This week I listened to a podcast that made the claim “all are welcome to share in fellowship at the Lord’s Supper.” I wanted to write an article examining this idea.
The claim these men made was based on the fact that when you look at Jesus’ ministry, he sat around the table with all kinds of people - sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, blind, lepers, etc. When you look at passages like Luke 5:29-32, Jesus sat around the table with tax collectors and told the Pharisees, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” In Luke 14:7-14 Jesus told parables about inviting all kinds of people to dine at His table. These men in the podcast claimed that because Jesus did this, we should invite and welcome all to share in the Lord’s Supper with us.
Here is the question I want to answer: Do these passages teach us that we should invite all to share in fellowship with us in the Lord’s Supper? The short answer is no because the Lord’s Supper is not like those meals Jesus shared with all people. The Lord’s Supper is a celebratory/memorial meal for the people of God. Here are 3 scriptures that demonstrate the exclusive nature of the Lord’s Supper.
1 Corinthians 10:21 - “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.”
Paul said that there were some people who “cannot partake“ in the Lord’s Supper. He made it clear that those who still practiced idolatry, and shared in the Pagan meals in their temples were not welcome at the Lord’s Supper table. Therefore, IN PAUL’S WORDS, idolaters “cannot share/partake in the Lords Table.”
Hebrews 13:10 - “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.”
Just as the Old Testament priests ate the meal sacrificed at the altar, the New Testament Christian shares a meal that was sacrificed at the altar - that is the Lord’s body and blood. The writer here made it clear that there were some people who “had no right to eat” of that Lord’s Supper meal. These were the people who still practiced Judaism denying Jesus as the Messiah. Therefore, IN THE WORDS OF THE HEBREW WRITER, there are some who “have no right to eat” the Lord’s Supper.
Exodus 12:47-48 - “All of the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it.”
The Lord’s Supper and the Passover meal are deeply connected because this is what Jesus and the Apostles were eating when the Lords Supper was established. In fact, Paul said that Christ is our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7). The Passover was for the people God delivered from Egypt to remember that event that saved them. The Lord’s Supper is for the people saved by the death of Jesus to remember that event that saved them. Therefore, those who are not part of God’s people have no part in the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is an exclusive meal shared by the saved of God’s people, just like the Passover was. The Lord’s Supper is for Christians who have been washed in the blood of Jesus, and have been bound in the new covenant with God to remember the death that made this possible. This is why Paul described the Lord’s Supper as a “fellowship” (1 Corinthians 10:16). It is a meal for those who share the same relationship with Jesus - that is fellowship. Those who do not have that same connection to Jesus have no right to share in this meal. Jesus invites all to be a part of His people, but not everyone chooses to become a part of His people. The Lord’s Supper is reserved for those who choose to follow Jesus.
-Kolton Ballance