First Corinthians 11:23-26 indicates that we may experience and enjoy Christ as the object of the believers’ remembrance. According to this portion of the Word, when we eat the Lord’s supper, we remember Him. In verse 20 Paul speaks of eating the Lord’s supper. In 10:21 the Lord’s supper is called “the Lord’s table.” The emphasis of the Lord’s table is on the fellowship of the Lord’s blood and of His body (vv. 16-17), the participation in the Lord, the enjoyment of the Lord in mutuality, in fellowship, whereas the stress of the Lord’s supper is on the remembrance of the Lord (11:24-25). At the Lord’s table we receive His body and blood for our enjoyment; at the Lord’s supper we give Him our remembrance for His enjoyment. To take the Lord’s supper is unto the remembrance of the Lord Himself.
In 1 Corinthians 11:23 Paul says, “The Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread.” Then “having given thanks, He broke it and said, This is My body, which is given for you; this do unto the remembrance of Me.” The bread is broken that we may eat it, for concerning the bread, the Lord said in Matthew 26:26, “Take, eat; this is My body.” These verses show that we remember the Lord by eating the bread; to remember the Lord is to feed on Him, that is, to eat Him as the bread of life. The more we receive Him, eat Him, and feast on Him, the more we remember Him.
The bread in 1 Corinthians 11:23 signifies the Lord’s body that was broken for us on the cross in order to be distributed to us as bread. In the Bible, bread refers to life. The Lord said that He is the bread of life that gives life to the world (John 6:33-35). The Lord’s body being broken to be given as bread to us means that He gave His body for us that we may have His life; that is, through the breaking of His body on the cross, Christ released the life of God from within Him to impart it into us (12:24; 19:34). When we receive His broken body, we partake of His life. Christ gave His body as the bread of life for our life supply and enjoyment.
Eating the bread signifies taking the Lord in to digest and assimilate Him organically that He may become life to us. Just as the food we eat, digest, and assimilate becomes us, the Lord as bread is for us to take in, to eat, as our life supply so that He may become us. When we take in Christ as our food and thoroughly digest and assimilate Him into us, we are truly mingled with Him.
First Corinthians 11:25 goes on to say, “Similarly also the cup after they had dined, saying, This cup is the new covenant established in My blood; this do, as often as you drink it, unto the remembrance of Me.” The bread is of life (John 6:35) and the cup is of blessing (1 Cor. 10:16). This cup is the new covenant, comprising all the rich blessings of the New Testament, including God Himself. The new covenant, a covenant of full blessing, was established by the Lord’s blood, which He shed on the cross for our redemption (Matt. 26:28).
According to Luke 22:20, the cup is the new covenant or title deed which was enacted by the blood of Christ and testifies of the portion we receive from God. The blood of Christ instituted a new covenant, a better covenant (Heb. 8:6-13), which became the new testament after His resurrection (9:16-17). The blood Christ shed on the cross has become a covenant, and this covenant has become a cup, a portion, which is God Himself as a blessing for our enjoyment. In this covenant God gives us forgiveness, life, salvation, and all spiritual, heavenly, and divine blessings. In short, the Lord shed His blood, God established the covenant, and we enjoy the cup, in which God and all that is of Him are our eternal, blessed portion.
The word unto in 1 Corinthians 11:24-25 implies not only a purpose but also a result. Participation in the Lord’s supper will surely produce a result—a continual remembrance of the Lord for His satisfaction. To take the Lord’s supper is to remember the Lord Himself by eating and drinking Him. The real remembrance of the Lord is to eat the bread and drink the cup (v. 26), that is, to participate in, to enjoy, the Lord, who has given Himself to us through His redeeming death. To eat the bread and drink the cup is to take in the redeeming Lord as our portion, as our life and blessing. This is to remember Him in a genuine way.