The Lord’s Supper and the blood of Jesus are inseparable. Every time a believer takes the cup, they are making a public declaration — not a private act of remembrance — that the new covenant is in force, that the blood was shed, and that the Lord’s death stands as the ground of every spiritual blessing until He returns.
What Did Jesus Say Over the Cup?
Before Paul explains the ordinance in 1 Corinthians, Jesus established what the cup means at the table.
This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. (Luke 22:20)
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:28)
Jesus did not say this cup represents His blood. He said this cup is the new testament — the new covenant — in His blood.
The word “testament” here means covenant: a binding agreement between two parties, ratified by blood.
That is the covenant God made with man through Christ, replacing the covenant of law given at Sinai with something better, sealed at Calvary.
The remission of sins — the complete removal of guilt, not just a pardon — is anchored to the cup from the moment Jesus takes it in His hands. He is declaring what the blood about to be shed will accomplish and what the covenant ratified at Calvary means for every person who believes.
What Does “This Do in Remembrance” Actually Mean?
After Jesus breaks the bread and takes the cup, He says: This do in remembrance of me (1 Corinthians 11:24–25). The word translated “remembrance” is the Greek anamnesis — and it carries more weight than it first appears.
Anamnesis is active commemoration — bringing the sacrifice before God as a living, present reality. It is the same word used in the Greek Old Testament for the memorial offerings that brought the sacrifice before God as a present and effective act.
When a believer takes the cup “in remembrance,” they are declaring that what Christ accomplished is still in force today.
What Does It Mean to Shew Forth the Lord’s Death?
Paul writes:
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew forth the Lord’s death till he come. (1 Corinthians 11:26)
The phrase “shew forth” translates the Greek katangello — to publicly declare or announce.
This is a proclamation word. It is the same word used elsewhere in the New Testament for preaching the gospel. It is an outward announcement addressed to the church and to the watching spiritual world.
Every Lord’s Supper is a proclamation that the Lord died, that His blood was shed, that the covenant holds, and that His death stands as the basis of everything the believer has in God.
What Are You Declaring When You Take the Cup?
The Lord’s Supper holds three tenses together at once. Most believers experience communion as past-tense only — looking back at what happened at Calvary. But 1 Corinthians 11:26 spans the full scope of redemptive history.
Past
The past is the death itself: ye do shew forth the Lord’s death. The blood was shed. The covenant was ratified. The sacrifice was made once for all, and nothing can undo it.
Present
The present is the covenant still active and in force. The writer of Hebrews draws out what that means:
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. (Hebrews 10:19–22)
The blood is the present and active basis on which the believer approaches God. Faith placed in Christ and Him crucified is what gives the Holy Spirit latitude to operate in the believer’s life today.
Future
The future is the horizon the declaration points toward: till he come. Every Lord’s Supper looks forward. The proclamation continues until the promise is complete and Christ returns.
What Did Paul Mean by Discerning the Lord’s Body?
Paul follows the institution of the Lord’s Supper with a hard warning:
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. (1 Corinthians 11:27–29)
Paul was writing to the Corinthians because they had turned the Lord’s Supper into an ordinary meal — some eating and drinking excessively while others went without, with no recognition of what the table represented. He tells them that some among them were weak and sick, and some had died, because of this failure.
The phrase “discerning the Lord’s body” means recognizing what the bread and cup actually represent. It is the act of bringing genuine understanding to the table — knowing that what is being declared is the covenant ground of everything God has done and continues to do for the believer.
Paul is indicting a failure of understanding: they were making a covenant declaration without knowing what declaration they were making.
What Does the Cup Have to Do with How You Stand Before God Today?
A covenant does not exist apart from the blood that ratified it.
Hebrews 9:16–18 makes this plain: where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of the testator. The covenant is not in force without the blood. No blood, no covenant.
When a believer takes the cup, they are declaring that the blood was shed and that the covenant stands. That declaration has direct and present consequences. The blood of Jesus is the basis on which the believer enters boldly before the Father.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus — that is the ground. The Lord’s Supper announces that the ground holds.
Many believers approach God with uncertainty, depending unconsciously on how well they have performed since the last time they sought Him. The Lord’s Supper corrects that drift. Every time the cup is taken, the believer stands again on the declared covenant: the blood was shed, the way is open, and access to the Father rests on what Christ accomplished — not on what the believer has managed since.
