There is a song in our songbooks that I have sung quite a few times, and at different congregations, especially in preparation for when we take the Lord’s supper together - titled “Come Share the Lord”. Honestly, I am not sure that I agree with the words in this song, so I am hesitant to sing along. I have been researching the different ideas about what it means to take the bread and the cup within different Christian denominations and the Catholic church, and I see some very noticeable denominational/catholic teachings in this song and (it seems to me) are not what the Bible teaches about taking the bread and the cup.
I have put the words of the song and some comments below. Please feel free to add additional comments or thoughts! Thank you for reading! This article will cover parts 1 and 2 with parts 3-6 in additional links.
Come Share the Lord - Part 1: Sharing the Lord?
Come, take the bread; come, drink the cup;
Come share the Lord.
In referring to the underlined words, I am concerned that the idea here about sharing “the Lord” is referring to the idea that bread and cup are actually the physical flesh and blood of Jesus himself, as the Catholic church claims happens by the process of ‘transubstantiation’ - or that the Lutheran church claims happens through the “Sacramental Union”. I will explain a little about both of these ideas below.
Many (but not all) Christian groups believe in some kind of physical and/or spiritual presence of Christ in the bread and cup, going back to the beliefs and writing of the men who founded their groups (Augustine, Luther, Calvin, various reformers, etc.)
Here is what wikipedia says on the subject:
There are a number of Christian denominations that teach that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, including Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Anglicanism and Reformed Christianity.
The differences in the teachings of these Churches primarily concern "the mode of Christ's presence in the Lord’s Supper". (i.e. whether they believe in transubstantiation or the real presence)
“The Real Presence” [of Lutheranism] is rejected or interpreted in light of "remembrance" (per certain translations of the New Testament) by other Protestants...some non-denominational Christian churches, segments of the Restoration Movement and Jehovah's Witnesses.
Here is some information on the Catholic view from a catholic website, northwest Catholic
Transubstantiation is a Scholastic term that attempts to explain how bread and wine can become the body and blood of the Lord without losing their exterior appearance…it was at the Council of Trent (catholic church council, 1545–1563) that it became authoritative [catholic] church teaching.
The Council of Trent declared: “Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.”
The Roman Catholic Church believes that God has replaced the “substance” or reality of the bread and wine with the flesh and blood of Christ, and that this replacement is what the priest offers back to God (along with the people present) as a sacrifice to God. (Which is why a priest is a necessary part of the eucharist in Catholicism - and also note that this is not what Jesus instructs his disciples - no priests are ever mentioned in the New Testament as being a necessary part of taking or distributing the bread or cup)
The Lutheran church (and other groups) have a different view, which they refer to as “The Real Presence” (also known as the Sacramental Union), first formally declared in the Augsburg Confession in 1530. Lutheranism rejects the doctrine of transubstantiation and states that the body and blood of Christ are supernaturally mixed “in, with and under” the physical elements of the bread and cup - not metaphorically or symbolically - so that when you take the bread and cup, you also eat the actual body of Jesus and drink his actual blood.
So, we must ask, do the New Testament writers do have something to say about where the body of Christ is today? Do they say that it magically appears when we gather to partake in remembrance of him? Or that it becomes his actual body and blood? Or that he is present with us?
The Greek word for "body" is "soma" (Greek: σῶμά) pronounced (SO-mah) and is also used to describe the Church. (in the various noun endings in Greek which make the words soma, somati and somatos - are all singular nouns, not plural, in case you were wondering.) Please consider the Scriptures below:
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 | “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation/communion* in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation/communion* in the body (somati) of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body (soma), for we all share (partake of) the one loaf.” |
Matthew 27:58-59 | "He [Joseph] went to Pilate, and begged for the body (soma) of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body (soma) to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body (soma), he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth." |
1 Corinthians 12:27 | “Now you are the body (soma) of Christ, and members individually.” |
Ephesians 5:29-30 | "After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church. *For we are members of his body (somatos), of his flesh, and of his bones.” |
Colossians 1:18 | “And he [Christ] is the head of the body (somatos), the church.” |
Colossians 1:24 | “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body (somatos), which is the church.” |
1 Corinthians 12:12-14 | “For as the body (soma) is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body (somatos), being many, are one body (soma), so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (soma)—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink one Spirit. For in fact the body (soma) is not one member but many.” |
Matthew 26:26 | "Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body (soma).” |
Luke 22: 19-20 | “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body (soma), which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” |
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 | “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body (soma), which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” |
1 Corinthians 11:27-29 | "Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body (somatos) and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body (soma)." |
Ephesians 4:4-5 | "There is one body (soma) and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism" |
Romans 12:4-5 | "For as we have many parts in one body (somati), but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body (soma) in Christ, and individually parts of one another." |
Ephesians 4:15-16 | "but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ, from whom the whole body (somatos), being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body (soma) for the building up of itself in love." |
* In 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, both of the words in bold in Greek are the word ”koinonia”. The KJV, NKJV, ASV and DBY translations say “communion” but this word is translated in many other passages as fellowship or participation. A list of verses with the Greek word “koinonia” will be included later.
*in Ephesians 5:29-30 (NKJV) some translations leave out “of his flesh and of his bones” - which is in many of the original Greek texts.
So what do we share? We share in being members of the body of Christ. We share in participating in his body and blood when we partake of (some versions say share) the bread and the cup. We share in remembering him when we eat the bread and drink the cup together. We share in being under the new covenant. We share in proclaiming his death. We - the church - share in being the physical body of Christ.
So I’m not sure that it’s Scripturally sound to say that we “share the Lord” when we eat the bread and drink the cup. To me, it sounds more like the doctrines of transubstantiation or real presence, and I’m just not comfortable singing that.
Come Share the Lord: Part 2: Strangers?
No one is a stranger here;
Everyone belongs.
I am not sure what these underlined words in the song are supposed to mean. Every church assembly has visitors at one time or another, and given how often a church takes the bread and drinks the cup, then the occurrence of visitors would be affected by such.
I also don’t see anything in the Scriptures that would indicate that whoever shows up when the bread and cup are taken, “belongs” with that group of believers. So I am not comfortable singing these words in the song until I understand what they mean.
If anyone has knowledge of a denominational belief or practice concerning this, please contact me or leave a comment. Thank you for reading!
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