Sincere Christians, who genuinely love Jesus and one another, but sincerely believe God is saying different things when they read the Bible should not take the Lord’s Supper with one another.
Perhaps, reading that sentence, you want to respond with one of these very common replies:
- That’s unloving (don’t many people sincerely believe differently?).
- That’s judgmental (is nobody else saved??).
- That contradicts Jesus (didn’t he pray “May they all be one”?).
- That’s arrogant (after all “What is truth?”).
The heart of the matter is this:
What does Jesus say?
He says two things—and notably doesn’t say two other things.
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1) In summary, Jesus says: This is my body and blood, given for forgiveness… but some will instead receive judgment.
You can read Jesus’ words in Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-23; and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.
Here’s what he says about the bread:
Our Lord Jesus Christ on the night he was betrayed, took bread. He gave thanks, broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said: ‘Take this, eat! This is my ☩ body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me!’
Here’s what he says about the cup:
In the same way after supper, he took the cup. He gave thanks, gave it to them, and said: ‘Take this and drink from it, all of you! This cup is the New Testament in my ☩ blood, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me!’”
So, Jesus says that in the Supper he truly gives us himself—his body and blood—and is giving this to us for the forgiveness of sins.
But, through the apostle Paul, Jesus also speaks a solemn warning:
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. (1 Corinthians 11:27)
That “worthy manner” is believing Jesus’ words as we receive the body and blood of Jesus. When we eat and drink the Supper, believing what Christ says, we receive the forgiveness he promises. But if we receive the Supper disbelieving those words, we are bringing judgment upon ourselves.
Jesus’ words give sincere Christians who love each other three reasons why they might not take the Supper together:
- Do you disagree with what Christ says? Then don’t take the Supper together.
- Are you not sure what Christ is saying? Then don’t take the Supper together.
- Do you think the person handing out the Supper is speaking wrongly about what Christ is saying? The don’t take the Supper together—and lovingly warn them about their error!
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2) In summary, Jesus says: You are united by everything I have commanded and promised.
At the very end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus commands the apostles like this:
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:20)
We are to observe all that he has commanded. And the apostles are to teach us this. Not the “essentials” of what Jesus said, or the “primary issues” or the “core” or even the “majority”—but all.
The night before he died, Jesus prayed for unity like this:
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21)
Jesus grounds unity in belief created through the apostles’ words (which he speaks through them by his Spirit). And he explains that Christian unity is like the unity he has with the Father, which is completely unity of word and teaching, command and promise:
I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me (John 8:28)
For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me. (John 12:49-50)
Completely consistent with this, Jesus commands us through the apostle Paul to be completely united:
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. (1 Corinthians 1:10)
Paul isn’t telling them to feel united, but to have the same mind (understand the same things) and the same judgment (the same conclusions about what is true). And he is not saying this unity should only be in “primary issues” or “the essentials”, but there should be no divisions in what is taught and confessed publicly.
Jesus’ words give sincere Christians who love each other one clear reason to take the Supper together:
- Do you all agree with everything Christ says? Then take the Supper together!
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3) Jesus doesn’t say: People who don’t take the Supper together should stop loving each other deeply.
When many of my friends first hear what Jesus says about the Supper, an understandable response they make is “But we’re all one in Christ.”
And that’s absolutely right. Everyone who is baptised has been given unity with Christ. Everyone who trusts the word in that baptism enjoys its benefits. But this Christian unity is invisible. It is only visible by our united confession of what Jesus says.
The church is not united by institution, organisational structures, liturgical conformity, aesthetics, style, clothing, works, heritage, culture, activism, political issues, social factors, feelings, shared experiences, or friendliness. We must not create false visible unity by speaking ambiguously, elevating or downgrading a subset of biblical teachings, casting doubt on the Bible’s clarity, or uniting around things other than the Word and Sacraments. True unity expresses itself outwardly in things like fellowship and common prayer, but such practices do not create or define unity.
Jesus did not tell us to put his words aside and unite around something else.
4) Jesus doesn’t say: People who don’t take the Supper together are not saved.
Another thing many friends say when they first hear Jesus’ teaching about the Supper, is “But people who disagree with you are still saved!”
Whether someone agrees or not with what we say is neither here nor there. What matters for all of us is: do we agree with Jesus? Jesus says that listening to what he says defines what it means to be a Christian:
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27)
We should take this seriously. What Jesus says is clear. We should listen to his words and believe them.
But, God is love. At the cross, God reconciled the whole world to himself in Christ (2 Cor 5:19). His blood covers every sin. That includes every place where we disobey him by not agreeing with something he’s said. That isn’t an excuse to dismiss parts of the Bible as though they don’t matter. But, it is a reason not to assume that a failure to believe the right things about God means we have eternally rejected the forgiveness Jesus gives us.
Many of us may live our whole lives holding onto beliefs that are inconsistent with what Jesus says, and yet—because of his grace and forgiveness—we are still united to him. That union is a true union. But it is invisible. So we shouldn’t take the Supper together on that basis.
Jesus tells us that visible union—unity we can see—is unity in confessing agreement with everything he commands. And he commands us to share the Supper together only on this basis.
In other words:
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29)
People’s hearts before Jesus are secret.
What they say with their mouths is revealed.
So, we don’t deny an invisible unity that Christ creates wherever his Word is preached.
But we also don’t force a visible unity that disagrees with what Christ himself taught us.
To hear more about how faith is simply receiving the objective Word of Jesus, listen to this sermon: Is My Faith Real?
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