Skip to main content icon/video/no-internet
icon backReturn to Entries

Eucharist

The Eucharist is a sacrament or rite of the Christian church in which a congregation will use bread and wine to re-enact the last meal of Jesus before his crucifixion. It is also known as Communion, Holy Communion or The Lord's Supper.

What is the Eucharist?

Christians usually celebrate the Eucharist—a Greek word that literally means “to give thanks”—in the context of a worship service. During the worship service, an ordained pastor or priest leads the congregation in a liturgy that usually includes a chance to confess sins. Most congregations also “pass the peace of Christ” by shaking hands, hugging, or kissing to show that there is no bad will between members of the congregation. The liturgy retells some of the story of God and God's people. While these liturgies may vary across Christian traditions, almost all include what are referred to as the Words of Institution, which are taken from 1 Corinthians 11:23–26, Matthew 26:26–28, Mark 14:22–24, and Luke 22:19–20. More prayers are offered, and people come up to receive the bread and wine.

How congregations receive the bread and wine varies a lot by congregation. Some receive a piece of bread to eat and then drink out of one big chalice or cup of wine. In other traditions, people receive a small, individual cup of wine. While some congregations kneel at an altar, others walk to the front of the church, receive the Eucharist, and return to their seats. In other churches, members pass the bread and wine to one another and help themselves. With the exception of a few denominations, how people take the bread and wine is more often than not a matter of congregational preference.

What determines how often a community practices the Eucharist is sometimes, but not always based on theology. Roman Catholics typically celebrate the Eucharist every week out of deference to their theological tradition that places tremendous importance on The Lord's Supper. Some Christian communities take communion four times a year or less. In their tradition, it is purely a symbolic meal that does not need to be celebrated very often. Most United Methodist and Presbyterian churches celebrate the Eucharist about once a month, despite the fact that their respective founders, John Wesley and John Calvin, believed that more frequent celebration was important.

What Does it Mean?

Christians partake of the Eucharist because, according to the gospels of Mark, Luke, and Matthew and to Paul's letter to the Corinthian church, Jesus commands them to do so in remembrance of him. On the night of the Passover feast, Jesus revealed that he knew one of his disciples was going to betray him. He then offered bread and wine from the table, saying “this is my body” and “this is my blood.” He told the disciples that they were his blood and body as signs of a new covenant for the forgiveness of sins. He then commanded them to “do this in remembrance of me.”

Since that event, the Christian church has spent nearly 2000 years debating the meaning of the word is. While some of the greatest divisions on the subject arose during the Reformation, there has always been debate within and between different Christian churches. Some theologians, including most Baptists, believe that Jesus' use of the word is was purely symbolic—that obviously the bread could not have been Jesus' body because his body was still in tact as he stood in front of the disciples. Others, such as Roman Catholic theologians, argue that Jesus was capable of any supernatural miracle: if Jesus said that bread “is” his body, then it is his body. This miracle can be repeated by ordained priests who use the words that it is believed Jesus used.

...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles

Read next

More like this

Sage Recommends

We found other relevant content for you on other Sage platforms.

close

Have you created a personal profile? Login or create a profile so that you can save clips, playlists and searches

close
close
close Signed In to profile You are signed in as:
close
Logged in Institution Institution