Note 1 at 1 Cor. 11:24: In the New Testament the word for "thanks" is directly related to the word "grace." It is because "thankfulness" is both a result and response to God's grace. Giving thanks is the will of God for us that is often overlooked (Phil. 4:6; Col. 3:17; 1 Th. 5:18). In the ministry of Jesus and others, it was a door opener to the miraculous. Jonah was delivered from the belly of the fish as he offered the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Jon. 2:9-10). Jesus multiplied the five loaves and two fish not by praying for it, but simply by thanking God (Jn. 6:11-12). Likewise, it was the giving of thanks that released the power of God at Lazarus' tomb (Jn. 11:41-44).

The apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 4:4-5 that thanksgiving, along with the word of God and prayer, sanctifies our food. These things provide the basis for our custom of "saying grace" or "giving thanks" over our food.

Note 2 at 1 Cor. 11:24: Jesus made it very clear as He administered the first Communion with His disciples (Lk. 22:19) that the purpose of this act was to keep in remembrance what He was doing for them through His death on the cross. The real power of Communion is the power of remembrance. Yet some have placed such importance on the act itself and the elements used that in their observance, the sacrificial offering of the Lord has been "up staged" by Communion.

The elements used in Communion and the ritual itself are not important (see note 2 at Mk. 14:22, p. 476). The significance of the Lord's Supper is that it puts us in remembrance of the tremendous price Jesus paid for our salvation. Any deviation from this simple purpose is missing the true meaning of Communion.