Memory Verse

“When I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12–13).

The Lord’s Supper, or communion, is a sacrament that Christ began while He was here on earth. This is recorded for us in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

This sacrament is to be observed in Christ’s church until He comes again. We do this to remind ourselves of His great sacrifice on the cross and to receive the promised blessings of strength for our lives. We can also enjoy the very precious fellowship of other members of the body of Christ.

Children usually may not take the Lord’s supper, but they can watch with respect and love for Christ and gain a great blessing.

As baptism was to replace circumcision in the Old Testament, so the Lord’s supper was to replace the feast of the Passover. Christ was to be the Passover Lamb to take away our sins and to keep away the angel of death. Do you remember the story of the Passover?

“The night before God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, He asked them to place the blood of a slain lamb upon the two sideposts and upper doorpost of the house. They were to eat the roasted lamb and bread in haste, ready to flee that land of sin. At midnight the Lord passed through the land of Egypt and killed all firstborn, man and beast, all except those who were in the house where the blood was. He passed over them and they were not destroyed. God commanded the Jews to observe this feast yearly and to tell their children how His people were saved because of the blood of the lamb. Years later, the boy Jesus was told this story and, when He was 12, He, too, took part in the feast of the Passover in Jerusalem.” (From Taught of the Lord by Anna McKelvy.)

Let’s think more about how Passover is related to communion.

The night before Jesus was betrayed, He gathered His twelve disciples for one last feast together. (Sometimes the Lord’s supper is also called the Last Supper for this reason.) It was the last time they would eat together before the crucifixion.

The next day Jesus Himself, the Lamb of God, would be crucified on the cross, and His precious blood would cleanse the hearts of His children so that they would have everlasting life.

In the upper room, Jesus instituted a new feast to be called the Lord’s supper. It is a sign or “picture” of our union with Christ. In it, we remember His death until He comes again. On the cross, He was our substitute, paying the price for sin and bringing us back to God. The old Passover was being replaced!

We can all look back to Jesus’ work on the cross and also forward to when He comes again (1 Corinthians 11:26).

—Excerpted from When We Worship God, by Max and Fran Mann.