Lord's Supper resources
Some resources for studying on the Lord's Supper
Nic’s 2023 sermon on the “Bread of Heaven” in John 6, that is not a direct reference to the Lord’s supper, but many have seen it as an allusion to the Lord’s supper as many see an allusion to baptism in John 3 when Jesus refers to being born of “water and the Spirit”. In this sermon I make sense of the flow of John 6 in its original context without reference to communion. Jesus original hearers could not have understood John 6 as being about a ritual that didn’t yet exist. If Communion HAD existed when Jesus said this, it would have been much easier for his audience to understand- and they probably would not all have left. Thus, although Jesus is the “Bread of heaven”, and the bread of the Lord’s supper is the Bread that is the body of Christ- this association is not the original context of the narrative in John 6. That does not mean that John would not have expected all of his readers in 90AD and beyond to immediately make that association. It doesn’t mean we can’t. If Paul says of the Rock that poured out the water in the desert “that rock was Christ”, then we can see that he “spiritual food” (1 cor 10:3) which was Mana is linked to the broken bread of communion in 1 cor 10:16. But this does not mean that John 6 is an explanation of the bread of communion. It is the opposite. Communion is a sign and seal of the spiritual reality that we must “eat his flesh and drink his blood” by giving our full faith and allegiance to Jesus as the messiah savior. The Lord’s Supper is a ritual in which we act out the faith and devotion Jesus demands of his disciples in John 6. Thus eating Jesus flesh and blood is an analogy in John 6, and is still an analogy in communion now. That doesn’t mean it is not a true spiritual nourishment that comes to us in a mysterious way. It just means we don’t need to interpret these passages literalistically in order to believe in their meaning fully.
On 12/15/24 Nic Preached on Communion and the Lord’s supper as part of a series on hospitality. This sermon is on the Lord’s supper, and includes some of my objections to certain teachings of Catholic and Orthodox assertions. It is mostly on the Lord’s Supper and it’s meaning and importance.
Last, I have written a document that explores the Biblical view of alcohol, especially wine, and whether we should use wine as an element in Communion. I believe that wine is the commodity that scripture ordains for use in communion, and that churches made a mistake in moving to grape juice 100 years ago during prohibition. I believe we should correct this innovation by going back to offering wine as the drink of communion, with juice offered as an option for those that require it out of conscience.
Here is the post: