Communion Fulfilled: Why the Lord’s Supper Ended in 70AD

 Communion Fulfilled: Why the Lord’s Supper Ended in 70AD 


“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” — 1 Corinthians 11:26


The Lord’s Supper, or communion, was never meant to be an eternal ordinance. It was a covenantal act rooted in expectation — a ritual meal pointing forward to something climactic: the return of Christ and the fulfillment of the covenant. According to the apostle Paul, the meal was not merely a memorial of Jesus’ death, but a temporary proclamation — one that would cease upon His coming.


The implications are profound: Communion was fulfilled with the Parousia of Christ in judgment upon the Old Covenant system. That event changed everything.


The Purpose of Communion: A Covenant Meal in Transition


In the Upper Room, Jesus broke bread and shared wine, instituting a New Covenant in His blood (Luke 22:20). But this covenantal act was modeled after Passover — a meal remembering a past deliverance while awaiting a future fulfillment.


The early Church continued this meal “in remembrance” of Jesus, but not as a mere historical reflection. It was a forward-looking act, tethered in hope: “You proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”


That clause — “until He comes” — is key.


Paul, writing before 70 AD, expected the imminent return of Christ within his generation (1 Thess. 4:15; Rom. 13:11-12). The Lord’s Supper was a transitionary ordinance, a symbolic bridge between the Cross and the Parousia. It served a purpose during the overlap of covenants — until the Old system fully vanished (Heb. 8:13).


 Fulfillment, Not Delay


When Jesus returned in judgment on Jerusalem in 70AD, He closed the age of shadows. The physical temple was destroyed, the priesthood dismantled, and the old world order of types and signs vanished. With that, the need for symbolic ordinances — including communion — ended.


The real presence of Christ was not in bread and wine, but in the indwelling Spirit (2 Cor. 13:5). And post-70AD believers are no longer waiting for Christ to “come again.” He had returned. The Bridegroom was with His people (Rev. 21:3). The kingdom was fully inaugurated.



From Sign to Substance


Christ is the fulfillment of all the Law and Prophets (Rom. 10:4; Col. 2:16–17). The old things — including rituals, ordinances, and temple practices — were mere shadows of the spiritual reality now present in Christ.


We live not by signs, but by Spirit. We do not commune with Christ through sacraments but by being one with Him (1 Cor. 6:17; Gal. 2:20). Communion was not an everlasting command, but a covenantal placeholder. Now that Christ has returned and we dwell in the New Creation, we partake of the reality, not the ritual.




We Now Look Back — With Fulfilled Vision


We do not look forward to a future coming. We look back — with gratitude — at a finished redemption and a fulfilled presence. Jesus has returned. The kingdom is here. Death has been defeated covenantally. God is with His people.


In this New Covenant reality, our “communion” is not found in a ceremonial cup but in the ongoing experience of God’s indwelling presence. We walk in the Spirit. We feast on Christ by faith, not by ritual.



Conclusion


Just as the physical temple was removed to make way for the living temple (1 Cor. 3:16), so too, the Lord’s Supper gave way to something greater: a life of union with Christ in the Spirit.

Communion served a beautiful and prophetic purpose — but it was not meant to last forever.

It pointed to a coming. That coming has occurred. Now, we rest in what was once only anticipated: God fully with us. Christ in us. The hope realized.



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