The primary place to go for an authoritative answer to this question is the word of God. More specifically, to the Scripture passages that tell us of Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s supper. There are three such passages in the Bible, namely, Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, and Luke 22:17-20.
Many commentators will include 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 but this passage is contextually different, and I do not consider it in the same light as the passages in the synoptic gospels. This passage is frequently taken out of context to exclude children from participating in the Lord’s supper resulting in the same error that Jesus admonished his disciples for in Matthew 19:13-15; Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17. More on this later.
THE PASSOVER MEAL CELEBRATED THAT NIGHT
On the night of Jesus’ betrayal, He was reclining at the table in the upper room with his twelve disciples (including Judas Iscariot) eating the Passover meal (Matt. 26:20). In Jesus’ day, the Jews celebrated the Passover feast in their homes with all the family present. All persons participating in the Passover meal were believing Jews and any of their children who could eat and drink on their own.
This ceremonial dinner (seder) consisted of several parts and began with the first of four cups of wine and included the breaking of bread. The fifth part of the Passover meal began with the youngest child at the table who could speak asking four questions which would be answered by the seder leader (usually the patriarch of the family) in retelling the story of the Hebrew’s exodus from Egyptian bondage. Note that the Passover allowed small children to be present and included the elements of wine and bread, among others (e.g., the paschal lamb).
Since only Jesus and His twelve apostles were mentioned in the rendition of the institution of the Lord’s supper, the implication is that no women or children were present at this particular Passover meal.
THE INTERRUPTION OF THE MEAL AND THE INSTITUTION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
At some point during the meal, Jesus took bread and broke it and gave the broken bread to His disciples commanding them to “Take, eat; this is my body” (Matt. 26:26). He immediately followed this by taking a cup of wine saying to them “Take this, and divide it among yourselves” (Luke 22:17). “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” (Matt. 26:27, 28).
Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Lord’s supper with external signs representing spiritual truths, which signs were observable to the senses. Berkhof describes the outward signs of the Lord’s supper in this way:
The outward sign in the case of the Lords Supper includes not only the visible elements employed, but also the breaking of the bread and the pouring of the wine, the appropriation of bread and wine by eating and drinking, and the partaking of them in communion with others.[1]
THOSE WHOM CHRIST WELCOMES TO THE LORD’S TABLE
As discussed in a previous post, Jesus interrupted the Passover meal in order to change it. He chose two elements, the bread and the wine, to include as elements of the meal going forward as the Lord’s Supper. He defined the bread as representing His body and the wine as representing His blood of the New Covenant. These two elements would be the only elements of the meal as the Paschal lamb was replaced by the real presence of Jesus Christ.
Those whom Christ allowed to participate in the Lord’s Supper were the same as those who participated in the Passover meal, including the professed believing parents and their children. The children of the believing parents who could eat and drink on their own and who had not yet reached the age of reason when they were able to make their own profession of belief were included in the Passover celebration.
Jesus did not institute the Lord’s supper for all people indiscriminately. Nor did he institute it for all who claim to be Christians or for all those who are members of the visible church. He instituted it for those who were truly citizens of the spiritual kingdom of God. He instituted it for repentant sinners who have a living faith in Jesus Christ and believe that their redemption is bought by the shed blood of Christ and grounded on the merited righteousness of Christ. This includes the children of true believers before their children have reached the age of reason when they can make their own profession of faith.
Jesus made it clear that when adults come to Him, their children are welcome to come along. Jesus considers these children to be part of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 19:14; see also Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16) and will not stand for anyone hindering their access to Him at His table. Jesus will bless believing adults and children alike who come to him in prayer or by way of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (See my earlier article on this blog entitled: Let The Little Children Come To Me.
A minority of Protestant denominations incorrectly prohibit young children of believing parents, children who have not yet reached the age of reason and have not yet made their own profession of faith, from participating in the Lord’s Supper. Many incorrectly use 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 to show that non-professing children of believing parents should be barred from the Lord’s table. But the apostle Paul does not teach such a doctrine in that epistle.
Jesus and the text of the Bible make no such prohibition. Paul was speaking in these verses to adults who were abusing the Lord’s Supper and who had turned the sacrament into a common meal full of revelry and divisions among themselves. He charged them with defiling the sacrament and showing contempt for God. This passage was not speaking of children at all. In fact, elsewhere in Scripture Jesus used children as examples of how to come to Christ, that is, with humility. This is the opposite of how the Corinthian adults in the church there were behaving.
MATTHEW 19:13-15; MARK 10:13-16; LUKE 18:15-17[2]
An examination of these three passages makes clear that Christ receives those who come to Him by faith and also children who don’t yet have the capacity to understand or desire the blessings of Christ. Jesus graciously receives the children mentioned in these verses and blesses them. They were children of disciples of Christ who believed that Jesus had the power of the Spirit to bless them. If these parents had not believed in Jesus, it would have been unreasonable for them to present their children to Jesus.
The disciples who barred the children from contact with Jesus incorrectly believed it was below Jesus the high prophet to receive infants and children. But they were thinking from their fleshly human character and in doing this, the disciples would have deprived Jesus the honor of mediator in receiving these children.
Jesus admonished his disciples for what they had done and received and blessed the children. As John Calvin wrote in his Commentaries, “To exclude from the grace of redemption those who are of that age would be too cruel.”
God deems righteous children of an age of which they lack the capacity to possess the knowledge and understanding required to make a profession of faith. This capacity grows by degrees within them until it becomes fully manifested and they are able to make a valid profession of faith. In his commentary on Matthew 19:14 Calvin states that as to adults, there is no other way in which we are reconciled to God and become heirs of adoption except by faith but “with respect to infants [i.e. small children], this passage demonstrates it to be false.”
Jesus did not capriciously present these children to God. Blessing them shows that He deemed them righteous as children of God. By embracing these children, Christ considered them among the body of Christ. Jesus clearly and expressly affirms this in Matthew 19:14 “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
The children of true believers in Christ are welcome at the Lord’s Table.
[1] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2021), 679.
[2] See also John Calvin’s harmony of these three passages in his Complete Commentaries.
