DONE 240225 Communion: The Graciousness of the Greatest Friend

Invitation:

Open your Bibles to Luke 23.

Purpose:

The Lord Jesus Christ, in the night in which He was betrayed, commanded that His disciples come together regularly in remembrance of His broken body and shed blood. We come to do this now - to remember the broken body and shed blood of Christ and the great grace He demonstrated on Calvary by offering Himself up for poor sinners. PAUSE

Transition:

We join the text in verse 33 to remember the sacrificial Lamb of God who died to make all who believe right with God. PAUSE

Luke 23:33–43

33 And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. 34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” AND THEY CAST LOTS, DIVIDING UP HIS GARMENTS AMONG THEMSELVES. 35 And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were scoffing at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” 36 And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” 38 Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 39 And one of the criminals hanging there was blaspheming Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” 40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for what we have done; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” 43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Grace and Justice:

Even in His sacrifice, Christ is so gracious. He asks for the Father to forgive those trying to kill Him, mocking Him, crucifying Him. And then something amazing happens right before He gives up His Spirit - one of the robbers hanging with Him who just moments before had been blaspheming Him (Matt 27:44) suddenly declares that it is just that they are suffering. It is right and they deserve their punishment.

Our Part:

We too, as sinners, deserve punishment but Christ takes the believer’s guilt upon Himself and offers Himself up in exchange and grants forgiveness to all who come to Him in faith. This man did, he came in faith, and was crucified with Christ. He never had the opportunity to take communion or to be baptized or even kneel in prayer or anything and yet Jesus promised that he would be that very day with Him in paradise.

Amazing Grace

What amazing grace! That the very Son of God would exchange His perfection for our sin guilt and even grant great assurance to wretched sinners. None of here is better or less guilty than those criminal, all of us are guilty sinners and yet God in His grace grants pardon to those who come in faith. So we come in faith, knowing that the broken body and shed blood, served to make us right with God. Christ’s sacrifice covers over our guilt, atoning for our sin and we can now share a meal with the greatest Friend poor sinners could ever have.

Warning:

This meal is reserved for those who have judged their sins rightly. Communion is a meal for poor wretched sinners that have abandoned their sin for Christ. It is our great joy to delight in remembering our great God and Friend Jesus. Let us now, prepare our hearts for this solemn yet incredible reality symbolized by the bread and cup. If there is anything holding you back from communing with Christ please repent of it and come joyfully to share a meal with Christ and with all His holy ones.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was being betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.”