What Is Communion? The Lord’s Supper Explained

Communion, also called the Lord’s Supper, is the simple meal of bread and cup that Jesus gave His followers on the night before He died. When Christians share it, we remember His body given and His blood poured out for us, give thanks, and proclaim His death until He comes again.

Whether you grew up taking communion every week or have never seen it done, here is where it came from, what it means, who it’s for and how we share it at Clarity.

Where does communion come from?

Communion began at the Last Supper. On the night before He was crucified, Jesus gathered His apostles in an upper room in Jerusalem for the Passover meal, as Matthew, Mark and Luke describe it. (John’s Gospel words the timing differently, and Christians have long explained how the accounts fit together.) Passover was the yearly meal that remembered how God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt, and Jesus told them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before My suffering” (Luke 22:15).

At the first Passover, the blood of a sacrificed lamb on each doorframe marked the homes God would pass over when judgment fell on Egypt (Exodus 12:13). At this Passover, Jesus gave the meal a new center: Himself. Paul later wrote, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Our message Bought Back traces that Passover picture to the cross.

Paul passed on the words Jesus spoke over the bread and the cup. His letter was probably written before any of the Gospels, and many churches still read these words at communion:

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.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (BSB)

Matthew, Mark and Luke tell the same story (Matthew 26:26–29; Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:14–20). That evening Jesus also washed His disciples’ feet, as our message Jesus Washes Disciples’ Feet describes, and What Is Holy Week? places the Last Supper in the week that led to the cross.

What do the bread and the cup mean?

Jesus took ordinary food from the Passover table and gave it new meaning.

• The bread is His body. Jesus said, “This is My body, given for you” (Luke 22:19). The next day His body was nailed to a cross in our place, as Isaiah had foretold: “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5).
• The cup is His blood and a new covenant. Jesus called it “My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Centuries earlier God had promised a new covenant: “For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). Jesus’ death seals that promise.

So communion is the gospel you can see, touch and taste: Christ died for our sins and rose again, and everyone who trusts Him is forgiven. If you’d like that good news explained plainly, read What Is the Gospel?

Why do Christians take communion?

First, because Jesus told us to: “do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). Each time we eat and drink together, we do four things:

• We remember. In the Bible, remembering is more than recalling a fact. When Israel’s children asked at Passover, “What does this service mean to you?” (Exodus 12:26), their parents retold the rescue as their own story. At the table, we put the cross back at the center of our lives.
• We proclaim. Paul says that whenever we eat the bread and drink the cup, “you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). Communion preaches the gospel without a word.
• We belong together. “Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf” (1 Corinthians 10:17). Everyone at the table needs the same Savior.
• We look ahead. Jesus said He would not drink the fruit of the vine again “until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). Every communion is a foretaste of that feast.

Who should take communion?

Communion is for people who belong to Jesus: those who have turned from their sin and put their trust in Him. That’s why Clarity calls it believers’ communion, a meaningful practice for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. If you’re visiting and still exploring, you’re welcome to sit this part out. Either way, we’re glad you’re with us.

Paul adds a serious instruction: “Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28). That verse has frightened many sincere Christians, so read it in context. The church in Corinth had turned the Lord’s Supper into a selfish free-for-all: “While one remains hungry, another gets drunk” (1 Corinthians 11:21). Eating “in an unworthy manner” (1 Corinthians 11:27) meant treating Christ’s death, and His people, with contempt. Paul wasn’t asking whether anyone was good enough to come.

Examining yourself isn’t about proving you’re worthy; none of us is, which is why Jesus died. It means coming honestly: confessing your sin to God, trusting that “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9), and, where you can, making things right with others (Matthew 5:23–24). Communion is for sinners who trust Jesus, not for people who have it all together. If something is weighing on you, send us a prayer request.

Other names for communion

Different churches use different names, and most of them come from the Bible:

• The Lord’s Supper. Paul’s name for it (1 Corinthians 11:20), and the one Clarity’s statement of faith uses.
• Communion. From Paul’s question, “Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16). Older English Bibles translated that word as communion: a sharing in Christ and with one another.
• The Eucharist. From the Greek word for giving thanks, because Jesus “gave thanks” over the bread (Luke 22:19). Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran Christians often use this name, and Catholics call the whole service the Mass.
• The breaking of bread. The first believers devoted themselves “to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). After His resurrection, two disciples recognized Jesus “in the breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:35), a story our message Surprised by Jesus tells.

How often do churches take communion?

The Bible doesn’t set a schedule. Jesus said, “do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:25). The first Christians broke bread often, even daily (Acts 2:46), and in Troas, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7).

Today, Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran and many other churches share communion every week; others do it monthly or quarterly. At Clarity, communion is shared on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month, with a gluten-free option, and on special Sundays like Easter.

Is Jesus present in communion? How Christians differ

Christians agree that Jesus gave this meal, that it points to His death for us and that it belongs to His followers. They differ on how Christ is present in it:

• Real presence. Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe the bread and wine become Christ’s body and blood. Lutherans believe His body and blood are truly present in, with and under the bread and wine. All three read Jesus’ words, “Take and eat; this is My body” (Matthew 26:26), literally. Catholic and Orthodox Christians also point to John 6:53–56, but Lutherans generally don’t read that passage as being about the Lord’s Supper.
• Spiritual presence. Presbyterian, Reformed and many Anglican Christians believe the bread and cup remain bread and cup, but that Christ is truly present by His Spirit and nourishes believers as they receive them in faith (1 Corinthians 10:16).
• Memorial. Baptists and many other evangelicals see the bread and cup as signs that help us remember and proclaim Jesus’ death. Christ is present with His people as He promised, “For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20), but not in the bread and cup themselves.

Clarity’s statement of faith says the Lord’s Supper “was instituted by Christ for commemoration of His death.” That puts us in the memorial tradition. Remembering this way isn’t an empty ritual: it brings the cross into the present and calls for fresh faith and thanks. We hold our view with conviction, and with respect for brothers and sisters who understand the table differently.

Questions about communion

Clarity Church meets Sundays at 10am at Edinbrook Elementary, 8925 Zane Ave N in Brooklyn Park, and shares communion on the 1st and 3rd Sundays. Plan your visit and come as you are. We’d love to meet you.