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Understanding the Lord’s Table: Representation, Participation, and Anticipation
Last week we examined the sacrament of baptism. This week we turn our attention to the second sacrament practiced in the church—the Lord’s Table, also known as communion or the Eucharist.
The term Eucharist comes from the Greek word eucharistia, meaning “giving thanks.” In the Gospel accounts of the Last Supper (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 1 Corinthians), Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, and distributes it to His disciples. The act of thanksgiving is where the term originates.
Because communion is something many churches practice regularly—some weekly—it is important to understand what we are doing, why we do it, and what it means. One helpful way to understand the Lord’s Table is through three themes:
Representation – looking back to the Old Testament foreshadowing
Participation – understanding how believers share in Christ today
Anticipation – looking forward to the future fulfillment of God’s promises
Representation: Old Testament Foreshadowing
The New Testament teaches that many events in the Old Testament were “copies and shadows” pointing forward to Christ (Hebrews). Several of these events prepare us to understand the meaning of communion.
The Passover
The most significant Old Testament picture of the Lord’s Table is the Passover.
In Exodus 12, God instructed Israel to prepare a special meal as the final plague was about to strike Egypt—the death of the firstborn. A lamb without blemish was sacrificed, and its blood was placed on the doorposts of each home.
God declared:
“The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” (Exodus 12:13)
Inside the homes marked by the blood of the lamb, families ate a meal together. Though judgment was sweeping across Egypt, those under the blood were safe.
Several important truths appear here:
The lamb had to be pure and without blemish.
The blood came first, providing protection.
The meal followed as a celebration of redemption.
The meal itself was not magical. Anyone eating without the protection of the blood would receive no benefit. The meal simply sealed the redemption already accomplished through the sacrifice.
Covenant Participation
The Passover was not only a remembrance. God commanded Israel to observe it every year. Each celebration renewed their participation in the covenant.
A helpful analogy is a wedding anniversary. When a married couple celebrates an anniversary, they are not simply remembering the day they were married. They are reaffirming the covenant they entered.
In the same way, Passover was ongoing participation in God’s covenant with His people.
Manna From Heaven and Water From the Rock
Another Old Testament picture appears during Israel’s journey in the wilderness.
God provided:
Manna from heaven as bread
Water from a rock for drink
In 1 Corinthians 10:3–4, Paul explains that these were more than physical provisions:
“They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink… and the rock was Christ.”
Though the food and water were physical, they also pointed to spiritual nourishment that ultimately comes from Christ.
A Covenant Meal in God’s Presence
One of the most striking Old Testament passages appears in Exodus 24. After God establishes His covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai, sacrifices are offered and the people are sprinkled with blood.
Then something astonishing happens:
“Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel… and they beheld God, and ate and drank.” (Exodus 24:9–11)
Because they were covered by the blood of the covenant, they were able to enter God’s presence and share a meal.
The pattern is clear:
Sacrifice
Covenant sealed by blood
A meal in the presence of God
This foreshadows the deeper reality fulfilled in Christ.
Participation: The Lord’s Table Today
The Lord’s Table was instituted by Jesus during the Passover meal with His disciples.
Luke 22 records the moment:
“This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me… This cup… is the new covenant in my blood.”
Though the meal was originally the Passover, Jesus redirected its meaning toward Himself.
The focus was no longer Egypt and Israel’s deliverance. Instead, the meal pointed to the greater deliverance through Christ’s sacrifice.
Paul summarizes it clearly:
“Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” (1 Corinthians 5:7)
The Meaning of Communion
When believers take communion, several things are happening simultaneously.
1. Remembering Christ’s Sacrifice
Jesus commanded His disciples:
“Do this in remembrance of me.”
Communion is a repeated reminder of:
Christ’s broken body
Christ’s shed blood
the new covenant established through His death
2. Covenant Participation
Communion is not merely a symbolic memory exercise.
Just as Passover renewed covenant participation, communion renews the believer’s participation in the new covenant through Christ.
We are not outside observers. We are participants.
3. Spiritual Nourishment
Communion also reflects the spiritual nourishment believers receive from Christ.
Just as Israel received manna and water, believers receive spiritual sustenance through their relationship with Christ. The physical act of eating bread and drinking from the cup accompanies a spiritual reality.
4. Unity With the Body of Christ
Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 10:17:
“Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”
Participation in the Lord’s Table reminds believers that they are united with Christ and with each other.
Every believer draws from the same source—Christ Himself.
Self-Examination Before Communion
In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul warns believers not to partake in an unworthy manner.
He instructs:
“Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
Two areas of examination are especially important.
Personal Examination
Believers should examine their hearts for unconfessed sin that disrupts their relationship with God.
Confession restores fellowship and allows participation with a clear conscience.
Relational Examination
Believers should also examine whether they are in conflict with fellow believers. Communion celebrates unity within Christ’s body, so unresolved relational division should be addressed where possible.
Anticipation: The Feast to Come
Communion not only looks backward—it also looks forward.
Jesus said:
“I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29)
This points toward the future marriage supper of the Lamb, described in Revelation 19.
There we read of a great celebration where Christ and His people gather together in perfect joy:
“Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
All the feasts throughout Scripture—Passover, covenant meals, and communion—ultimately point toward this final celebration.
At that future feast:
God’s people will be fully redeemed
believers will live in perfect communion with God
there will be no sorrow, fear, or pain
All who are gathered will be there under the blood of the Lamb.
A Foretaste of What Is Coming
When believers take communion today, they are not experiencing the final fulfillment.
Instead, communion is a foretaste.
Each time the church gathers at the Lord’s Table, it rehearses the coming feast when Christ and His people will celebrate together for eternity.
Communion therefore points in three directions:
Backwards to Christ’s sacrifice
Presently to our participation in Him
Forward to the eternal feast still to come
And every time believers partake, they remember the simple command of Jesus:
“Do this in remembrance of me.”
