Why Is the Lord's Supper So Special?

At the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, an angel explains the significance of the name given to Mary’s child: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). This is the great explanation for Jesus’ ministry. But how does Jesus save his people from their sins?

The rest of Matthew answers that question. Jesus repeatedly predicts his impending death, telling his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, and be killed. His death is not an unfortunate conclusion to his ministry. It is the very means by which he accomplishes the salvation of his people.

This connection between Jesus’ death and the deliverance of his people is highlighted in the institution of the Lord’s Supper. In Matthew 26:28, Jesus declares, “For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

The beginning of Matthew, therefore, tells us the significance of Jesus’ name. He will save his people from their sins. At the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus tells us how that will happen: through his substitutionary sacrifice on Calvary's cross. And the Lord’s Supper is the covenant meal in which that sacrifice is graphically portrayed and proclaimed.

There are five important purposes of this covenant meal that should enhance our appreciation of this ordinance of Christ every time we partake: 1) commemoration 2) confirmation, 3) cultivation 4) consecration and 5) communion.

1. Commemoration

The Lord’s Supper is a covenant meal of remembrance. Jesus instructed his disciples to eat the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of him (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24–25). But what are we remembering?

We are remembering the substitutionary death of God’s Son—the very reality to which all the Passover sacrifices pointed forward. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper in connection with the Passover, and there is a significant correlation between these two covenant meals. One commemorated God's redeeming power in delivering Israel from Egypt; the other commemorates God's redeeming power in delivering his people from sin.

In the Lord’s Supper, we remember that Christ our Passover has been sacrificed—and he has been sacrificed in our stead. Paul records Jesus’ words: “This is my body which is broken for you” (1 Cor. 11:24). And Jesus declares that his blood is shed “for many” (Matt. 26:28). This is substitutionary language. The Son of Man came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28).

The two signs used in the Supper graphically portray this sacrifice. Jesus took the bread and broke it, representing his body that would be broken on the cross. He took the cup containing wine and connected it with his own blood that he would shed for the forgiveness of sins.

As John Murray observed, “That there should be a perpetual commemoration of Jesus’ death by his own express institution is the most emphatic witness to the significance Jesus attached to [his] death on the cross.”

The more we perceive the significance of Christ’s cross, the higher our regard will soar for this meal, in which we take into our hands the very tokens of Jesus’ love.

2. Confirmation

But the Lord’s Supper does more than remind us of Christ’s death. It also confirms our faith in the benefits of his death.

When a sinner trusts in Christ, he receives the benefits of his sacrifice, the chief of which is the forgiveness of sins. This is the wonderful promise of the new covenant: “For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more” (Jer. 31:34). And this is precisely the promise Jesus highlights when he identifies the cup with his blood of the new covenant, shed for the forgiveness of sins.

When we participate in the Supper, God confirms the reality of these promises to us through tangible tokens. The bread is a token. The wine is a token. These are things we take into our hands, eat, and drink, visibly representing the blessings Christ's death affords us. We have forgiveness through him. We have eternal life in his name.

At the Lord's Supper, then, we have a visible, sensible assurance of pardon. The truth is, we are often weak and frail, and sometimes struggle with assurance. This is one reason Christ instituted the Table. Have you ever thought of the Supper as God's assurance booster for your faith? God has graciously provided a visible confirmation of the promises we possess in Jesus Christ.

3. Cultivation

The Lord’s Supper is also a covenant meal intended for our spiritual nourishment and growth in Christ.

Why is it called the Lord’s Supper? Because it is a meal. And what do meals do? When we pray before dinner, we often ask God to nourish our bodies with the food we are about to eat. In a similar way, this covenant meal is intended for the nourishment of our souls.

God has given his church various means through which the Holy Spirit strengthens believers and gives them growth in Christ. Preaching is one such means, ordained for the building up of the body of Christ. But God also uses the sacraments to nourish his people.

There is no power in the bread itself or in the wine itself. Rather, the Lord’s Supper becomes an effectual means of grace through the blessing of Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit in those who receive it by faith. Christ blesses faith-filled partakers with the reality signified by the bread and wine—his body and blood—which we feed upon by faith.

What Christian does not want to grow stronger in Christ? What Christian does not want to be nourished spiritually? The Lord’s Supper is a gracious provision from Christ to help us in precisely this way.

4. Consecration

But there is another aspect of the Supper that we sometimes miss. It stimulates us to evangelical obedience.

Why is it called the Lord’s Supper? Because he is the Lord of lords, the Lord of glory. When we come to this Table to sup with Christ, we come as his disciples, with hearts filled with gratitude for his sacrifice. We recognize what debtors we are to his grace, and we desire to follow him in obedience.

The Supper is a visible declaration of Paul's words: “You were bought with a price; therefore glorify God with your body” (1 Cor. 6:20).

Not only does the Lord’s Supper nourish us spiritually; it also stimulates us to grateful obedience. Whenever grace is truly received, it always stimulates to obedience. As we remember the sacrifice of Christ, we are renewed in our commitment to him and in the service we owe him.

Participation in this meal is also a profession of exclusive loyalty to Jesus Christ. As Paul warns, “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons” (1 Cor. 10:21). We cannot profess fellowship with Christ while giving our allegiance to other things which oppose his lordship.

The Supper reminds us to whom we owe our allegiance and why. Christ deserves our devotion, our love, our worship, and our service because of the great Exodus-deliverance he accomplished for us through the cross.

5. Communion

Finally, the Lord’s Supper is a meal of communion. We have communion with Christ, and we have communion with one another.

Paul asks, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:16). These words teach us that believers have fellowship with Christ in the blessings secured through his suffering and death.

We should therefore approach the Table with the expectation of communing with our Lord Jesus.

The Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs captured this beautifully when he wrote that those who come to the Table should come “with hungering and longing for Jesus Christ.” He describes the desire of the believer: “Oh, that my soul might enjoy communion with Jesus Christ; now, this is the end that I am come for.”

Isn't that beautiful? We come to the Supper hungry for Christ, knowing our infinite need of him and the infinite excellency that there is in him. Burroughs says that our souls perish without Christ, but in the enjoyment of Christ there is a fullness for the satisfying of our souls.

But our communion at the Table is not limited to Christ. The Supper also strengthens our experience of the communion of the saints. We do not partake as mere individuals. We are spiritual kin, united by one Lord and having a share together in one gospel. As Paul reminds us, “For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17).

The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the gathered church. It is not a private exercise or merely an individual act of devotion. It binds us together as the people of God, purchased with the precious blood of Christ.

And what a means for the increase of our love! As we see, touch, and taste the emblems of God's love for us in Christ, we ought to recognize that this same love sought not only my welfare, but all of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Conclusion

As we come to the Lord’s Table, we should come with minds preoccupied with Christ and his death for us. We should come with an expectation of meeting with Christ at the Table. We should come with holy joy, desiring further sanctification. And we should come recognizing our fellowship with our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

The Lord’s Supper is a covenant meal of commemoration, confirmation, cultivation, consecration, and communion. It reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice, confirms the benefits of his death, nourishes our souls, renews our devotion, and strengthens our fellowship with him and with one another.