“The Lord’s Table”  

I Corinthians 10:21

            Every Lord’s day evening we gather around the Lord’s table to celebrate our redemption by Christ exactly as he commanded us, eating the unleavened bread that represents his holy humanity and drinking the cup of wine which represents his precious blood. This is a highly symbolic ordinance, full of instruction for all who behold it, delightful to all who participate in it properly, and honoring to our Lord. It has absolutely no saving merit or efficacy. It has no mystical power. It is not a sacrament ( a means of grace), but an ordinance to be observed by those who have experienced grace. The table is an ordinary wooden table, not an altar. The bread is ordinary unleavened bread, not the body of Christ, except in symbol. The wine is ordinary concord grape wine, not the blood of Christ, except in symbol. Yet, the ordinance is highly significant.

            It symbolizes our Savior’s death as our Substitute (I Cor. 11:26). The broken bread portrays his body, crushed to death under the wrath of God for us. The cup of wine represents his blood, poured out unto death at Calvary for the remission of our sins, securing for God’s elect all the blessings of the covenant of grace forever.

            This ordinance is a declaration of our faith (I Cor. 10:16). Eating and drinking the wine, we profess to all our faith in and dependence upon Christ’s finished work for the pardon of our sins and righteousness with God.

            Observing the ordinance is an act of grateful remembrance (I Cor. 11:25). It is an ordinance that can only be properly observed when it is observed in remembrance of Christ. It is meaningful only as it reminds us of who he is and what he has done for us.

            The Lord’s table is a symbol of our union with one another in Christ (I Cor. 10:17). As the bread is one loaf, so all true believers are one body in Christ because all are partakers of him.

            The Lord’s table is also a prophetic ordinance. It is the showing forth of the Lord’s death “till he come” (I Cor. 11:26). As the Jews of old ate the Passover with their staff in their hand, their shoes on their feet, and their coats on their backs, so we must ever keep this ordinance in anticipation of that great day when Christ shall come again and feast with us in his Father’s kingdom (Matt. 26:29).

 

Don Fortner