Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper on the night of his betrayal (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20). At the end of the feast of the Passover, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples to eat. He said, "This is my body." He took a cup of the fruit of the vine, gave thanks, and gave it to his disciples to drink. He said, "This is my blood."
It is plain Jesus did not mean the bread and wine were real flesh and blood. Jesus' real fleshly body with its blood was alive, sitting with them. He meant that the bread and wine represented his flesh and blood which he would soon offer in death. When you show a photograph of your child and say, "This is my child, " you do not mean the photograph is your fleshly child. It represents the child. The bread and wine represent the flesh and blood of Jesus.
At the feast of the Passover, the bread used was unleavened bread. It had no yeast, soda, or baking powder in it to make it rise. Since Jesus used unleavened bread, it is proper for the church to use unleavened bread. At the feast grape wine was drunk. The European grape comes from a vine (not like the African grapefruit). Since Jesus used grape wine, it is proper for the church to use it.
Paul told the church at Corinth how to eat the Lord's Supper properly (I Corinthians 11:20-34). These people had wrongly made the Lord's Supper a drunken feast where the rich ate and the poor sat hungry. Paul told them it was not to be a feast. They were to take the Lord's Supper in remembrance of Jesus. It must be done in a "worthy manner" which means in the proper way. The proper way is to remember Jesus' death for our sins. Each person must examine himself. This means he must be sure he is feeling Christ's sacrifice in his heart, seriously remembering it. Those who do not "discern the Lord's body" (properly remember Jesus' sacrifice) will bring God's angry judgment on themselves. Taking the Lord's Supper should help one repent of his sins because remembering Christ's sacrifice shames him for his sinfulness. The Lord's Supper should make one look back to the cross and look forward to Jesus' coming.
The only thing Paul did not tell them was when to take the Lord's Supper (the church at Corinth already knew when). Since we want to be the church of the New Testament, we must ask one question. When did the New Testament church take it? Act 20:6-7 tells us. Paul was traveling. He stopped at Troas. On the first day of the week (Sunday) he met with the disciples. He knew he could meet with them then because it was their practice to meet on the first day of the week to break bread (practice, so he joined them. He thus gave this practice his apostolic approval. Since they took the Lord's Supper on Sunday, we too take it on Sunday.
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