How To Talk To Your Kids About The Lord’s Supper

Written by Aaron Miller | Pastor of Equipping

When Paul addressed the Lord’s Supper to the Corinthians, he confronted their poor behavior. It seems that some were partaking in the meal irreverently and underestimating its significance for the church.  Some were looking at it as an opportunity to eat their fill, and some were even getting drunk.  And though the Lord's Supper was meant to unite the church around the death and resurrection of Christ, it became a source of shame, putting their disunity and carnal selfishness on full display.

Misunderstanding the Lord’s Supper has been a historical reality for the church and will continue to be an area of discipleship until the Lord’s return.

“Teaching our children to rightly think and believe biblically about the Lord’s Supper will serve as a safeguard against approaching the Lord’s table like the Corinthians.”

Just as "Man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath for man" (Mark 2:27) —so also, the Lord's Supper was made to be a benefit and blessing to Christian believers. Often the Lord’s Supper is a novel curiosity for children, and parents not wanting to discourage their children from desiring a good thing can unknowingly allow their children to improperly partake. This article will offer six directions that can help parents teach the proper heart posture to their children. But before we begin, we must address the foundational first thing.

The Lord’s Supper is for Christian believers.

Most children will want to participate in the Lord’s Supper before they follow Jesus as Lord and Savior. This is to be expected, and parents should encourage that curiosity and desire.

“But part of training our children to think and believe biblically means holding them back from certain things. Sometimes, they’re only meant to watch and observe.”

Like children marveling at the presents under the Christmas tree, the Lord can use curiosity and anticipation to position the hearts of our children. Now, let’s begin.

Direction #1 -Look Back

When we take the Lord’s Supper, we look back in time. Just like the Jews looked back to the Passover, the Last Supper was a Seder; it was a Passover celebration. The Passover and the Lord's Supper were established as lasting memorials for God’s people. The Passover commemorates the exodus of the Jewish nation from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. The Lord’s Supper looks back and reflects upon Christ's death; the bread symbolizes Christ's body, the wine (or juice) symbolizes Christ’s blood, and this death is the center of our redemption.  It is a clear recognition of one central fact: the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Christ's identification of the bread with his body and of the wine with his blood focuses our attention on the need for a substitute who would sacrifice himself in our place to cleanse us of our sins.  

 Direction #2 -Look Up

When taking the Lord’s Supper, we look up to God the Father.  Remember that in the Gospels, when Jesus fed the 5000, he looked up to give thanks. Now obviously, God is omnipresent. He is as much down as He is up and left as He is right.  There is nowhere we can go and not find him. But Almighty God is displayed as high and lifted up. The scriptures reveal he is above us; it has to do with how great, mighty, powerful, and awesome he is. In Mattew 26:27-29, as Jesus was instituting the Lord’s Supper, it says, “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”  Then he focused on his Heavenly Father. He said, “I tell you; I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.” It was God the Father who crafted this salvation plan, and it was God the Father who was delighted to crush his Son on our behalf.  It was God the Father who did not spare his only begotten Son but gave Him up for us all. The Lord’s Supper is part of the Father’s sweet efforts to reconcile rebellious sinners to himself in Christ.  So, we look up to God the Father.  

We also look up to Christ, our faithful high priest.  The Lord's Supper is a constant reminder of our need for Christ's ministry on our behalf.  We are in constant dependence on Christ's ministry as our great and faithful high priest. We need him at the right hand of God interceding for us. Tell your children that they can look up to Jesus and pray, "Jesus, keep praying for me, keep mentioning me before the Father. Keep being my faithful high priest and pleading your own blood to the Father on my behalf.”  Tell your children that when they take the Lord’s Supper they can look up to Jesus as they eat and say, “Just like I need food to live, I need you in order to be alive spiritually, too.”  

We also look up to the Holy Spirit.  He is our power. The Holy Spirit's ministry is to apply Christ to us. This can be in the form of Christ’s spiritual presence, or it could be through insights into His word. Explain to your children that without the Holy Spirit, the Lord’s Supper will not mean anything to them. When we have the Lord’s Supper, it is by the Holy Spirit that it becomes effective in our life, so we must look to the Holy Spirit. Tell your children that when they take the Lord’s Supper they can look up to the Holy Spirit and pray, “Remind my heart that I am a child of God. Please uncover my sins so I can bring them into the light and follow Jesus more faithfully.”

Direction #3 -Look Inside

When we take the Lord’s Supper, we look within. We look to see the residual effects of sin and the flesh. Tell your kids that the Lord's Supper is a good time to think about those things. We fail to live for God's glory and for His Kingdom. We have our own agendas and live selfishly. The Lord’s Supper is a time to look inward and acknowledge the seriousness of sin, to identify the specific patterns and habits of sin, and then to pray, "Lord, I see and understand. I know what you are telling me about myself. I have sin within, and I repent! I want to live the new life Christ has given me."  

Direction #4 -Look Down

When we take the Lord’s Supper, we look down at the actual bread and juice. Tell your children to look at what they hold in their hands. Look at the cup filled with juice and the physical piece of bread. These are physical elements; they have an aroma, they have a flavor, they have an appearance, and they have a weight. The physical nature of this ordinance reminds us of the actual body and blood of Christ.  We are not like the Docetists who believed that Jesus only seemed to be human. No. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14). It wasn’t a theory or a philosophy; or a theology that was nailed to the cross.  It was the body of Jesus, and when He was nailed, his blood flowed down his body. Tell your children that is how they are forgiven.  Colossians 1:21-22 says, “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…” Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Direction #5 -Look Around

When we take the Lord’s Supper, we look around to see the body of Christ. In I Corinthians 11:33, Paul says, “So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.” Tell your children to notice the other people in the room. The night Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, he looked around and said, “Take and drink all of you.” He wanted them to do it together and to recognize their unity and fellowship with one another.

We also, in a sense, look around to the watching, unbelieving world. Every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper as a church family, there is a high likelihood that unbelievers are present and are watching.  And the Lord's Supper itself, according to what Paul says in I Corinthians 11, is a proclamation of the Lord's death until He comes. To whom are we proclaiming it?  Well, to each other, but also to the unbelievers in our midst.  

Direction #6 -Look Forward

When we take the Lord's Supper, we look forward to the second coming of Christ. Tell your children that Jesus is coming back someday, and this holy little feast of bread and juice will give way to a banquet where we sit at a great table with the King. Jesus is coming back to make all things new. Remember he told His disciples, “I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). Tell your children that one day we will sit at a great table with the King where we will feast and banquet together. Matthew 8:11 says, “many will come from the east and the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom.” And so, we look ahead to that glorious day. Tell your children when they take the Lord’s Supper it is good to pray, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Come and get us.”

In closing, our children should identify the Lord’s Supper as a time of remembrance, celebration, thanksgiving, and anticipation. If they are not believers, let them sit and observe, without partaking. Let this be an opportunity to call them to the gospel, and should they repent and believe, invite them to celebrate and remember with their church family all that Christ did for us as we anticipate the return of our King.