The Lords Supper

1 Corinthians 11:26-29     For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

There is a good possibility that tomorrow churches will be serving the Lords Supper. I have been asked to lead it for the first time in my life; nervous would be a huge understatement. I grasp a small portion of the weight of what this represents; of Christ’s sacrifice of his body and blood for my, and our, sins. A sacrifice that paid for all our sins, past, present, and future. A sacrifice that He bore the weight of all the sins of the world on his body; a weight and pain unimaginable in any way to us. We flinch or scream at the slightest physical pain, yet he bore a spiritual pain for all mankind for which we have no understanding of. He bore pains of the world’s souls, and we cannot bear the pains of headaches, cuts, bruises, or the mis-guided ill’s that require help. We are weak, and He is strong enough to pay the price for us; He is God.

Paul is writing to the Corinthian church that had come to look upon the Lords Supper as a party. It had turned into an excuse to get drunk and have a party. Paul was condemning their conduct at the time they should be in Holy reverence for what it represents. These scriptures above represent what we should all do before we participate in the Lords Supper. It should be a time of self reflection, of forgiveness, of repentance, of thanksgiving. It should not be looked at as a simple ritual wrapped up in religion; it should be a personal way for you to honor the sacrifice that He died for you. This is the symbol that ushers in the New Covenant that God is making with mankind; He is providing the Perfect sacrifice to Atone for our sins. Luke 22:20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. The writer of Hebrews establishes this new promise from God; this New Covenant found in Christ. Hebrews 8:8 For he finds fault with them when he says:”Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. The next opportunity you have to partake in the Lords Supper, take a deep spiritual self reflection. If you know that you have been forgiven by this sacrifice, and you understand the weight of what this ceremony represents, humbly partake after a quiet time of repentance, forgiveness, and thanksgiving. When you grasp this, it takes on an entire new meaning.