When & How Often Did the First Century Church
Partake of the Lord’s Supper?
After Jesus and his disciples finished eating the
Passover Supper, he instituted his own supper (Matt. 26:26-
29). The next time the disciples would partake of the Lord’s
Supper would be on “that day” in the kingdom (v. 29).
Acts 2:42 records that the early Christians engaged “in
breaking of bread.” “Breaking of bread” is a figure of speech
known as a synecdoche, wherein a part is put for the whole.
“Breaking of bread” (the part) stands for partaking of the
Supper (the whole), which consisted of the bread and the
fruit of the vine.
In I Cor. 11:23-29, Paul instructed the Corinthians
concerning the proper manner in partaking of the Lord’s
Supper.
Now, the question is, “When and how often did the First
Century church partake of the Lord’s Supper?” Certainly, we
have the obligation to carry out the Lord’s commandments.
But, there must have been a frequency of such observance
on the part of the early church. The example given is found
in Acts 20:7 – “And upon the first day of the week, when the
disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them,
. . .” The disciples came together for the purpose of breaking
bread – again, an allusion to the partaking of the Lord’s
Supper. They did this “upon the first day of the week.” Since
we have the obligation to partake of the Lord’s Supper, the
example of frequency given in Acts 20:7 becomes binding. In
order to duplicate the pattern set forth in the New
Testament, we must, therefore, partake of the Lord’s Supper
upon the first day of the week. And, since there is a first day
in every week and since every week has a first day, then this
obviously means every first day of the week. There is simply
no New Testament authority to partake of the Lord’s Supper
on any other day of the week or to establish a frequency
other than the first day of every week (such as once a
quarter, twice a year, or once a year). An identifying mark of
the Lord’s church, as set forth in the New Testament, is that
they partook of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week.
How can a religious body truly be the Lord’s church when
they reject the pattern set forth in the New Testament with
respect to worship in general and to the partaking of the Lord’
s Supper in particular?