After completing the lesson, the student will be able to:

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  Explain the purpose of the Lord’s Supper

  
  


• 
  

  Describe the benefits of partaking of the Lord’s Supper

  
  


• 
  

  Understand the warnings associated with the Lord’s Supper as well as what preparations are needed to receive the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner.

  
  


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  Explain how the phrase “in remembrance of me” can be misunderstood by some Christians.

  
  

INTRODUCTION

In the previous lesson, we took a look at six key passages of scripture that teach us about the Lord’s Supper. In those verses, we saw: 

1. 
   

   How Jesus promises that the bread and cup are His true Body and Blood.

   
   


2. 
   

   How Jesus fulfills the Passover feast with this “new covenant”: his own Body and Blood.

   
   


3. 
   

   How God is the one at work in the Lord’s Supper

   
   


4. 
   

   How the Lord’s Supper (1) was instituted by Christ, (2) uses physical means, and (3) gives God’s saving grace (aka: it’s a Sacrament).

   
   

In this lesson, we will take a bit more time looking at the purpose and benefits of the Lord’s Supper and look at the warning Scripture gives regarding the Lord’s Supper. 

PURPOSE

When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He laid out the purpose of this meal: “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). As you can clearly see in this passage, the reason or purpose that Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper is for the forgiveness of sins. If you recall from our study of Baptism, when the Word of God is applied to the water, the recipient is assured that the forgiveness of sins, won by Jesus on the cross, is personally applied to them. The same is true here in the Lord’s Supper!

THE BENEFITS

We know from the Word of God that the most blessed benefit we receive from the Lord’s Supper is the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of eternal life and salvation.  However, there are other blessings we are given through the bread and cup.  

First, we enter into a closer fellowship with Jesus. As Jesus gives us his Body and Blood, He is drawing us to Himself, strengthening our faith, and sustaining us spiritually. Through this fellowship with Jesus, we also are given a renewed hope and trust that Jesus will raise us up with Him at the last day. 

Not only do we have closer fellowship with Jesus, but believers are united in a closer fellowship with one another. What an awesome truth, that for the past two thousand years, in churches all around the world, every believer is united together by the Body and Blood of Jesus. Through the Lord’s Supper, we are all one church. 

So, what can we do to ensure we are taking the Lord’s Supper rightly? 

PREPARE YOURSELF

When we hear the word “worthy”, we typically think of a quality, attribute, or ability that someone has. For example, we might say that a really good college basketball player is worthy to be a first round draft pick. Another example could be a classmate who studies hard is considered worthy to be picked as student of the month. But when it comes to the Lord’s Supper, there isn’t anything we are or anything we do that makes us worthy. We don’t prepare ourselves to be worthy by praying, reading the bible, or sharing our faith. So what is it that makes us worthy? Let’s start by looking at Luther’s Small Catechism.

In this passage, we see that we are called to prepare for the Lord’s Supper by examining ourselves, and by discerning the Lord’s body. To examine ourselves, we ask the Lord to search our hearts and reveal any sin, and we confess that sin to the Lord. Then we discern the Lord’s body by truly believing that God is forgiving our sin as gives his body and blood to us in the bread and the cup. These preparations are not good works that we do, but they are a recognition that we are utterly incapable of obtaining the forgiveness that we so desperately need, and that God is indeed forgiving us in the Lord’s Supper. As it says in your catechism, we are worthy and well prepared to take the Lord’s Supper if we believe these words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME

In several of the passages of scripture regarding the Lord’s Supper, the phrase “in remembrance of me” is found (Luke 22 and I Corinthians 11). While there are some Christians who claim this phrase supports the idea that the Lord’s Supper is primarily a symbol or a tool to remember what Jesus did on the cross for us, we as Lutherans understand Jesus’ command differently. We know that the Lord’s Supper isn’t just a time to remember what Jesus did, but it is actually accomplishing something in our lives. Through this meal, God is actually forgiving our sin and strengthening our faith and love for Him. When we take this command in context, we see that remembering Jesus is not the primary purpose of the Lord’s Supper. However, “remembering” is something we are called to do. And so, as we come to the Lord’s table to receive what He has to offer, it is right to remember God’s promise to us, and to remember all that Christ has accomplished for us as he bled and died on the cross.