The Lord’s Supper or the Lord’s Table, one of the crucial observances of the Church, has been instituted by Jesus on the night before he was arrested. It is a meal ordained to commemorate the significance of Jesus’ death. It is also a reminder for all those who partake in it that they all are the people of covenant initiated in and through Jesus the Messiah. The elements of the meal, the bread and the wine, symbolizing the flesh and blood of Jesus through which all people are invited into the covenantal relationship with God. Therefore, the Lord’s Supper is a covenantal meal commemorating the significance of Jesus’ death and continuing to live in the light of the life of New Age inaugurated by Jesus the Messiah.
The practice of the Lord’s Supper, down through the centuries, despite theological differences and disputes, continues to be a reminder of the demonstration of God’s faithful love in human history. It also reshapes and demands the members of the Church to manifest the life of love, equity, fellowship, justice, and of the new humanity. The Lord’s Supper, therefore, is a tradition that carries out a great theological and sociological significance for all those who partake in it with a whole heart.
a. A Love Meal
The practice of the Lord’s Supper affirms the love among the disciples of Jesus. In John’s Gospel, Jesus commands his disciples to love one another as he had loved them. It is the mark by which the world identifies the disciples of Jesus (John 13:34-35). The Lord’s Supper is the covenant meal, where all the disciples of Jesus come together to share from the same table. The observance affirms the loving bond between the believers. In fact, the disciples are not without differences. Not all of them belong to the same social class. Not all of them share the same worldview. Yet, love unifies all of them. They come to partake from the same meal not just to commemorate God’s love but also to manifest it among themselves.
b. Equal Sharing
The Lord’s Table is a symbol of equality among the believers. It carries the message of God’s impartial love for the people of all nations, tribes, and socio-economic classes while, at the same time, calling the believers to embrace the life of equality and generosity. Unlike the feasts/parties of the world, the Lord’s Supper is the meal/banquet of Jesus inviting everyone to participate despite the economic differences. Both rich and poor are invited to eat and drink from the same table, without any discrimination. The differences do not cause divisions. Instead, all the discriminations are faded away with the manifestation of equality. It also calls for economic equity among the covenant members. The Lord’s Supper reminds everyone that they belong to the same covenantal community opened up by God in and through Jesus. There is no longer Jew or Greek, male or female, rich or poor, slave or free, powerful or vulnerable, for all are made equal in Christ. In his letter to Corinthians, Paul rebukes the church at Corinth for having socio-economic and ecclesiastical divisions and disputes among themselves. Such environment is addressed as the abuses of the Lord’s Table. He revitalizes the need and importance of equality among the believers while coming to partake in the covenant meal (1 Cor. 11).
c. Fellowship
The Lord’s Table not only affirms love and equality among the people of the covenant but also affirms the fellowship among them. In Paul’s words, the believers constitute one body of Christ. In and through Christ, all are made one family overriding the cultural barriers. These themes are elaborated much in Paul’s letters to Romans, Galatians, Ephesians and Colossians. The Lord’s Table affirms that oneness and fellowship among Jesus’ disciples, then and now. Fellowship is the ultimate demonstration of the presence of love and equality in God’s covenantal community. All are brought together and made one in Christ and thus, to share from the same meal.
d. Affirmation of Hope for the New Life
Reading from the beginning, the hope for the new humanity is one of the major themes of the biblical narrative. God has created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them and called everything good. However, because of humankind’s crooked choices, the world has devolved into chaos. Time and again, humans failed to partner with God in representing His nature in the world. They created a society where injustice triumphs over justice, wickedness over righteousness, evil over goodness. God’s loyal people eagerly anticipated the time when God sets things right and create a new life in a dying world. The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of the realization of the hope of new life in and through Jesus Messiah. In and through the mission of Jesus, the people are transformed and set right to become new and disseminate the light and life of God in a disordered world. Though the hope is awaiting the consummation, the Lord’s Table affirms the inauguration.
e. A Signpost to the Just Society
The Lord’s Supper affirms the just society that has been made possible by Jesus. The rich no longer trust in their own wealth but be generous to the poor. Those in power do not take advantage of the powerless ones by exploiting and oppressing them rather, in love and fellowship, they defend the vulnerable ones. The differences do not trigger hatred and enmity, instead, they are absorbed in love and equality. The Lord’s Supper is a signpost to the ultimate new creation where justice and peace flourish under the reign of God. The Lord’s Supper affirms the truth that the just society had been inaugurated by Jesus the Messiah.
In conclusion, the Lord’s Supper is a ray of hope in a world of disorder created by communal hatred, socio-economic inequalities, violence, extreme individualism, greed, exploitation and oppression. The Lord’s Supper stands as a symbol of the microcosmic presence of new life inaugurated in and through Jesus the Messiah. It not only affirms but also challenges the believers to embrace the life of love, equality, fellowship, and justice.
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