📖 Biblical Definition
The Lord’s Supper is the church’s ordained meal of bread and cup, instituted by Christ on the night He was betrayed (Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26), proclaiming His death until He comes. The bread is His body broken; the cup is the new covenant in His blood. The Reformed confession holds it to be more than memorial and less than transubstantiation — a real spiritual feeding on the body and blood of Christ through faith, by the Holy Spirit, not by physical change in the elements. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?" (1 Corinthians 10:16). It is communion, covenant renewal, and proclamation in a single ordinance.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The sacrament of the supper instituted by Christ.
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The sacrament of the eucharist; the holy communion in which bread and wine are received as memorials of Christ's sufferings and death, instituted by our Lord on the night of His betrayal.
📖 Key Scripture
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 — "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread."
Matthew 26:26 — "Take, eat; this is My body."
Luke 22:20 — "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you."
1 Corinthians 10:16 — "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?"
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Either superstitiously transubstantiated or trivialized into a juice-and-cracker snack.
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Rome teaches the elements become Christ's flesh; many evangelicals treat the table as a symbolic afterthought between songs. Both miss the apostolic weight. Paul warns of judgment for unworthy partaking. The Supper is a covenant meal that examines the church and proclaims the cross until He comes.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek deipnon (supper) and koinonia (communion) frame the table as covenant fellowship.
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G1173 — deipnon — supper, the chief meal of the day
G2842 — koinonia — fellowship, communion, sharing
Usage
"Examine yourself, then come to the table."
"The Supper proclaims the cross until He returns."
"Bread and cup are not props; they are preaching."