For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. - 1 Cor. 11:26

Yesterday I was contemplating this significant aspect of the Lord’s Supper. If the purpose of the Communion was only to proclaim the death of Christ, it would be somber observance. As the Apostle Paul also observed, “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” (1 Cor 15:17-19). That is, if Jesus (Y’shua) simply died, then He died for an ideal. His claim to forgive sins is simply a platitude, and His promise of resurrection utter silliness. Both the saint and the sinner die and decay.

If the Bread and the Cup were to proclaim only His coming, then that would be a fearful prospect. We would be facing a day of judgment, on which each of us would stand or fall on the merits of our own righteousness. Since “There is none righteous, no, not one,” (Rom. 3:10) the outlook would be quite grim.

How marvelous that when eat the Bread and drink the Cup, we remeber both Christ’s death for our sins and His coming again!