The Lord’s Supper was instituted by the Lord Jesus Himself the night He was betrayed. The next example of it being observed was over a month later, on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples broke bread together. In the first, Jesus was alive and physically present with His disciples. In the second, He had come back from the dead, had ascended into heaven, and had poured out His Holy Spirit upon the disciples. In both instances, He was alive. The Lord’s supper is not a memorial meal conducted over a dead body.
The body we partake of in this supper is totus Christus, the entire body of Christ, the living head and body together. This is why St. Paul tells us that we are the one loaf. We are the bread. And, like our Lord Jesus, we are alive.
This is a wonderful thing, but as we partake of the Lord Jesus, and as we partake of one another, we are made one of another. God knits us together.
Now what causes this knitting together? What builds us up into the Head, every joint and sinew? The apostle tells us that we are built up into Him in love. Of course, all three cardinal virtues are involved—faith, hope, and love—but the greatest is love.
So you are not just to look around during the Lord’s Supper in the faith that these things are so. You are not just to look around in the hope that one day the bride will be without spot or blemish. You are to look around in love. As you partake, love one another. This is the new commandment.
Love your husband, your wife. Love your parents, and love your children. Love your neighbor. As you love, God uses this to accomplish what we believe and hope will be accomplished.
The bread you chew, the wine you drink, is your love for all the saints.