Lesson 86 · Unit 13 · The Body of Christ
Two Signs - Baptism and the Lord's Supper
One sign to come in by, one sign to come home to.
Open
The silver tray comes down the row, and your hand stops in mid-air.
It is your first communion Sunday since you believed. The older woman in the row ahead has her eyes closed and lifts the little cup to her lips as if she were holding something scalding. You are pinching your small piece of bread, and the week flashes through your head: one outburst of temper, one lie. And you think: am I fit to eat this?
Somebody beside you says quietly, "This is the Lord's table, not an exam hall." Then what is it? The Lord left his church two visible signs - one made of water, one of bread and a cup. Today we look at them clearly.
Scripture
Paul hands on what he received from the Lord. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Romans 6:3-4, WEB)
23For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
24When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.”
25In the same way he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.”
26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
See
The sign of coming in: once, in public, through the door
Baptism is the sign of entry: baptized into Christ's death, buried with him and raised with him (Rom 6:3-4) - a visible dying and rising (lesson 26 walked this road through the water, so we will not repeat it). As for the mode and the subjects - immersion or pouring? Only believers, or the infants of believers too? On this question, Christians who are faithful to Scripture have come to different understandings. There are two main views on the mode: one holds to immersion, weighing the picture of being "buried with him" and the record that "they both went down into the water" (Rom 6:4; Acts 8:38); the other holds to pouring or sprinkling, citing the promise "I will sprinkle clean water on you" (Ezek 36:25; cf. Acts 2:41). And two main views on the subjects: one holds that faith comes before the water, stressing the order "repent and be baptized" (Acts 2:38); the other holds to the baptism of believers' children, weighing "the promise is to you and to your children" and the households baptized together (Acts 2:39; 16:33). This book will not make the decision for your church - take these passages and ask the pastors of the church you belong to. People who differ with you on this are still your brothers and sisters.
The sign of coming home: often, around a table, remembering
Baptism happens once in a lifetime; the Supper happens again and again - this is the sign of coming home to eat. On "the night in which he was betrayed," he "took bread" and "had given thanks" (1 Cor 11:23-24) - the betrayal was already outside the door, and he was still saying grace. "Do this in memory of me": remembering is not nostalgia, it is setting the self-giving of that night in front of your eyes again. "You proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (11:26): this meal faces in three directions - back to the cross, around at the one loaf we all share (1 Cor 10:17), and forward to the feast at his return. A piece of bread goes down, and the gospel is eaten into the body's memory.
What it is and how often: different understandings in the same family
First, what it is. On this question, Christians who are faithful to Scripture have come to different understandings. There are two main views: one holds that the bread and cup are the memorial and proclamation the Lord instituted, with the weight on "do this in memory of me" (1 Cor 11:24-25); the other holds that in receiving them Christ truly feeds us by his Spirit, with the weight on "a sharing of the blood of Christ... a sharing of the body of Christ" (1 Cor 10:16). Frequency has its traditions too: some break bread every Lord's Day (Acts 20:7), others monthly or quarterly - "as often as" fixes no number (1 Cor 11:26). This book will not make the decision for your church - take these passages and ask the pastors of the church you belong to. People who differ with you on this are still your brothers and sisters.
Examining yourself means going back to the cross
"Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup" (11:28). Examination is not a qualifying exam - if fitness were the entry requirement, nobody would be sitting at this table. Examination means bringing the actual state of your week to the cross, naming it, laying it down, and then reaching out to receive with reverence and gladness. This meal is not a diploma handed to graduates; it is food set out for the sick. None of us is worthy, which is exactly why it was "broken for you."
Deeper
Signs (the sacraments)
the gospel is spoken to the ears and acted out for the eyes; grace you cannot see is put into hands you can.
Remembrance (1 Cor 11:24)
not commemorating the dead, but setting an accomplished salvation back in front of you; he is alive, and the table is his.
Proclaim (1 Cor 11:26)
every communion is a small declaration, to yourself, to the church and to the world, until he comes.
Examine (1 Cor 11:28)
the direction is the cross, not self-condemnation; examination ends in receiving, not in withdrawing.
Story
Old Zhai is a welder in Xi'an, five years in the faith. The year before last he fell back into an old addiction, and although he confessed and repented, he began arriving deliberately late on communion Sundays - timing it so he walked in after the bread had been passed. He said, "These hands of mine aren't fit to take it." He hid for four months.
His pastor never named him. He just took him out for a bowl of noodles, listened to the whole thing, and said: "Examination is there to let you see the wound - and even more, to let you see the doctor. You have been reading 11:28 as 'examine yourself, then step back.' What Paul wrote was 'examine yourself, and so eat.'" Old Zhai sat with his head down a long while - half a life welding steel, and it was the first time he had really heard that a joint, once mended, is stronger than it was before.
The next communion Sunday he was in the second row ten minutes early. The tray came along, and the welder's hand was shaking - and it took hold.
Respond
Reflect — alone, or talk it through together
1"On the night in which he was betrayed... he gave thanks" - what do you hear in a sentence that holds betrayal and thanksgiving together?
2Does communion feel more like an exam hall or a family meal to you? Which side does the order "examine yourself, and so eat" correct in you?
3Baptism and the Supper - how does your church understand them and how does it arrange them? Which question do you want to take to a pastor with the passages in hand?
Saved on this device only — visible to no one but you.
Pray together
Lord Jesus, who on the night you were betrayed still took bread and gave thanks: at your table I am forever doing sums about myself - worthy or unworthy, go forward or hold back. Thank you that you did not wait until I was clean to set the meal. What you broke was your own body; what you poured was the blood of the covenant. Teach me to receive rightly: honest when I examine myself, without whitewash; at ease when I receive, without self-accusation. Let every eating of this bread and drinking of this cup proclaim your death and hope for your coming. Amen.
Walk
This week's actionabout 15 min
Prepare for the next communion: take fifteen quiet minutes, examine yourself as 1 Corinthians 11:28 says, and write down one sin to confess and one mercy to thank him for, to carry to the table. If you have not been baptized yet, make an appointment with a pastor this week and ask how your church arranges baptism.
Mark it when it happens — this week, at your pace.
Spiritual practice
Add one line to your grace before meals this week: "Thank you that on the night you were betrayed, you still gave thanks for me." Let the dinner table practise remembering.
Memory verse · 1 Corinthians 11:26
Forasoftenasyoueatthisbreadanddrinkthiscup,youproclaimtheLord'sdeathuntilhecomes.
Walk further
Lesson 26 on baptism and your new identity, the scene of the Last Supper, the Passover and its fulfilment, the piece on "What is baptism," and a prayer of confession and cleansing.