What Is the Significance of the Lord’s Supper?
The second church ordinance all Christians practice is the Lord’s Supper, also known as the Lord’s Table, Communion, or the Eucharist, meaning “thanksgiving.” The model is the Passover meal, the Last Supper, as observed by Jesus and his disciples just before his arrest, trials, and crucifixion (Matthew 26:26–29; Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:14–23; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26). Jesus identified the bread with his body, which he offered as a sacrifice for sin (1 Peter 2:24), and the wine with his blood, which he shed for the forgiveness of sin (Ephesians 1:7). Elsewhere, Jesus is identified with the Passover event itself (1 Corinthians 5:7) and is called the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 36), whose blood cleanses and redeems (1 Peter 1:19). Transubstantiation As to the meaning of the Lord’s Supper, the Roman Catholic view is called transubstantiation: During the Mass, when the priest consecrates the bread, it actually becomes Christ’s physical body, and when he consecrates the wine, it actual