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Answer
On the night before He died, Jesus Christ shared a Passover meal with His apostles. Traditionally, Passover commemorated God’s deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. However, during the meal, Jesus gave new significance to the bread and wine, identifying them as symbols of His impending death. In this manner, Jesus transformed the Passover observance into a memorial of His own sacrifice and established a new and lasting ordinance for the Church.
At a crucial moment in the meal, with the apostles reclining around a table, Jesus demonstrated this transformation in a tangible manner. After He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and distributed it to the apostles, He said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” «And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. », (Luke 22:19, ESV). Although Jesus’ instruction only mentions the bread in Luke’s Gospel, Paul later added that it also applied to the wine or “cup”: “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’” «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. », (1 Corinthians 11:25).
With these instructions, Jesus commanded His followers to regularly partake in this observance later known as the Lord’s Supper (e:g:, Acts 2:42; Acts 20:7;cf: 1 Corinthians 11:20). To comprehendThe reason for the repetitive nature of the ordinance, it is important to recognize that Jesus redefined the bread and cup to symbolize something greater than freedom from Egyptian slavery. The bread symbolizes Jesus’ body. Consuming it during the Lord’s Supper recalls the sacrificial purpose of His death for sinners (Isaiah 53:12; Galatians 1:4, 2:20; Titus 2:14). The cup symbolizes Jesus’ blood, shed for the forgiveness of sin (Matthew 26:28; Ephesians 1:7). This transformation of the meaning of the bread and cup highlights Jesus’ death as the ultimate fulfillment of what the Passover event and meal only foreshadowed.
With the bread and cup imbued with fresh meaning, Jesus instructed His followers, “Do this in remembrance of me.” This instruction means that Jesus’ followers are to regularly consume the bread and cup to memorialize His death on the cross for sin.
The act of remembrance, illustrated in the Lord’s Supper, is an important theme in the Bible. It often contrasts the behaviors of those who obey God with those who don’t. For instance, disobedience is associated with forgetfulness of God (e.g., Judges 8:34), and obedience is the result of remembering Him (cf. Psalm 78:11, 35, 42).
Furthermore, in the Bible, remembering often implies more than just mental recollection. As seen in the tradition of the Passover meal, those who partake do more than merely think about their ancestors’ escape from Egyptian slavery; they also symbolically reenact parts of it. For instance, participants consume maror, a bitter herb, often represented by horseradish, to symbolize the misery of slavery «And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. », (Exodus 12:8).”>(Exodus 12:8). Similarly, they consume unleavened bread known as matzah to symbolize the Israelites’ swift departure from Egypt—they had no time to allow the bread to ferment «In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. », (Exodus 12:18).
Likewise, partaking in the Lord’s Supper entails more than mere recollection. It is a sensory-rich encounter where consuming bread and drinking from the cup enhances the involvement of those who participate. Contrary to beliefs in certain traditions, the purpose of the observance is not to re-crucify Jesus, just as the intent of the Passover meal was not to re-enslave or liberate the Jews again. Instead, the Lord’s Supper allows participants to connect with God’s salvation of sinners through Jesus’ crucifixion.
Although the observance of the Lord’s Supper in contemporary churches is often a serious and contemplative occasion, its theological essence is one of celebration. Jesus, the Lamb of God who removes the sin of the world «The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. », (John 1:29), has offered sinners the ultimate atonement. His crucifixion fulfilled what the sacrificial lamb of Passover meals only prefigured «And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: », (Hebrews 9:27). When Christians regularly partake of the bread and cup to commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion, they are not just following a directive, but also glorifying and thanking God for the triumph and liberation they have in Jesus «But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. », (1 Corinthians 15:57).
