When Reformed Christians come to the Lord’s Supper, we don’t come empty-handed. Christ has promised to give Himself through this Supper, communicating Himself to believers by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord’s Supper is a spiritual feast, and even the weakest believer has a seat at the table.
On the night Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He celebrated the Passover meal of bread and wine with His disciples. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 5:7 that this meal held typological significance; it was not only a reminder of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt but also a sign and seal of the true Israel’s deliverance from the bondage of sin and of communion with God through Christ.
Words of Institution
Paul further recounts: “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:23–26).
What exactly did Christ mean by “This is my body”?
Significance of “This Is my Body”
While Martin Luther believed in Christ’s real physical presence, John Calvin held an intermediate view. Louis Berkhof summarizes:
“Like Zwingli, [Calvin] denied the bodily presence of the Lord in the sacrament, but in distinction from the former, he insisted on the real, though spiritual, presence of the Lord in the Supper.”[1]
Herman Bavinck adds that this “communion with Christ, which is strengthened in the Supper, is nothing other than that which is brought about by the Word as a means of grace. The sacrament does not add any grace to that which is offered in the Word. It only strengthens and confirms that which has been received by faith from the Word.”[2]
The Reformed reject transubstantiation and the idea that the elements somehow absorb Christ’s physical presence, as Christ’s human body would need omnipresence, contradicting the Chalcedonian Creed’s distinction of natures.
The Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 78 asks, “Do the bread and wine become the real body and blood of Christ?” It answers: “the bread does not become the body of Christ itself, though ‘agreeably to the nature and usage of sacraments it is called the body of Christ.’”
Q&A 79 explains: “by this visible sign and pledge…we are as really partakers of His true body and blood, through the working of the Holy Spirit, as we receive by the mouth of the body these holy tokens.”
What Is Signified in the Lord’s Supper?
Sacraments are visible signs of invisible grace. They represent spiritual realities. The Lord’s Supper symbolizes Christ’s death (1 Cor. 11:26) and our participation in Him, proclaiming His death until He returns.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 96 states: “The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine…his death is showed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.”
The Belgic Confession Article 35 declares: “To maintain the spiritual and heavenly life that belongs to believers, [Christ] has sent a living bread that came down from heaven: namely Jesus Christ, who nourishes and maintains the spiritual life of believers when eaten; that is, when appropriated and received spiritually by faith.”
Bavinck notes its dual nature as a natural and spiritual meal.[3] The elements point to Christ sustaining our souls, bringing joy and peace, while also symbolizing our union as Christ’s body (1 Cor. 10:17; 12:13).
What Is Sealed in the Lord’s Supper?
The Supper seals Christ’s work for us. Heidelberg Q&A 75 assures us that Christ “body was offered and broken on the cross for me and his blood shed for me,” and He “feeds and nourishes my soul to everlasting life with his crucified body and shed blood, as assuredly as I receive…the bread and cup of the Lord.” The Lord’s Supper confirms our salvation in a tangible way.
Calvin encourages believers that the Supper is “ordained not for the perfect, but for the weak and feeble, to awaken, arouse, stimulate, and exercise the feeling of faith and love.”[4]
It invites the weak to trust Christ’s strengthening grace.
The Need for Self-Examination
Since the Lord’s Supper requires self-examination, children in Reformed churches partake only after a profession of the faith. Calvin affirms it’s for the weak, offering grace to the repentant.
Belgic Confession Article 35 says: “just as truly as we take and hold the sacraments in our hands and eat and drink it in our mouths… so truly we receive into our souls, for our spiritual life, the true body and true blood of Christ, our only Savior,” and we receive this “by faith, which is the hand and mouth of our souls.”
Westminster Q&A 96 notes “worthy receivers” partake “by faith” for “their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace,” aiding sanctification.
By partaking of the Lord’s Supper, believers also pledge obedience to the Lord. Westminster Q&A 97 requires believers to “examine themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord’s body, faith to feed upon him, repentance, love, and new obedience.”
The URCNA’s Call to Self-Examination urges faith and repentance, trusting Christ’s forgiveness, and living thankfully to God in every area of life.
How Often Should We Partake?
Presbyterian and Reformed churches vary in how often they celebrate the Lord’s Supper: some weekly, others quarterly.
John Calvin favored frequent celebration, writing, “The Supper could have been administered most becomingly if it were set before the church very often, and at least once a week.”[5]
When we remember that the Lord’s Supper is a means of grace and a communion with Christ Himself, it seems wise to partake of it very often.
Concluding Thoughts
Come to the Lord’s Table with a prepared heart, not in your own strength, but in humble dependence on Christ’s mercy. By faith, believe His promise: as we eat the bread and drink the cup, He nourishes our souls with His crucified body and shed blood, by the working of the Holy Spirit.
That’s the gift waiting for us each Sunday. Christ meets us at His table. He strengthens our faith when it falters and reminds us that the grace we receive was never something we could supply. Amen.
Footnotes
FURTHER STUDY
If this article enriched your understanding of the Lord’s Supper, we encourage you to read The Manner of Christ’s Presence in the Lord’s Supper: Zacharias Ursinus and the Heidelberg Catechism by Juliette Colunga, a historical deep dive into how the Reformed view was shaped.
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