If you’ve ever gone down the rabbit hole of trying to find the "perfect" definition of the Lord’s Supper, you probably know how rare a good definition is. It can be a bit overwhelming, to say the least. I spent hours searching, and the experience was a mixed bag. Some definitions were too poetic, tickling ears and pulling heartstrings without giving much to chew on. Others felt a bit cold, like reading a technical manual for a sacred event.
The reality is that there are so many versions of a “simple” description out there that we’re almost bound to find something to gripe about in every single one. Most of the solid ones try to do the heavy lifting by extrapolating details from the core passages—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Paul’s letters to the Corinthians. We’ll definitely be diving into those specific texts and doing some of that work ourselves in future posts.
But before we get lost in the weeds of my own commentary, I thought it would be helpful to start with a foundation that really gets us in the right ballpark. In my search for clarity, I kept coming back to a source that has stood the test of time. The 1689 Second London Baptist Confession offers a remarkably thoughtful definition. Its eight paragraphs on the subject are about as trim and precise as you’d want for something this important, providing a clear-eyed look at what we’re actually doing when we gather around the table. I’ve linked the full text for those who want the whole picture, but over the next few posts, I'll walk through each paragraph and highlight the key ideas that make this definition work.