Answer: The purposes of eating the Lord's supper
together are to remember the body of Christ, sacrificed for us, (1
Corinthians 11:24); to remember the blood of Christ, shed for us,
the new covenant in His blood, (1 Corinthians 11:25); by eating the
Lord's supper together as His church, we proclaim the
Lord's death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:26).
MORE INFORMATION AND/OR OTHER SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
Matthew 26:26-28: "While they were
eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to
His disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is My
body.' Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it
to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. This is My
blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins.'"
Mark 14:22-24: "While they were
eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to
His disciples, saying, 'Take it; this is My
body.' Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it
to them, and they all drank from it. 'This is My blood
of the covenant, which is poured out for many,' He said to
them."
Luke 22:19-20: "And He [Jesus] 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.' 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.'"
John 6:51-58: "[Jesus said,]
'I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone
eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is My flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world.'
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, 'How
can this man give us his flesh to eat?' Jesus said to
them, 'I tell you the Truth, unless you eat the flesh of the
Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I
will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is real food
and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks
My blood remains in Me, and I in him. Just as the living
Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who
feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that
came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he
who feeds on this bread will live forever.'"
1 Corinthians 10:16-17: "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? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many,
are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf."
Be sure to read and note 1 Corinthians
11:27-30.
