What Day Are We Suppose To Observe The Lord's Supper?
One of the most debated topics when it comes to New Testament worship is on what day and how often we are supposed to observe the Lord's Supper. I was raised in the African American Episcopal Church and I also attended a Baptist Church when I could. Later in life, I became a member of the Church of Christ. So I can truly say that I've heard a lot of different points of view.
It wasn't until about 2010 that I separated myself from being a part of groups and started to independently think about things for myself. I put away the commentaries, online articles, TV sermons, audio lessons, and Youtube videos. I only used reference books like concordances, dictionaries, lexicons, etc... By not having outside influences, I started to see my views change. Some of the things I believed were affirmed even more. Some of the things I believed were altered slightly. And some of the things I believed I found to be wrong.
When to meet for worship to observe the Lord's Supper was one of those areas. No matter what church I was a part of, observing the Lord's Supper on Sunday was something I always did and still do. Earlier in life, I observed the Lord's Supper on the 2nd and 4th Sunday. When I became a member of the Church of Christ, I started observing it every Sunday. So which is right? Or, does God even address the question and the answer is yes He does.
When I started trying to answer this question I took a closer look to find the actual day that God said we must come together. What I found is God never addressed this but the whole time I had been using three verses to prove that He did and Sunday, the first day of the week, was the day He commanded. Those verses are...
- Acts 2:42 "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayers."
- Acts 20:6-7 " But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days. Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight."
- 1 Corinthians 16:2 "On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come."
The way I used these verses to prove that the day to observe the Lord's Supper is the first day of the week, Sunday, seemed so right at the time. Once I broke away from outside influences I begin to see that there were more assumptions in the way I thought than facts. I realized that all of my conclusions that were based on assumptions had no authority because they were just my opinions. But I was forcing these opinions on people because I believed they were God's commandments. I did this a lot, took my opinions, and made them seem like God's commandments. I didn't do this intentionally. I was taught this method.
When it came to these three verses, this is how I would reason:
"We are supposed to meet to observe the Lord's Supper on the first day of the week. We have an example of this in Acts 20:7. The disciples gather together on the first day of the week and it tells us they came together TO break bread. Breaking bread refers to the Lord's Supper, the reason they came together. They didn't do this whenever they got ready, they did it every first day of the week. The reason we know this is because, in 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul told them to take up the collection on the first day of EVERY week. Why would Paul tell them to take up the collection "EVERY" first day of the week? It's simple, he knew they would already be gathering "EVERY" first day of the week to break bread, and observe the Lord's Supper (Acts 20:7). They didn't meet on the 1st and 3rd or 2nd and 4th Sunday, they meet EVERY Sunday because Acts 2:42 said they continued "steadfast." This meant they did it steadfastly every Sunday."
This was the way I reasoned. There are absolutely no facts to back up anything I was saying. It was all conjecture. And what is the definition of conjecture? A conjecture means an opinion or conclusion formed based on incomplete information. When it comes to these verses there is not enough information to draw the conclusions I made.
When it comes to the phrase "breaking bread", it doesn't necessarily mean the Lord's Supper. The phrase "breaking bread" has a couple of different meanings in the New Testament. One meaning is the Lord's Supper. When addressing the church at Corinth, Paul said, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread." (1 Corinthians 10:16-17) Paul told them that when they "break bread", though they are many they become one during the Lord's Supper. So the phrase "breaking bread" can refer to communion.
But the phrase can also mean just having a common meal. In Luke 24 a group of women found that the tomb of Jesus was empty. They then went back and told the 11 apostles and other disciples what they had seen. Some did not believe them but Peter got up and ran to the tomb to see for himself. Later that day two of the disciples who heard what these women said were walking to a village called Emmaus D(Luke 24:13). While they walking and talking about these things Jesus "drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him." (Luke 24:15-16)
So Jesus unknowingly walked and talked with them for a while. After making it to the village, they asked Jesus to stay the night with them and He accepted. When it came time to eat, "He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them." (Luke 24:30) Jesus then revealed himself to them and vanished. They immediately went back to Jerusalem and told the disciples they had seen Jesus and they told them when they saw Him. They said, "...He was known to them in the breaking of bread." (Luke 24:35)
Notice, it was Jesus and two disciples having a simple meal together and it is called "breaking bread." So eating a common meal and observing the Lord's Supper both can be described as "breaking bread." Now let's look at the verse above one at a time:
- Acts 2:42 "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayers."
But let's assume for a minute that the breaking of bread in Acts 2:42 is referring to the Lord's Supper. Then we would have to also assume verse 46 is talking about the Lord's Supper too. It says, "So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart." What do we learn from this verse? Well, we learn...
- The church met daily to break bread.
- They met daily from house to house.
If they met daily for the Lord's Supper then that means they also continued in the apostle's doctrine daily, praying daily, and in fellowship daily from house to house. If this is true then it either means we have an example to take the Lord's Supper every day because this is an example that is binding on us or it means that God doesn't care what day it is we come together to observe the Lord's Supper.
I wasn't ready to admit that we were supposed to observe the Lord's Supper every day or any day. I was used to observing it every Sunday and Sunday only and I set out to prove what I was already practicing. The way I got around this hurdle was to say that verse 42 is talking about the Lord's Supper and verse 46 is talking about a common meal. Once again I had no proof for this, it was all conjecture. And even if my conjecture was true, verse 42 still does not tell us anything about when or how often they observed the Lord's Supper. The fact is we don't have enough information to determine whether verse 42 or verse 46 is speaking of a common meal or the Lord's Supper. We can only assume.
Acts 20:7 is the main verse I used to show that we must gather on Sunday and Sunday only to observe the Lord's Supper.
- Acts 20:6-7 " But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days. Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight."
The way I used this verse to prove my Sunday-only doctrine was to show that Paul was hurrying to make it back to Jerusalem for the Day of Pentecost. Acts 20:16 says, "For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost." Since Paul was in such a hurry to get back to Jerusalem, why would he wait around in Troas for seven days? I would then answer the question like this. There is no other reason for Paul to wait around in Troas for seven days other than he knew that the church was supposed to meet every Sunday. So once Sunday came Paul met with the church because he knew they would be gathering to observe the Lord's Supper.
So what's the problem with this thinking? Again, this type of thinking assumes too much. It doesn't mean this conclusion is wrong but there is no way to know why Paul waited around in Troas for seven days. No one can know Paul's thoughts. From the apostle's own words, "For what person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him?" (1 Corinthians 2:11) We can only guess why Paul stayed in Troas seven days and our fellowship in Christ should not be determined by guesses.
Further, when we look at this verse we find nothing about what God expects the church in general to do. We don't even find evidence that this was a common practice of the church that met in Troas, where this took place. Once again, let's assume this is the Lord's Supper. Here are some questions I asked myself:
- Was the first day of the week the only day they came together? We don't know.
- Did every other church in the first century meet on the first day of the week, every week? We don't know.
- Did they meet every first day of the week or did they meet on the first day of the week two times a month? We don't know.
There is no way from this verse that we can come to a conclusion and then demand that everyone else must follow it to go to heaven. The reason this is the case is that our salvation is not based on another person's conjectures or opinions. That's not the kind of God we serve. So when and on what day are we allowed to observe the Lord's Supper?
In 1 Corinthians 11:24-26, Paul is addressing how the church at Corinth was supposed to observe the Lord's Supper. And in the information he gives them, we find exactly when and what day we are supposed to observe Communion. Paul said,
- "When He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, 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 till He comes."
Did God instruct Paul on what day and how often those members were to observe the Lord's Supper? Yes. Paul said "As often as you" eat the bread and drink the cup. Paul did not say "As often as God commands you" but rather Paul said, "As often as you". This means that God left the decision to determine the day, time, or frequency in the hands of the individuals worshipping Him.
And so if a group determines that they will observe the Lord's Supper every Sunday, then that group has determined "how often they will gather." And if a group decides they want to gather daily to observe the Lord's Supper, then that group has determined "how often they will gather." Neither group is violating God's word because they are observing the Lord's Supper "As often as they decided to observe it."
In my opinion, I believe Acts 2:42, 2:46, and 20:7 all refer to a common meal AND the Lord's Supper. In our day and time, we have separated the fellowship of a common meal and the observance of the Lord's Supper as things to be done by themselves, at different times. I believe in the first century they did both at the same time and I believe it began with the last supper in Matthew 26.
In Matthew 26:18 Jesus instructs His disciples to prepare the Passover feast at a certain man's home, "So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover." (v19) Verse 21 is very interesting because it says "as they were eating" Jesus begins to talk to them about someone betraying Him. They were eating AND talking at the same time. After Jesus finished talking, Judas spoke up and asked Jesus if he was the guilty person Jesus was speaking about and Jesus responded to Him. Keep in mind they are eating AND talking.
While this eating AND talking about life was going on at some point during the same time Jesus "took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body. Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." (26:26-29)
This is when Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. He also said this Supper would be observed in His Father's Kingdom. The observance of His body and blood was not done at a time separate from the eating AND talking; they were done at the same time. The only difference is that when the eating and talking were going on their minds were focused on what they were talking about. Once Jesus decided to observe the bread and fruit of the vine their minds changed to Him and His sacrifice on the cross.
In my opinion, this is how the church did it. No, just like I can't prove all of the other conclusions I use to teach, I can't prove this either. But I believe the church met daily or as often as they could to have fellowship meals or as Jude calls them, love feasts. (Jude 1:12) They did not meet at one location but they went from house to house eating or breaking bread and talking and having good fellowship. At these fellowship meetings where they would break bread and talk, they would also continue in the apostle's doctrine and pray together. At some point, while they were breaking bread AND talking, they would set aside time to observe the Lord's Supper just like Jesus did in Matthew 26.
I did not immediately connect this during my studies but now that I look at it, there seems to be evidence for the Lord's Supper being observed during common meals in 1 Corinthians 11:20-22. Paul had to address a situation that was causing quite a stir in the church at Corinth. He told them, "When you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk." (v20-21)
I believe these Christians were in the habit of coming together regularly to break bread AND talk. I believe they would also take time to observe the Lord's Supper. However, over time some of the people started coming together simply to eat and drink while others were still wanting to take time to have communion. This is what seems to have caused the division that Paul speaks about in verse 18. Instead of these factions or troublemakers coming together to do things the right and honorable way, they were being dishonorable. Their breaking of bread used to consist of eating a common meal and observing the Lord's Supper. Now their breaking of bread consisted of just eating a common meal. There were not stopping to give the Lord's Supper the proper reference it deserved; they were eating it just to get full just like their common meal and this was wrong.
In conclusion, it is my view that the Bible only addresses how to observe the Lord's Supper and we find that in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29: "Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."
As far as the day, time, and frequency of observing the Lord's Supper, God left that in the hands of the people observing it. So whatever day, time, and frequency you choose, just make sure you are steadfast and faithful to that obligation.
As for me, I have chosen every Sunday to be my "As often" time. :)
God bless!
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