The Lord's Supper as the Sign and Meal of the New Covenant

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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“All the salvation and redemption brought about by Christ for his disciples is founded in the body and blood he gives them to eat and drink at the Eucharist”
-- Herman Ridderbos


Waters uses that insight from Ridderbos to help explain the significance of the Lord's Supper in the Christian religion, and thinking along these lines undergirds this entire book -- not just that the Supper is something we ought to do, but something it's vital to participate in -- for our own spiritual health.

Waters begins by reviewing the basics of covenant theology -- defining covenant and looking at the major covenants and how they point to Christ. Then Waters shifts to looking at the signs and seals of the various covenants -- with a focus on the purpose of visible, tangible signs. The third chapter narrows that focus to covenant meals throughout redemptive history. Once the context has been firmly established, Waters introduces the Lord's Supper with a survey of applicable biblical texts. Finally, Waters considers some practical and contemporary questions and applications. I'm not going to get into any specifics beyond this because what I want to focus on takes a lot of foundation work, and this would stop being about the book and would become a recap of the whole thing.

In a book this short (by design), I'm not sure Waters did his readers any favors by being as thorough in the first two chapters -- it will be review material for many readers, and those who aren't that grounded in covenant thinking are going to need more explanation of the ideas. Still, I appreciated what he wrote.The other three chapters were just great -- I could've used more of all of them, but that's not the point of the books in this series. The careful consideration of the Supper in its redemptive historical context is so important and putting these ideas in a size and format that aren't intimidating is going to be valuable.

I wish I had this book twenty years ago when I started studying the Lord's Supper, it would've been very helpful and would've saved me a lot of time. I took a lot of notes while reading this and am going to spend a lot of time following up on them -- and rereading this a couple of times. It's the kind of book you want to hand out to your friends so you can talk about it with them. The last chapter was particularly helpful and encouraging. This would be a great companion read to Letham, Mathison, and Wallace (to be read after Letham, but before Mathison, probably).

Waters is one of the better academic writers the Reformed world has -- thankfully, he's also capable of producing concise and clear works for laity. This short volume demonstrates that well. It's helpful, encouraging and I have no doubt will strengthen some believers' in their use of the Supper as it shows others how important it is.

I'd been previously unaware of the series Short Studies in Biblical Theology , I'm pretty sure I'm going to be getting my hands on some of the other volumes. I love the idea behind the series and if they're all this helpful, it'll be worth it.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Crossway via NetGalley in exchange for this post -- thanks to both for this.

A look at the basics of the theological significance of the Lord’s Supper for modern Christian believers. The author approaches this by first exploring the significance of covenants between God and people in Scripture and then the roles of signs of covenants. From there, he looks at the role of meals in covenants and the role of the Lord’s Supper specifically.

This is a very approachable but also obviously well-researched look at the Lord’s Supper for the average Christian. Putting Communion in the setting of a sign of a covenant, and setting the scene for what that looked like throughout Scripture definitely enriches understanding of its significance. I appreciate the historical build up and broad scope the book provides. I also appreciate that there are extensive Scripture references provided throughout to back up what the author is saying. This is a great resource for both people who have been Christians for a long time or those new to the faith. I’ll definitely be looking to add this title to our library.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is brilliant. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in gaining a proper understanding of both the Lord's Supper but also of Meals in Biblical History,

The author does a good job surveying Biblical Data in order to help us understand how crucial meals are to the people of the Bible.

Covenant theology's center is the redemptive work of Christ, accomplished in history and applied to God's people in every age. In a powerful way, covenant theology shows us how our Christian lives relate to Christ's work on our behalf. Covenant theology, then helps us to be better readers of the bible, to see Christ with greater clarity, and to learn how to live for Christ in this age.

There is much controversy in the church regarding the Lord's Supper. Some churches practice the Lord's supper quarterly, once a month or every gathering. With timing, volunteer issues, some churches might not practice the Lord's supper which in my opinion hurts the body. After reading this study on the Lord's supper and the covenants, it only solidifies our relationship with Christ. The Lord's supper points us to the cross and the work of Christ. It is done in thanksgiving and with a humbleness of the heart.

The text clarifies what the covenants do and how they point to Christ. How each of the covenants build on each other and help us as people of the Lord to know God's goodness and grace. The Lord's Supper is our opportunity to feed upon Christ by faith. It strengthens our faith and our resolve to know him more deeply. I highly recommend.

A Special Thank you to Crossway Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

I am grateful to net galley.com and Crossway for an advance copy of this book. This is a great little book on a very important subject. The whole thrust of these books is to try and make theology accessible to people who perhaps dont have theology degrees and in that I think this book succeeds. The first chapter on Covenant and what a covenant means with various examples from scripture is a great precise summary of covenants which leans on weightier books.

In short just what you want a small, very readable and yet detailed account of the LORD's supper as the meal of the covenant.

This is an excellent introductory book on the Lord's Supper.
This book is really useful for building the Old testament background to what the Lord's Supper is by clearly explaining what a covenant is and what a covenant meal is. This was truly excellent and beneficial and thorough treatment of covenental background.
The book also helps the retention of this information by continually reviewing this information.
However where I feel this book is lacking is when we get to the Lord's Supper. The author holds the reformed position (so do I) but there is not much here for the normal person to understand why this is the case, particularly when most will come in with the assumption that the Lord's Supper is no more than a memorial. I don't think just having the background work makes this implicit.

This is an excellent book for the background to the Lord's Supper but lacking when you actually get to the Lord's Supper itself.

This is the sixth book I read from the “Short Studies in Biblical Theology” series published by Crossway. I have immensely enjoyed the other five volumes that I read from this series and this work is no different. This particular work explores the Lord’s Supper.
In the introduction the author wrote “Our aim is to see better how the Lord’s Supper points to and confirms the blessings and benefits that God has poured out upon his people in Jesus Christ.” Even in the introduction I thought the author made a powerful point that the Lord’s Supper is what God uses to appeal to our five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell) to believe in the Gospel.
The book consists of five chapters. Chapter one went over “Covenant Basics” in which the author surveyed the various covenants in the Old Testaments. Chapter two also looked at “Covenant Signs” in which the book went over how various covenants in Scripture had accompanying signs. Chapter two is on “Covenant Meals” while chapter four is on “The Lord’s Supper” and chapter five is on “Conclusions for the Church.”
At first I didn’t think I might get as much from this book as I thought I would; I thought I actually knew a lot about the Lord’s Supper already. However the author pointed out somethings that were new to me. I really appreciated Guy Waters (author) putting the Lord’s Supper in the context of Redemptive History and especially with the unfolding of covenants in the Bible. This is especially appropriate in light of the fact that the Lord’s Supper is situated in the New Covenant and is one of the Signs of the New Covenant, with the second one being the Lord’s Supper. I took a lot of notes and found that while typology wasn’t the main point of the book per se nevertheless it helped one to think of how various covenant signs were types and signs that pointed us towards Christ.
In terms of theological persuasion the author is a Covenantal Presbyterian. He’s not pushy with his view of infant baptism but here in this work he does attempt to make a case for a Covenant of Works and also making many of the covenants in the Old Testament as a Covenant of Grace. I thought readers might want to know that. Still no matter what your theological persuasion the book is overwhelmingly good in discussing the Lord’s Supper and Covenant signs. I recommend this book.
NOTE: This book was provided to me free by Crossway and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

Useful and a bit distinctive Study and view. But worthy of a read and considering. Would recommend along with other similar books on the subject