Bible Dictionaries
Lord's Supper

Holman Bible Dictionary

A memorial celebrated by the early church to signify Jesus' sacrificial death for humankind's sin. The form of the observance was established by the Lord at the Last Supper when He symbolically offered Himself as the paschal Lamb of atonement. His actual death the next day fulfilled the prophecy. Only Paul uses the phrase “Lord's Supper” (1 Corinthians 11:20 ), although implication of it is made in Revelation 19:9 (“marriage supper of the Lamb”). Church fathers began to call the occasion the “Eucharist” (that is, “Thanksgiving”) from the blessing pronounced over the bread and wine after about A.D. 100. Church groups celebrate the Lord's Supper regularly as a sign of the new covenant sealed by Christ's death and resurrection. See Ordinances .