John Calvin’s understanding of the Lord’s Supper: a histro-analytical study

Abstract

The Lord's Supper acts significantly in Christendom. It is one of the two ordinances established by Jesus Christ to be observed by the Christian Church. The Lord's Supper is frequently conducted to fortify believers’ continuous relationship with Jesus Christ. Numerous attempts have been made to provide a reason for the purpose, institution, and exercise of the Lord’s Supper, resulting in several theological works. The purpose of the study was to evaluate John Calvin’s understanding of the Lord’s Supper. This affirmed the essence of the Christian practice of the Lord’s Supper and the necessity of the foot-washing, which must precede the Lord’s Supper. The study employed a historical-grammatical method to find out John Calvin’s understanding of the nature of the service, the type of wine and bread used, and the relevance of the ritual of foot-washing for the Lord’s Supper.The study concluded that John Calvin’s understanding of the Lord’s Supper being a sign appears accurate. However, the study reported some inconsistencies in John Calvin’s work concerning the nature of the bread used in the Lord’s Supper in reference to Scripture. More so, the study concluded that the wine used for the Lord’s Supper was not fermented since Jesus described it as “fruit of the vine,” which refers to fresh grape juice and not fermented wine .Furthermore, findings from the study concluded that in the moment of the Lord’s Supper service, Jesus is not with humanity physically. However, through His Holy Spirit, He manifests His real presence as He feeds Christians spiritually during the Lord’s Supper to sustain them through the services. Finally, Jesus set aside the practice of foot washing to denote washing anew and to reveal the voluntary service to other people in Christ-like humility with unity of love in the heart. Foot washing service preceding bread breaking and taking of wine makes the Lord’s Supper to be complete. The study findings showed insufficient work on the benefits of foot-washing. Therefore, the researcher would like to recommend that more work be conducted on the benefit of the foot-washing to believers' spiritual life since it was commanded and instituted by Jesus Christ.