When Jesus was on earth, He gave His disciples instructions for two rituals or institutions: Baptism and the Lord’s supper. Because these sacraments were instituted directly by Jesus, we attach great importance to them.
Jews celebrating the feast of Passover
Jesus instituted the Lord’s supper the night He was betrayed (Luke 22:14 -20, Matthew 26:26 -30, Mark 14:22-26, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). He and His disciples were celebrating the feast of Passover together. The Jews celebrated this feast every year to remind them of the time when God brought them out of the land of Egypt where they had been slaves (Exodus 11 – 13). The Egyptians let the people of Israel go only after God killed all their firstborn sons. God had announced that disaster in advance, commanding the Israelites to kill a lamb and strike some of its blood on their doorposts as a sign to the death angel that this was a house of the people of God, so that the angel would pass by that house. Thus the firstborn of Israel were spared.
The fulfillment of this feast
When Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples He said that He was the fulfillment of this feast. He was telling them that He was God’s lamb, and those who took shelter in Him would be saved from death through Jesus’ blood. Jesus took the bread, and compared it to His body, which was soon to be broken – beaten and killed. The wine accompanying the meal He compared to His blood which was to be shed. Jesus said that this cup from which they were drinking was a sign of the covenant that He was making with everyone who took shelter in Jesus’ death, recognizing that this is the only way that we can come to God, be forgiven, and counted as people of God.
Remembering the death of Christ
Jesus told His disciples to hold this feast often, remembering Christ’s death for us until the time that Jesus returns and takes us to be with Him forever. In the early church the Lord’s supper was known as “breaking of bread”, and the Christians in the New testament are known to have done this frequently, possibly every time they met together (Acts 2:42; 2:46). Churches worldwide celebrate the Lord’s Supper differently, but the basics are the same everywhere: believers come together to eat a piece of bread and drink a little wine (or grape juice), remembering and celebrating Christ’s death.
Other words
The Lord’s Supper is also called ‘Eucharist‘, a Greek word meaning ‘to thank’. Still another name used regularly is Holy Communion, expressing that we recognize God’s presence with us, and have communion with Him. Communion means “the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a spiritual level”.
When we come together with other Christians, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper but we also pray together, encourage one other, read and study God’s word with one another. This should be with open hearts where we share with one another honestly and deeply the things that are happening in our lives so that we can help each other to grow spiritually and encourage one another in times of hardship.