Cancel

Tabletalk Subscription
You have {{ remainingArticles }} free {{ counterWords }} remaining.You've accessed all your free articles.
Unlock the Archives for Free

Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.

Try Tabletalk Now

Already receive Tabletalk magazine every month?

Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.

{{ error }}Need help?

Can you imagine how breaking something will create and strengthen unity? Yet this is what occurs in the passage that contains the only direct quote from the Lord Jesus that can be found in the Pauline Epistles. The Apostle Paul writes:

The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 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.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor. 11:23–25)

No doubt, this meal is given so that Christians will remember Christ’s sacrificial death on their behalf. But how is the broken bread and the communal cup—and ultimately, Christ’s body and His shed blood—the basis for true Christian unity? How does the Lord’s Supper strengthen the unity of the church? Let me suggest three ways that the Lord’s Supper supports unity.

First, in allowing His body to be nailed to the cross and His blood to be shed, Christ took the just penalty for our sins upon Himself so that we can be reconciled to God. Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper so that His disciples would remember what He did for them. When He gave His body, He created a union of those who are now children of God and brothers and sisters in Christ. The broken bread should remind Christians that Christ had to give His body to create the church, which in turn is called His body (1 Cor. 12:12–31).

Second, every Christian should recognize that in giving His body and shedding His blood, Christ displayed the same sacrificial love for all other Christians by which they themselves have been saved. As His followers, we should love those whom He loves. The joined participation in the bread and cup that signify His body and blood should serve as a reminder and a display of this God-given unity.

Third, the context of this passage helps us see why Paul strongly rebuked the Corinthians for the way that they celebrated the Lord’s Supper. We read in 1 Corinthians 11:20–21: “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk.” Such an individualistic meal is a twisted misrepresentation of what Christ did when He gave Himself on the cross. He offered Himself up for the sake of others. Consequently, the Lord’s Supper should display and strengthen our unity as we look to each other and serve one another just as Christ served us when He gave Himself up for us all.

The Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ so that His disciples would remember what He did for all of them. Next time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, let us make sure that we hear the words “This is my body, which is for you” as a plural “you”—“for you all”—as we look at our brothers and sisters. Thus, we will remember the foundation of our unity, and our unity will be strengthened.

The Birth of John the Baptist

Zechariah Blesses the Lord

Keep Reading Peace

From the January 2023 Issue
Jan 2023 Issue