Good Friday Service-The Cup

Take a moment to look down at the cup in your hands,

Matthew 26:27–28 NKJV

27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Several things we must know about that cup

1.) By taking the cup into His own hands, Christ was reminding his disciples that His death was voluntary.

John 10:11 NKJV

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

John 10:18 NKJV

18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

2.) By giving thanks, Christ was again expressing praise and appreciation for deliverance promised through sacrifice.

3.) By giving the cup and saying, “Drink from it, all of you” Christ was saying that He must become a part of man’s very being if man wished deliverance.

Note: the word “gave” (v.26) (edoken) is in the Greek aorist tense which means that Christ gave the cup once for all. He died once and only once, and man partakes of His death once and only once.

Romans 6:10 NKJV

10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

3. Christ instituted a new covenant: forgiveness (v.28).

Note the Lord’s exact words.

“This is my blood.” His blood was to become the sign and symbol of the new covenant. His blood was to take the place of the sacrificial lamb of the Passover.

“The new covenant.” His blood, the sacrifice of His life, established a new covenant between God and man . Faith in His blood and sacrifice is the way man is to approach God.

Before, under the Old Covenant, a man who wanted a right relationship with God approached God through the sacrifice of an animal’s blood.

The Old Covenant believer believed that God accepted him because of the sacrifice of the animal.

Now, under the New Covenant, the believer believes that God accepts him because of the sacrifice of Christ.

This is what Christ said:

Matthew 26:28 NKJV

28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

A man’s sins are forgiven and he becomes acceptable to God by believing that Christ’s blood was shed for him

Ephesians 1:7 NKJV

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

A person must receive what Christ has done for him. He must drink, partake, absorb, assimilate Christ’s blood into his life. That is, a man must believe and trust the death of Christ to forgive his sins. He must allow Christ’s death to become the very nourishment, the innermost part and energy and flow of his life.

Matthew 26:27–28 NKJV

27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

“And they all did drink”