For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, after supper, 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 the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

These words are Jesus’ last will and testament here on this earth. He is about to leave his disciples and these are the words and actions he chose to lay down his will and leave them with the legacy that he desired and would sustain by his own death and resurrection.

We celebrate the Lord’s supper on a regular basis in church and have some idea as to its purpose. We know that we are to remember the death of Jesus for our sins, just as Paul says: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” We also feel that there are spiritual benefits in doing this as it brings us closer to God in our own personal lives to remember what he has given by his grace. But these thoughts are not very concrete; they are ideas that we pick up in the words of Christ, but probably even more from the way the actual observance of the the Lord’s supper is carried out in our churches.

What was Jesus’ purpose in giving this ritual to the disciples and to us? What does it mean that “this is my body”? And how should I approach it to get what I am supposed to?

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