By

Shelby G. Floyd

When Paul wrote the first letter to the Corinthians in about A. D. 59, the observance of the Lord’s Supper was a well-established practice upon the first day of each week. The inspired apostle Paul had delivered unto the Corinthians the same teaching on the Lord’s Supper which he had received of the Lord:

“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, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11: 23-26).

Paul had simply received a revelation of what Jesus Christ said and did when he instituted his own memorial. This is a reference to Matthew 26: 26-29; Mark 14: 22-25; and Luke 22: 14-20, in which references we have the record of Christ establishing a monument to remember him after his death, burial and resurrection. It was in 33 A. D. when Jesus established this memorial as a reality in the church, and it was also this same year that the Jerusalem church met together steadfastly to break bread and to worship the God of heaven (Acts 2: 42).

It was approximately twenty years later when Paul, on one of his evangelistic journeys, went into the city of Corinth and preached the gospel and established a congregation of God’s people. At that time, Paul delivered unto them the teaching which he had received from the Lord concerning the Lord’s Supper. In. A. D. 59, we read of the church of Christ at Troas meeting upon the first day of the week to break bread, or to partake of the Lord’s Supper. And in this same year, A. D. 59, Paul wrote the first Corinthian letter in which he reminded them of what he had delivered unto them concerning the Lord’s Supper. Therefore, from this historical summary, we may draw the conclusion that the Lord’s Supper was a steadfast and settled practice in all the churches of Christ from the day the church was established until the last book of the Bible was written. That practice is to be continued until the end of time wherever God’s people meet together on the Lord’s Day. “The Lord’s Supper” on “the Lord’s Table” is to be observed on each and every “Lord’s Day.”

Copyright © 2015 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved

Shelby G. Floyd

Heartland Church of Christ
1693 West Main Street
Greenwood, Indiana 46142