8 Best Bible Passages for Communion Meditations

The purpose of this page is to provide all people with easy access to the most relevant and encouraging passages from Scripture to use during a communion meditation.

Whether you are a pastor or a leader in the church looking for the right verse to share during the lead up to sharing in the Lord's Supper, I hope you can find the perfect treasure to share.

If you feel that I have missed a passage that is appropriate, please mention it in the comments.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (ESV)

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Matthew 26:26-29 (ESV)

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 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. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Mark 14:22-25 (ESV)

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Luke 22:17-20 (ESV)

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (ESV)

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

John 6:47-51 (ESV)

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

John 6:53-58 (ESV)

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

John 6:26-27, 35 (ESV)

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”…. I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Nehemiah's Prayer and Success in the Lord's Work

All growth is change. And most growth starts with the recognition of our need to improve. Every week as we remember the Lord's Supper, I am reminded of Christ's sacrifice for all of us and the subsequent failure on my part to always respond to Jesus' loving action properly.

Nehemiah, a Hebrew serving the king of Persia, heard of the state that Jerusalem had fallen to despite the recent ritual revival that had occurred there. Nehemiah responded to the sad situation with weeping, mourning, prayer and fasting. Nehemiah 1 records one of his prayers.

I have rewritten that prayer for our situation. If you want to read the original prayer, go to Nehemiah 1.

O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear this prayer for your followers, the church. I confess the sins we Christians, including myself and this local body, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you at times. We have not obeyed the command to love our neighbors as you taught.

Please remember the instruction you gave your follower Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.'

We are your followers and your people, whom you redeemed by the great sacrifice of Jesus. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to this prayer of your followers who delight in giving praise to your name. May our lives give you glory. Give us success today by granting us favor in the presence of others.

Then Nehemiah went to do the will of God, risking his life, facing scorn and danger, and leaving the comfort of the king's presence - all to bring glory to God. In the end, Nehemiah's struggle was not in vain. None of his success would have happened if Nehemiah was not able to see that the reality of the world was different than the reality God intended. So often we also realize this but justify it away. Nehemiah did not do what we have the tendency to do. He followed his realization by mourning, fasting, and praying over the Israelites' fallen state, and then he worked to bring God's reality into our reality. When we strive for that which is better and are willing to change ourselves, God can be glorified.

So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God (Nehemiah 6:15-16).

Their enemies and surrounding neighbors realized that God was at work. Let us mourn, pray, and fast that the world will realize that God is at work within us and in our midst, and may we be the people willing to be used for that work. But be assured, we will have to change for that to happen. All growth is change.  Let us remember the sacrifice that has allowed us to be God's people.

Leonard Sweet wrote, "Jesus came to the world as hands and feet; Jesus comes now to us as bread and wine so that we come to others as Jesus' hands and feet."