The Presence of Jesus
The words of the Lord Jesus Christ at His Last Supper are simple yet profound:
26As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Matthew 26:26
"This is My Body."
When instituting this Remembrance, Christ involved Himself in a way that would be sure to bring His memory to us as we ate: He would be present in the Memorial itself.
27He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, “All of you drink it, 28for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:27,28
"This is My Blood of the New Covenant."
After the blessing of the bread and cup, He spoke these words. Now, as His disciples obeyed Him in the days and years to come, they would remember Him in truth. As the Greek word αναμνησιν ("remembrance") truly means, they would do what He did for His memory: they would do it for His remaining and abiding with them, for His awaiting and remaining as one without any change. In this Supper, He would remain with them, unchanged.
Lord Jesus later promised that He would not leave them, but that He would come to them, when He spoke of the Holy Spirit Who was to come (John 14:18). Through the presence of the Spirit, Christ would come again, not leaving them orphans. That Gift, the Holy Spirit, is a diamond, having so many wonderful facets reflecting the grace and glory of Yahweh.
One of those facets is that through the Spirit's power on Calvary, the Son of God offered Himself a sinless sacrifice for all creation (Hebrews 9:14).
Father Yahweh has given us His greatest gift—His own Son. To those who would receive Him He would give authority to become God's children, to those who trusted in His Name; they would be born, not of anything natural, but of Yahweh Himself (John 1:12-13).
Here, the night before the Savior was to suffer and die for the sins of the world—as He had been sent by God, born as a Son of Man to do—He left with His followers the way to have Him abide with them. As He asked them to do, it would be for the remembrance—the abiding and remaining—of Himself.
The power of what Christ has promised and given to His people remains to this day. As often as we, His disciples, eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim His death until He comes. As often as we do it, we would be doing it for His abiding with us.
Therefore, it is vital that we heed His call, obey Him from love, and come to the Table. We, whoever has come to Him in faith, may bless and then partake of this Supper of the Lord.
16The cup of blessing which we bless, isn’t it a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, isn’t it a sharing of the body of Christ? 17Because there is one loaf of bread, we, who are many, are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf of bread. 1 Corinthians 10:16,17
Here present, after the thanksgiving as the Lord first did, is the real and true presence of the Lord—His remembrance, or abiding unchanged with us—not just in Spirit and Deity, but also in His Body and Blood. It is as He so simply said, "This is My Body... This is My Blood," so much so that to eat or drink amiss is to profane the Body and Blood of the Lord.
27Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 11:27
As the single ministry of this website is to form "discerners of Yahweh" from the many people of this world, so the apostle here warns us to examine ourselves before eating the bread and drinking the cup, to be sure we "discern" (διακρινων) the Lord's Body. As we examine ourselves we may then eat out of the bread and drink out of the cup.
28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. 29For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body. 1 Corinthians 11:28,29
The power of the Lord's Supper comes from the real presence of the Lord in the Supper. All of the blessings we receive, both individually and together as the Body and Assembly of Christ, derive from the fact that His Body and Blood have remained with us as we eat and drink. In this, He abides us with as often as we do it. In this, the Remembrance has its power and authority and truth. In this, we proclaim His death until He comes.