rich sacrament full of meaning and blessing for God’s people. Scripture talks about it in various ways, centered on Christ and his life-giving death. Regarding the Lord’s Supper, R. C. Sproul explained its past, present, and future aspects. Remember this next time you celebrate the holy Supper.
Obviously the Lord’s Supper is concerned about remembering something that took place once for all in time past. Often the words “Do This in Remembrance of Me” are carved into the wood of Communion tables. Jesus exhorted His disciples on many matters to be diligent in their learning and to remember the things that He had taught them. But it is as if the culmination of His teaching came in the upper room when He said, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19b). Our Lord said, in essence, “What is about to take place is the acme of My mission. I am about to ratify a new covenant, and I am going to do it in My blood. I am going to offer the atonement by which redemption is secured for My people. Whatever else you do, do not ever forget this.” …
…So, a major dimension of what takes place in the Lord’s Supper is reflection on the cross, but we miss much of the meaning of the Lord’s Supper if we restrict it merely to the remembrance of things past. There is also a future orientation to the Lord’s Supper. This dimension gets less attention from the church than the others, and I am not sure I understand why.
The Lord’s Supper, as it was initiated, looked not just backward but forward. Jesus said, “I will no longer eat of [the Passover meal] until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:16). The New Testament views that statement as pointing forward to the grandest feast of all history, the marriage banquet of the Lamb, when Christ will receive His bride and render her without spot and wrinkle, and will once again invite her to feast with the King (Rev. 19:7–9a). Therefore, every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we think about the past, and we remember that there is a future for the people of God; that we are having a foretaste at the Lord’s Table of that ultimate fellowship we will have with Him in heaven.
…In our human relationships, just sharing a meal together is significant. When people get close, they begin to visit back and forth in each other’s homes for the intimate fellowship of meals. Jesus at the Lord’s Supper is saying, “You are coming to My house for dinner, and I am going to give you that kind of concentration of intimacy and assurance that goes with it.” In other words, we have a special relationship with Christ that the unbeliever does not experience, because the Lord’s Supper is for believers only. Nonbelievers can participate in our worship services, but they should not have access to the Lord’s Table. That is where Jesus sits down with His people to give them special attention and to dispense a particular grace to them. He comes to comfort them, forgive them, and strengthen them.
We come to the table to see Jesus because we need Jesus to put His hands on our heads and forgive our sins. We need Jesus to give us a fresh assurance of our relationship with Him. When I take the bread during the Lord’s Supper, it is as if I am hearing Jesus say, “R. C., I died for you; My body was broken for you, and My blood was poured out for you. I am stooping down in My grace to strengthen your soul this morning.” It is an incredible experience.
So, I am not just thinking about the past or about the future. I am thinking about what is happening right at that moment. He is really there, we are in His presence, and we are being strengthened by this bond and communion of our souls with the presence of Christ.
Shane Lems
Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Hammond, WI, 54015
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