We too easily—and unbiblically—think of the Christian life in personal, singular categories. I do not mean for one moment that the Christian faith is not personal, or that there is no such thing as individual faith. Yet God’s people are one, and salvation brings us into the one Body of Christ, His Church (1 Cor. 12:13). The default mode for the Christian life, then, is not ‘me and Jesus’ but ‘us and Jesus’. As it says in the Lord’s Prayer: “When you pray, say: ‘Our Father… .'”

“How Should We Benefit From Communion?” Many helpful books and articles have been written on the subject. Often we encourage the believer to meditate on Christ, particularly on His self-giving, love constraining sacrifice. We can be sure that we will derive no benefit from the Supper if the Father’s love, the Son’s sacrifice and the Spirit’s fellowship are not the focus of our feeding. The “Sursum Corda” (an element in early Christian liturgy meaning “lift up your hearts”) reminds believers to look up to Christ the exalted King and not into themselves.

In this brief article, however, I would like to try and answer the question by highlighting an often-neglected aspect of the Lord’s Supper: its corporate and covenantal character.

We too easily—and unbiblically—think of the Christian life in personal, singular categories. I do not mean for one moment that the Christian faith is not personal, or that there is no such thing as individual faith. Yet God’s people are one, and salvation brings us into the one Body of Christ, His Church (1 Cor. 12:13). The default mode for the Christian life, then, is not ‘me and Jesus’ but ‘us and Jesus’. As it says in the Lord’s Prayer: “When you pray, say: ‘Our Father… .'”

With this in mind, let’s turn to the question. John Calvin begins his exposition of the Sacraments (Institutes 4.15.1) with these words: ‘We have in the sacraments another aid to our faith related to the preaching of the gospel.’ The key words here are ‘aid to our faith’. In giving us sacraments, Calvin goes on to say, ‘God provides first for our ignorance and dullness, then for our weakness.’ The sacraments are needed, not because God’s word is lacking in any way, but because we need all the help God can give us to instruct us and establish us in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the sacraments then, God, ‘according to his infinite kindness, so tempers himself to our capacity that, since we are creatures who always creep on the ground, cleave to the flesh, and, do not think about or even conceive of anything spiritual, he condescends to lead us to himself even by these earthly elements, and to set before us in the flesh a mirror of spiritual blessings’ (Institutes 4.15.3).

This is our starting point. We have a kind and merciful God who uses earthly elements ‘to lead us to himself’. All the benefits we are to receive from partaking of the Supper will be experienced in God leading us to himself. He wants his children to know him better. The Lord’s Supper is a gracious gift from a gracious Saviour to help us better grasp, and experience, his love for us. From this we can draw three implications:

First, believers are expected to benefit from participation in the Lord’s Supper. Just as we give our children food to nourish them, so the Lord has given his children food to nourish them. Along with the preaching, hearing, reading of God’s word, prayer and the fellowship of the saints, the sacraments are ‘means of grace’. They are not bare or empty symbols, but vehicles for the Holy Spirit to bring us into sweeter communion with our risen Saviour (1 Cor. 10: 16). We benefit from the Supper as we recognize and receive Christ by faith in the emblems of bread and wine.

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