“The Lord’s Supper is a visible sermon in which Christ’s death is vividly proclaimed. This is only possible because of the union and communion with Christ that the Supper entails. We were crucifiece with Christ (Rom. 6:6), and we died with Him (Rom. 6:8; 2 Tim. 2:11). Nowhere is this truth set forth more clearly than in the Lord’s Supper. We participate in His death so that we may participate in His life (cf. Rom. 6:5, 8, 11).
This sacramental participation is to continue ’till He comes’ (1 Cor. 11:26). The word ‘rememberance’ points back to Christ’s death. The words ’till He comes’ point forward to the consummation. We do not look only backwards at the Lord’s Supper. There is also an element of forward-looking anticipation. When Christ does come again, the Lord’s Supper will be consummated at the wedding feast of the Lamb (Rev. 19:6-9).”
–Keith A. Mathison, Given For You: Reclaiming Calvin’s Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2002), 233.
