“This is my Body”—The Biblical Data Behind the Lord’s Supper

In the history of Christianity, few things have been as contentious as the Lord’s Supper, also known as the Eucharist or Communion. This post will delve into the biblical data behind the Lord’s Supper.

The Passover

On the night Jesus was betrayed, he started a practice that would continue until the end of time. The practice began as part of another ceremony—the Passover meal when Jews commemorate their deliverance from bondage in Egypt. On the cusp of Israel’s liberation, the LORD gave these instructions to Moses and Aaron,

² “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. ⁴ If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. ¹⁰ Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. ¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover. (Ex 12:2-11)

The First Communion

More than a millennium later, while Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the Passover, Jesus did something extraordinary.

Matthew writes,

²⁶ “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.”

²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (26:26-29)

Mark says,

²² While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

²³ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

²⁴ “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. ²⁵ “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (14:22-25)

Luke writes,

¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. (22:19-20)

And Paul says,

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Cor 11:23-26)

Observations

Here are a few observations from these four passages:

• What Jesus did is astonishingly strange.

• • While holding bread, he said, “This is my body.” And while holding a cup of wine/juice, he said, “This is my blood.” (Some claim the alcohol content in ancient wine was much lower than alcohol content today, but I won’t get into that debate.) If you have grown up in church, these actions and words may not seem unusual, but think about it happening for the first time. Who had ever done this? Who had even thought of doing this? How can bread be his body? How can wine be his blood?

• • Things get much stranger. Jesus told his disciples to eat his body and drink his blood. He didn’t put the bread and cup on a shelf to be admired. He wanted them to eat the bread and drink the wine. Moreover, telling Jewish men to drink blood would have been shocking because Jews were prohibited from drinking blood. In Leviticus 17 God says,

¹⁰ “‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. ¹¹ For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. ¹² Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.”

¹³ “‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, ¹⁴ because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.” (Lev 17:12-14)

• Jesus didn’t cut or pierce himself then give a physical part of himself to his disciples. After giving thanks, he gave them bread and a cup.

• None of the passages explain how the bread and wine become the body and blood of the Lord. We are simply given the words of Christ, “This is my body” and “This is my blood.” How and when the bread and wine become the body and blood of the Lord turned into a major theological dispute in church history. Thomas Aquinas, for example, used Aristotle’s philosophy to argue that the substance of the bread and wine are transformed into the substance of Christ’s body and blood while the accidents of bread and wine remain. Notice, however, that nothing is said in Scripture about this process, if a process even exists. We are simply given the words, “This is my body,” “This is my blood.”

• Each passage mentions a covenant:

• • “This is my blood of the covenant” (Matt 26:28; Mk 14:24)
  • “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25)

The pairing of covenant and blood is reminiscent of God’s first covenant with Israel. After young bulls were sacrificed as offerings to the LORD, Exodus 24 says,

⁶ Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. ⁷ Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.”

⁸ Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (vv. 6-8)

• Each passage mentions Jesus giving thanks.

• Each passage affirms that Jesus gave his body and blood for others:

• • “poured out for many” (Matt 26:28; Mk 14:24)
  • “given for you . . . poured out for you” (Lk 22:20)
  • “given for you” (1 Cor 11:24)

• Luke and Paul include the concept of remembrance: “do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24-25).

• Matthew is the only one who specifically mentions forgiveness: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (26:28).

• Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not say the practice should continue. They are simply narrating what happened. Paul’s words, however, indicate an ongoing practice without indicating frequency: “whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26).

John 6

The Gospel of John does not contain the Last Supper scene, but many scholars believe John makes the same point in a different way. In John 6, Jesus says,

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. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. (vv. 53-56)

Eating the body and blood of Christ, then, gives eternal life, the prospect of resurrection on the last day, and indicates remaining or abiding in Christ.

1 Corinthians 10

Prior to his comments in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul says,

¹⁴ Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶ Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. ¹⁸ Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? ¹⁹ Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰ No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. ²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. ²² Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he? (vv. 14-22)

Several key ideas are expressed here:

• Thanksgiving is mentioned. Paul calls the cup “the cup of thanksgiving.”
• Partaking of the Lord’s Supper is a participation in the body and blood of Christ.
• Paul assumes that “one loaf” of bread is used and sharing of the same loaf shows that we are “one body.” Note Paul assumes this, but he doesn’t mandate it.
• In support of his claim about participating in the body and blood of Christ, Paul uses Israel’s sacrificial practice. Those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar or the table where offerings are presented.
• Although idols are nothing, pagan sacrifices are offered to demons and believers should not be participants with demons.
• In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul refers to this act as both “the Lord’s Supper” and “the Lord’s table.”

Now let’s return to 1 Corinthians 11. Paul explains,

¹⁷ In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. ¹⁸ In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. ¹⁹ No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. ²⁰ So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, ²¹ for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. ²² Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter! . . .

²⁷ So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. ²⁹ For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. ³⁰ That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. ³¹ But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. ³² Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.

³³ So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. ³⁴ Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.

What do we learn about the Lord’s Supper from this passage?

• When the believers in Corinth gathered, they ate the Lord’s Supper. This shows that the Lord’s Supper had become an ongoing practice.

• Some were eating in an “unworthy manner,” meaning they were not showing consideration to others. They were eating their own private suppers while others were going hungry. These were probably the wealthier members who, by their insensitive behavior, were humiliating those who had nothing. Imagine being hungry and excited for a meal, but when it was your turn to put food on your plate nothing was left. This shows that the Lord’s Supper in Corinth was initially part of a larger meal, just as it was during its inception.

• Paul calls this unworthy behavior “sinning against the body and blood of the Lord,” and not “discerning the body of Christ.” In this context, not “discerning the body of Christ” does indicate a lack of reverence for the bread. The “body of Christ” refers to the members of the church. The Corinthian believers were not recognizing Christ’s body in the human members of the community. If they had discerned the Lord’s body, they would not have been insensitive to the needs of others. In many churches today, the setting is very different. It’s common to see people lining up to receive the elements at the front of the sanctuary. In this setting, perhaps we can liken the Corinthians’ behavior to people cutting in line. The point is that they were not respecting their fellow believers.

• Verse 27 calls the elements bread and cup and the body and blood of the Lord. What these elements actually are will become a major issue in church history so this is an important observation.

• Eating the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner results in judgment. This judgment includes sickness and even death.

All of this is the primary biblical data for the Lord’s Supper. There are verses in Acts that talk about “the breaking of bread,” which some think refers to Communion, however, those comments are generic in nature so they may simply be a reference to eating a regular meal together.

But there’s one more passage that should not be missed.

Luke 24

Luke 24 records several of Jesus’ resurrection appearances. In one of them Jesus appears to two followers while they were walking to Emmaus, but initially they were unable to recognize him. The followers urged the stranger to join them because it was late in the day then this happened:

³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. (vv. 30-35)

Do you notice the similarities with the Last Supper?

Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it and distributed it to them. What did Jesus do at the Last Supper? Two chapters earlier in the same book, Luke writes, “He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them” (Lk 22:19).

Laurence Hull Stookey comments:

This story is crucial for the contemporary church because it stands in judgment over our preoccupation with the upper room on Thursday evening as the dominant focus of our Eucharists. . . Luke was too careful of a writer for this similarity of language to be mistaken for an accident. Instead it is a powerful theological affirmation: The pre- and post-resurrection meals cannot be separated. If the Thursday meal was to be seen as a Passover feast, the joyful theme of God’s deliverance therein is heightened by the Sunday meal. But even if the Thursday meal is to be seen as one of gloom and foreboding in the face of death, the Sunday meal announces the victory of the resurrection, thus transforming what went before.

What cannot be accepted as Luke’s meaning is that the Thursday meal is to be seen as powerfully somber, and that the church is to continue this mood in all its Eucharists, while ignoring the joyful meal at Emmaus. (36-7)

These are insightful words worth pondering.

Conclusions

On a practical level, the New Testament leaves us with several unanswered questions. For example,

• How often should we practice Communion?
• Must the elements be distributed by a priest/pastor?
• Can children partake?
• What should we do with the leftover elements?

The New Testament, however, clearly expresses the significance of the Eucharist.

• A new covenant made by God to humans: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (Lk 22:20). In the Old Testament God made a covenant with Noah, Abraham, the people of Israel, and David. Now God is making a covenant with the world through Christ.

• A remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice: “do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24).

• A proclamation of the Lord’s death until he returns: “whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26).

• A participation in the body and blood of Christ: “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Cor 10:16).

• Abiding in Christ: “Whoever eat my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me” (Jn 6:56).

• The forgiveness of our sins: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt 26:28).

• Eternal life: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (Jn 6:54).

• Unity with other believers: “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf” (1 Cor 10:17).

Don’t jump to the wrong conclusion. Partaking in Communion is not a requirement for salvation. The thief on the cross beside Jesus was saved without being baptized or eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper. And Paul says, ^“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9). However, if the repentant thief would have lived longer, in obedience to Christ he should have been baptized and received the Lord’s Supper. How often should he have partaken in the Eucharist? I have no idea, other than giving the bare minimum—once.