Charles Spurgeon Commentary 1 Corinthians 11:23

"For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread;" — 1 Corinthians 11:23 (ASV)

That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

The Lord's supper is a simple service of remembrance. Nothing is said about an altar, or a priest, or a sacrifice. Our Lord took bread, gave thanks for it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat: this is my body which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. Mark that this do; it will not be right to do something else instead of this; and we must not do this for any other purpose than the one he mentions, This do in remembrance of me.

This command raises a previous question: "Do we know him?" We cannot remember Christ if we do not know him.

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you,–

That is the right kind of teaching which a man first receives from God, and then delivers to the people. Nothing is of authority in the Christian ministry unless we can say of it, I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you,–

That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

What a poignant interest is given to the Lord's Supper by the fact that it was instituted the same night in which he was betrayed.

Never forget that, and may God grant that none of us betray our Lord this night, or any other night! It would be the darkest night in our lives should it ever be so: The Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: