Communion Scripture: The Bread, the Cup, and the New Covenant
Communion is one of the few practices Jesus told his followers to keep doing. The passages below include the institution accounts in Matthew, Mark and Luke, Paul's earliest written account in 1 Corinthians, his warning about taking part in a worthy manner, and the early church's breaking of bread in Acts. Read them together and the shape of the practice becomes clear; compare them carefully and you can see why Christians have not always agreed on how to describe what happens at the table.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, after supper He took the cup, 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 this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Written around AD 55, this is the earliest surviving account of the institution, earlier than any Gospel. Paul says he received and delivered this tradition, and he preserves Jesus' repeated command: 'this do in remembrance of me.'
And He took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.
Luke sets the meal within Jesus' final Passover meal. The cup is called 'the new covenant in my blood,' echoing the covenant-making language of Exodus 24:8, and both Luke and Paul place the cup after supper.
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew records Jesus giving bread and cup during the meal and adds that his covenant blood is poured out 'for the forgiveness of sins.' His account emphasizes both participation ('Take and eat' and 'Drink from it, all of you') and the saving meaning of Jesus' death.
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
Mark's compact account preserves the shared actions at the table: Jesus takes, blesses, breaks and gives the bread, then gives the cup from which all the disciples drink. Like Matthew, Mark connects the cup with covenant blood poured out for many.
Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.
Paul calls the cup and bread a 'communion'—a sharing or participation—in Christ's blood and body. Verse 17 draws out the communal consequence: those who share the one bread are one body.
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
This passage stands behind the practice of self-examination before communion. In the surrounding argument, divisions and the humiliation of poorer believers profane the shared meal; interpreters differ on whether 'discerning the body' points chiefly to Christ in the meal, the church as his body, or both.
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him.
Jesus speaks of eating his flesh and drinking his blood in a discourse that does not narrate the Lord's Supper. Some traditions read the passage eucharistically; others understand it chiefly as believing in and sharing the life of Christ. It is included because it is central to the later debate.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Luke lists 'the breaking of bread' with the apostles' teaching, fellowship and prayers. Many interpreters see a reference to the Lord's Supper here, while others note that the phrase can also describe an ordinary shared meal; either way, shared meals marked the earliest Christian community.
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“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.””
1 Corinthians 11:24 · BSB
1 Corinthians 11:24
BSB
“In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.”
Luke 22:20 · BSB
Luke 22:20
BSB
“Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?”
1 Corinthians 10:16 · BSB
1 Corinthians 10:16
BSB
01
Where Scripture institutes communion
The practice rests on the accounts of the last meal Jesus ate with his disciples before his arrest. Matthew, Mark and Luke each record it, and Paul repeats it in 1 Corinthians as something he had already passed on to that church.
The three Synoptic Gospels agree on the bread and cup and on the central words Jesus speaks over them. Luke and Paul explicitly preserve the command to repeat the meal in remembrance of Jesus; Matthew alone adds 'unto remission of sins'; and John does not narrate the institution of the meal.
Because the practice comes from Jesus' instruction preserved in the New Testament, the major Christian traditions receive it as a practice given to the church rather than invented by it.
02
What the bread and cup are called
The New Testament does not settle on one name. Paul calls it the Lord's Supper and also the cup of blessing; Acts describes it as the breaking of bread; the word 'communion' comes from his phrase in 1 Corinthians 10:16 about sharing in the body and blood of Christ.
The name a church uses often signals how it understands the meal. 'Eucharist' carries the note of thanksgiving from the accounts. 'Lord's Supper' keeps the setting. 'Communion' emphasises participation. None of the names is wrong, and none by itself settles the question of what the bread and cup are.
03
How the main traditions read 'this is my body'
This is the point on which Christians have divided for centuries, and ScriptureSide does not adjudicate between the readings. What follows is a description of the main positions, so you can recognise your own tradition and understand the others.
The memorial or symbolic reading holds that the bread and cup are signs that remind the church of Christ's death, and that the eating is by faith. This is common in Baptist and many free-church traditions.
The spiritual-presence reading holds that Christ is truly but spiritually present, and received by faith, so that the meal conveys grace without a change in the elements. This is classically the Reformed position.
The sacramental-union reading holds that Christ's body and blood are truly present with the bread and wine and are received orally, while the bread and wine remain. This is the Lutheran position; 'in, with and under' is a common summary rather than the wording of the Lutheran confessions themselves.
The transubstantiation reading holds that the whole substance of the bread and wine is changed into Christ's body and blood while their outward characteristics remain. This is the Roman Catholic position.
Each position appeals to the same passages. The differences turn on how literally the words are read, what the bread and wine are said to be before and after, and what the eating is understood to accomplish. If this matters to your congregation, ask your pastor how your tradition reads it and why.
Memorial: signs that remind, received by faith
Spiritual presence: Christ truly present in spirit, received by faith
Sacramental union: Christ present in, with and under the elements
Transubstantiation: the elements become Christ's body and blood
04
Examining yourself before you take part
Paul's warning in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 is the reason many churches include a moment of silence or a prayer of confession before communion. He asks each person to 'prove himself' and warns against eating without 'discerning the body'.
Read in context, the warning is aimed at a church where the shared meal had become a way of showing who mattered and who did not. Some ate and drank their fill while others had nothing. Paul's correction is that a meal which divides the church cannot be the meal that proclaims the Lord's death.
Interpreters have read 'discerning the body' as recognising Christ's body in the meal, recognising the church as Christ's body, or both. The immediate context makes one point especially clear: self-examination cannot be separated from how participants treat one another.
05
Communion in a small group or at home
Churches differ on who may preside and where communion may be celebrated. Some require an ordained minister and normally celebrate within the church's gathered worship; others permit authorized celebrations in homes, small groups or care settings. Follow the discipline of your own church rather than assuming that a private observance is interchangeable with the church's meal.
Where your church permits communion in a smaller setting, keep it connected to the gathered church and follow that church's order. The institution accounts provide the biblical center: Christ's words over the bread and cup, thanksgiving, remembrance, proclamation and shared participation.
Make the Scripture reading and explanation clear enough for everyone present to follow. If children are present, explain what is happening without implying that every tradition admits children to the table on the same basis.
06
Common misunderstandings
Communion is not a way of earning anything. Paul presents it as a proclamation of what Christ has already done — 'you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes' — not as an act that adds to it.
The warning about taking part 'unworthily' should not be turned into a demand that a person make himself morally worthy. Paul directs each participant to examine himself and then eat, while Christian traditions differ on circumstances in which someone should refrain or first seek reconciliation.
Nothing in the passages attaches a physical outcome to the meal. Whatever tradition you follow, the accounts promise Christ and his covenant, not freedom from illness or hardship in this life.
Context in Scripture
Scripture gives no instruction about how often to take communion. 'As often as you drink it' (1 Corinthians 11:25) leaves the frequency open, which is why practice ranges from weekly to quarterly across churches.
The New Testament uses several names for the same meal: the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20), the breaking of bread (Acts 2:42), the cup of blessing (1 Corinthians 10:16) and communion (1 Corinthians 10:16). 'Eucharist' comes from the Greek word for giving thanks used in the institution accounts.
Bread and the cup are the two elements named in the accounts. The texts do not specify every practical detail, and churches differ over matters such as the kind of bread and whether the cup contains wine or grape juice.
Paul's correction in 1 Corinthians 11 is about a church that had turned a shared meal into a way of humiliating the poor. The warning about taking part 'in an unworthy manner' sits inside that argument, not outside it.
Put it into practice
Read the four institution accounts side by side — Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and 1 Corinthians 11 — and note the words they share and the words only one of them has.
Before you next take part, set aside ten minutes with 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 and examine your week honestly rather than generally.
If you lead a small group or family, walk through the four actions in the accounts (take, give thanks, break, give) and let each person say one sentence of thanks before the bread is shared.
Compare one of the institution passages across two translations using the verse comparison tool, and note where the wording changes what you had assumed.
A Prayer for You
Lord, teach me about Communion Scripture. As I read these passages, shape my heart to trust you, and show me how to live out your Word today. Amen.
Communion is the meal Jesus instituted with his disciples before his arrest, recorded in Matthew 26, Mark 14 and Luke 22, and repeated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. He told his followers to keep doing it in remembrance of him. Paul calls the cup and the bread a sharing in his blood and body in 1 Corinthians 10:16.
What is the difference between communion, the Lord's Supper and the Eucharist?
They refer to the same Christian meal, but each name emphasizes something different. 'Lord's Supper' points to Jesus' final meal with his disciples, 'Communion' emphasizes participation in Christ and unity among believers, and 'Eucharist' emphasizes thanksgiving. Churches may prefer one name because of their theological and liturgical tradition.
How often should communion be taken?
Scripture does not say. Paul writes 'as often as you drink it' (1 Corinthians 11:25) without setting a frequency, and the New Testament evidence ranges from the regular breaking of bread in Acts 2:42 to no explicit instruction elsewhere. Practice varies from weekly to quarterly or annually across Christian traditions.
What does it mean to take communion in an unworthy manner?
In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul addresses a church whose divisions and selfish conduct humiliated those who had nothing. In that context, taking part unworthily means receiving the bread and cup in a way that fails to honor the Lord's body and the shared character of the meal. Paul calls each person to self-examination; traditions differ on how this warning applies to admission, confession and occasions for refraining.
Should children take communion?
Scripture does not give a direct rule about children at the table, and traditions differ. Eastern Orthodox churches commonly commune baptized infants; Roman Catholic practice ordinarily prepares children who have reached the use of reason; many Protestant churches admit baptized children after instruction or admit those able to profess faith and examine themselves. Follow your church's teaching and pastoral oversight rather than trying to settle the question from one verse.
How do I prepare to take communion?
Paul's instruction in 1 Corinthians 11:28 is to examine yourself, so honest reflection, confession, reconciliation and thanksgiving are fitting ways to prepare. Read the surrounding passage and follow any guidance your church gives about confession, fasting or admission to the table.
