The MISSION DISCIPLESHIP - The Lord's Supper... What does the Disciple say when asked about it? Donald Neal McKay presents a new, contemporary look at the sayings of Jesus Christ as they apply to today's Church, Christian and Christian Disciple.

" 'Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.'

"The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' So Jesus said to them, 'Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.

" 'This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.' " - John 6: 46 - 58

And after Jesus had said this, his disciples said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?"

"But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, 'Does this offend you?' " Yes, it did offend many; as John further relates, "Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. They deserted him. So Jesus asked the twelve, 'Do you also wish to go away?' "

'Do you also wish to go away?

To be candid, those words are the driving impetus behind The MISSION DISCIPLESHIP website. We don't have the exact count as to how many of Jesus' disciples abandoned him, but we know from the text that prior to his declaration there were many. After his pronouncement, we can safely surmise there were just about twelve left. Those who did not really know or understand Jesus took his words in a literal and worldly way and very likely had images of some sort of bloody sacrifice and cannibalism. At this point in time, only the true believing disciples remained in the fold... even though they did not understand what Jesus was talking about. Peter said it best when he responded to Jesus' 'Do you also wish to go away?' with, " 'Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.' " (John 6: 68 - 69)

That's right, Peter, who are we going to turn to? There is none other the likes of Jesus... although he warned that there would be many pretenders - "'Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah!' and they will lead many astray.' " (Matthew 24: 4 - 6) For better or for worse, 'The Twelve' remained loyal.

Jesus spoke metaphorically, as he was not going to require his disciples to eat of his body and drink his blood in the physical sense. It was at the event that has become known as 'The Last Supper' where Jesus ordained his final meal with his disciples as a sacramental transference from the literal to the symbolic; from the physical to the spiritual.

"And as they were eating, he took bread and when he had blessed it, he broke it, and gave it to them and said, 'Take ye: this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, 'This is my blood of the covenant which is shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.' " - Mark 14: 22 -25.

In Luke (22: 19 - 20) "And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave to them, saying, 'This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.' And the cup in like manner after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you.' "

"Do in remembrance of me." For the Christian disciple, the 'Last Supper' has become the 'Lord's Supper' - where originally it stood for the final gathering of the disciples with their Master before his crucifixion, is now celebrated in many Christian churches as the sacrament that renews the Christian's close association with their Messiah; an association that will never wane and be forever the most important sacrament in the Christian church.

Partaking of the sacrament of communion, that is The Lord's Supper, is the supreme outward act on the part of the believer where they publicly and routinely proclaim their allegiance and fealty to their Master, Jesus Christ. For today's Christian disciple, there is no other act that comes close to the solemnity, importance and joyfulness that breaks forth at the celebration of the Lord's Supper. All believers are, in what actually is a simple act, united with God through remembrance of Jesus. It is not an act of ceremonial cannibalism, but instead a symbolic - not literal - transubstantiation of the body and spirit of Jesus Christ into everyone who believes and participates in the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Not only is the believer united with Christ, but united with everyone in the church congregation. When we, as a church body, partake of communion we signify for all within the body to witness a oneness in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit with the church members. We become a unified family of Christian believers.

Should everyone be allowed to participate in the Lord's Supper?

No. In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians it is painfully evident that the early Christians of the Corinthian church debased the Lord's Supper; some members devolving into gluttony and drunkenness. Truth is, the church there was fast going to hell in a hand basket. Paul issued a stern warning to the Corinthians in his first letter (I Corinthians11: 26 - 29) " 'For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.' " The Lord's Supper is not a bacchanalian festival and is not a ceremony to be mocked by unbelievers.

In a sermon delivered by Martin Luther at Wittenberg, Germany in 1525, it was evident the Church was infiltrated by unbelievers along with believers who did not understand the significance of the Lord's Supper. Luther moved to stem the tide of the Lord's Supper falling into frivolousness and delivered a lengthy sermon that first described the significance of the Lord's Supper and then imposed a 'barrier of examination' that should be instituted for every professing believer:

"Therefore hereafter it shall be ordered that no one is to be admitted to the Sacrament unless he be asked first and it be learned from him what is the state of his heart, whether he knows what it is and why he goes to the communion. We have looked through our fingers at this long enough and tolerated the old misuse of it; but since Gospel has now been working farther into the world we must give attention to this matter and improve the imperfections. We should here act, as we do with child or any other person we baptize.

"When one brings him to baptism, it is not enough for him to believe that that is baptism and a sacrament instituted by Christ. It is also not enough for one to inquire whether he wishes to be baptized, which is the last thing to be asked; but first one asks him: Doest thou renounce the devil, and all his works and ways? Then: Doest thou believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost? When the one baptizing inquires whether he has true faith and knows what he is seeking and why he is there and for what purpose he makes use of the Sacrament. Much more then should one do thus in the Lord's Supper, so that no one goes to the communion unless we first hear whether he is a vessel that can contain it, so that it is not thrust as it were into the throat of an unclean animal.

"For those who go to the Lord's Supper only with such a faith, think no farther than that they may only receive it, they hold it to be a meritorious work and think that is enough. They do it only because it is instituted and it is the custom to do so, just as when you ask one, why he desired to be baptized and he answers: I do not know; it is thus instituted, therefore I will also do like other people. I think it is a good thing to do."

The Lord's Supper is not something that is to be squandered on the unfaithful. Let them first publicly profess their faith in Jesus Christ as their Redeemer, as the Son of God, and as their Lord and Master, then such a professor of faith will be welcomed at the table of communion. To do any less is to invite Satan to participate in the Lord's Supper - something that he is all too willing to do if it means that he can infiltrate the Church of Christ and harvest his crop of unbelievers.

We do not worship the Lord's Supper itself; we worship the God who instituted it... in remembrance of Him. It is a holy thing we do and there is no way to rationalize the presence of unbelievers partaking of the Lord's body and blood. Reformer John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion - 1536 Edition made reference to Paul's missive above
(I Corinthians 11: 26 - 29): "We must note in this passage that 'not to discern the body and blood of the Lord' and 'to receive it unworthily' are taken to mean the same thing. Men of this sort who, without any spark of faith, without any zeal for love, rush like swine to take the Lord's Supper do not at all discern the Lord's body. In so far as they do not believe that that body is their life, so far do they dishonor it, robbing it of all its dignity; and finally they profane and
pollute it by so receiving it."

Therefore, what is the Christian disciple to do when he or she becomes aware of a faux believer partaking of the Lord's Supper? Inform the church elders, including of course, the pastor. At this point a decision has to be made by the church body as what to do next, remembering that 'Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected....'
(I Timothy 4: 4). This also applies to a human being. What are we to do? The disciple of Christ in private counsels with the person and discerns their understanding of the Lord's Supper. Ask them for a verbal profession of their Christian faith to make sure they truly understand what it is to be a Christian, their understanding of the mission and sacrifice of Christ, and their willingness to profess their faith in public. This should be a clear indicator as to whether the person is worthy of partaking in the Lord's Supper, or if the person is not a Christian and is willingly or unwittingly mocking God and Christ.

If the person in question needs instruction, it is imperative upon the Christian disciple to do what is necessary and begin the process of Scriptural and Christian church education. Once the education process has been completed, then the person is asked, before the church elders, to verbally repent of their sins and proclaim their belief and faith in Jesus Christ their Redeemer. If they cannot do this, then the person is an unbeliever and must leave the church premises. If they do proclaim their faith in Jesus, then very likely, the person has not been baptized and should be counseled to become so, where, again, they will make a public proclamation of faith in Christ before the entire church body.

Is this harsh? Or judgmental on the part of the church body? It's both, but if precautions are not upheld, the Church of Christ will be undermined with strange doctrines and behaviors that are not Christian. Even today, I have witnessed church services that demonstrated a Christianity with which I am unfamiliar. The defense of the Lord's Supper from interlopers of questionable character and motives is warranted in these times just as it was in the days of the
first Corinthian church. Long after Paul's two letters to the Corinthians, his disciple at Philippi and Early Church Father, Clement of Alexandria had to send yet another Epistle to the Corinthians. Again admonishing and strengthening them against spiritual corruption from within the membership. It happened at the beginning of the Church of Christ, and it still happens today, thus the disciple of Christ must combat internal spiritual rot when and where it becomes evident.

<<Table of Contents Next>>