This article is part of the Tough Passages series.
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23For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 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.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
ESV Expository Commentary
Four New Testament scholars offer passage-by-passage commentary through the books of Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, and Galatians, explaining difficult doctrines, shedding light on overlooked sections, and applying them to life and ministry today. Part of the ESV Expository Commentary series.
The Bread and Wine
Paul explains what the Lord’s Supper is all about by repeating what Jesus said at the meal’s institution. He reminds the Corinthians of the tradition or doctrine that he has already passed on to them from the Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 15:3) but that they have failed to maintain (contrast 1 Cor. 11:2).1 This section begins with “For” because it supports verse 22b—the reason Paul cannot commend the church is because the way they are abusing the Lord’s Supper is antithetical to what the Lord himself announced that the Lord’s Supper is supposed to symbolize. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. No Christian is inherently better than another. So how can a Christian celebrate Jesus’ cross-work in a way that snubs fellow Christians?
“This is my body. . . . This cup is the new covenant.” Professing Christians have understood Jesus’ words in several different ways.2 Contrary to Roman Catholicism, the bread and wine are not repeated sacrifices that become Jesus’ actual body and blood, nor do they convey justifying grace. Contrary to Lutheranism, Jesus’ actual body and blood are not present “in, with, and under” the bread and wine. Jesus’ actual body and blood are not present at all. The bread and wine symbolize Jesus’ death for at least three reasons: (1) This is the most natural way to understand Jesus’ two statements. (2) Jesus’ two statements parallel each other, so it is fitting for the first statement to be symbolic, since the second is symbolic: “the cup,” which represents the wine within the cup, does not become the new covenant but symbolizes what is necessary to secure it—death. (3) Jesus twice says to celebrate his Supper “in remembrance of me.” The Lord’s Supper is a precious memorial to remind people about Jesus’ sacrificial death. But it is not merely a memorial. It conveys special sanctifying grace to Christians who eat and drink in faith because Jesus is spiritually present as his people fellowship with him and each other (cf. comment on 1 Cor. 10:16).3
Jesus announced that his body “is for you”—that is, he died on our behalf and in our place. He atoned for our sins as a penal substitute (cf. comment on 1 Cor. 15:3).
Jesus’ “supper” refers to a Passover meal. The Passover meal is a type, and the Lord’s Supper is its antitype (on typology, cf. comment on 1 Cor. 10:1–22).4 The Passover meal was both a sacrifice and a covenant renewal ceremony in which Israel remembered the exodus (Ex. 12:14) and the old covenant that God inaugurated with the blood of sacrificed animals (Ex. 24:5–8). The Lord’s Supper is not a sacrifice, but it remembers Jesus’ once-for-all-time sacrificial death as “our Passover lamb” (1 Cor. 5:7; cf. Heb. 7:27; Heb. 9:12, 26; Heb. 10:10); it is a covenant renewal ceremony in which the church remembers Jesus’ new exodus for his people and the new covenant he inaugurated with his bloody death and resurrection (Jer. 31:31–34; Hebrews 8).5 When the church celebrates the Lord’s Supper, it remembers Jesus’ body and blood: his death has inaugurated the new covenant. Thus most English translations (rightly) read, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”6
The church should continue to “eat this bread” and “drink the cup” in order to remember Jesus’ cross-work because this act of eating and drinking is a way to proclaim the gospel regularly until Jesus returns. The symbolic meal heralds the most glorious story and thus should build up believers and evangelize unbelievers.
Notes:
- Paul probably wrote this letter before others wrote the Gospels. Cf. parallel accounts in Matthew 26:26–29; Mark 14:22–25; and Luke 22:17–20. Paul’s wording most closely resembles Luke’s.
- See John H. Armstrong, ed., Understanding Four Views on the Lord’s Supper, Counterpoints (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007); Gregg R. Allison, Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine; A Companion to Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 635–658.
- Cf. Gregg R. Allison, Roman Catholic Theology and Practice: An Evangelical Assessment (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014), 299–325; John S. Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, 40 Questions (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2015), 215–257.
- On the typology here, see James M. Hamilton Jr., “The Lord’s Supper in Paul: An Identity-Forming Proclamation of the Gospel,” in The Lord’s Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ Until He Comes, ed. Thomas R. Schreiner and Matthew R. Crawford, NACSBT (Nashville: B&H, 2011), 85–92.
- Cf. Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend, vol. 4, Holy Spirit, Church, and New Creation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 540–544.
- The NLT clarifies, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood.”
This article is by Andrew David Naselli and is adapted from ESV Expository Commentary: Romans–Galatians edited by Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., Jay Sklar.
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