THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. PAUL

Reference 1 Corinthians 11:23-25

For I received from the Lord what I also passed to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is my body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me”. In the same way after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me”

COMMENT

Paul was not present at the last supper but received all the information about what took place in the ceremony from the same Lord Jesus Christ who appeared to him on the way to Damascus. He most likely received the message from Jesus in the desert of Arabia where he spent three years before he began his successful ministry and missionary work to the Gentiles. His quotation is exactly the same as that of St. Matthew (chapter 26:17-30), St Mark (chapter 14:12-26) and St. Luke (chapter 22:7-22). It is only Matthew who was present at the supper. Mark and Luke did not attend the occasion but worked closely with Peter and Paul.

Paul’s record of the last supper was the first documented information on the occasion because the epistles were written before the gospels. Paul was always quoted by Christians when celebrating the Holy Communion. Today, he is quoted all over the world whenever Christians meet to remember the Master, hence the title of this article. The information from Jesus was clearly received by Paul and he quoted the Master verbatim.

As clearly indicated, it is the ordinary bread and wine which were taken by the twelve disciples. Jesus did not in any way change the bread and wine into his body and blood as some people teach. He took ordinary bread, gave thanks and broke it. He then ordered that we do the same in remembrance of Him. After eating, he took wine in a cup and announced that it was the new covenant in His blood. Just as in the case of bread, He said drink it in remembrance of me.

Please note that bread remains bread and wine remains wine in the physical realm but spiritually the issue is different. Holy Communion is an act of worship and the bible clearly says God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) 

The death of our Lord Jesus on the cross is the most spectacular and essential incident in the history of Christianity and by extension the entire human race. Jesus did everything that was necessary to set us free from guilt and condemnation. We were born sinners and for that reason we were supposed to die but Jesus died instead of us. His atoning blood was accepted by God and that is all that was required. Jesus announced at the cross that nothing more was required. He said in a loud voice, “It is finished”.