Introduction

1 Corinthians 11:20-31

20. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
21. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
22. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
23. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24. And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
30. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
31. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

The Lord's Supper is a greatly misunderstood ordinance. The Roman Catholics believe that the elements are transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ. Others, like the Lutherans, believe the actual body and blood are “mystically present” in the elements. Still others treat it as a sacrament, a means by which God dispenses grace. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Lord's Supper is stripped of any spiritual meaning and treated as a common meal.

What then is the aim and purpose of the Lord's Supper? In answering this (and any) question of faith, we must turn to our final authority on all matters, the Holy Bible.