Where Do I Go From Here? 4

Meditating On Calvary

Text: Matthew 26:17-30

Introduction

Illustration: There are ways in which I enjoy looking back to some of my best memories about those who impacted my life. It could be doing something in a particular way, using a particular ingredient, buying a particular product, etc.

If I were to ask you, “What does it mean to think upon Christ,” what would come to the surface of your mind?

Meditating on Jesus — His Life, His suffering, His broken body, His shed blood, His payment for my sin, God’s wrath, God’s justice, His resurrection, New Life for the believer, He is coming back, etc…………………

Question — Who would agree that “meditating on Christ” brings an enumerable amount of blessings? Blessings like: Comforting your heart, giving yo hope, strengthening your resolve to reject sin, bettering the quality of your worship, gives you courage to engage with unbelievers, etc……………

While there are several ways to “meditate upon Christ,” none of them are as unique as participating in the Lord’s Supper! Jesus left this ordinance in the charge of His local church. When you trust Christ, follow Jesus in Believer baptism and join His local church, you are then blessed with the opportunity to remember Jesus in this special way.

1) Proper Authority

A. All authority is found in Jesus

A quick reminder from last week

Turn to Matthew 28:16–20 “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

For anything, any freedom, any judgement, any reward to be authentic, it must be based on proper authority.

This command of the full commission came from the one who has the authority to give it.

The impact of the whole commission is very dear to Jesus’ heart…that includes Observing His Supper!

All of this was made possible by Jesus living the life He lived, dying, and resurrecting.

Who exactly was given this great commission?

ANS — His church

B. Jesus has commanded believers to continue in this observance

We have already discussed what constitutes an authentic New Testament church.

Correct teaching about the full person of God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)

Correct teaching about God’s plan of providing salvation and how someone receives that salvation.

Faithful practice of the two ordinances.

Taking the gospel across the globe.

Everyone who has joined with a true N.T. Church should do all they can to remember Jesus in this way.

Some don’t come due to not seeing the value of such a service.

Some don’t prioritize it high enough.

Some just can’t make it due to work conditions.

COMMERCIAL BREAK — If that is a current issue, we may need to have the discussion of having it more frequently than we do.

I believer the N.T. and church history shows clearly having it more frequently.

2) Powerful Purpose/Message

A. It was a worship service instituted by Jesus for remembering what He did for you

Religion has taken this supper and made it to be a part of saving your soul.

Transubstantiation — Elements “literally” transform into the body and blood of Jesus.

They literalize Jesus’ statement of “eating the Lord’s body and drinking His blood.”

B. Jesus taught about what it meant to “eat his flesh” and “drink his blood”

Turn to: John 6:47–60

John 6:47–60 KJV 1900

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

Exodus 16:15 “And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.”

John 6:41–51 (The Bible Exposition Commentary): The manna came at night from heaven, and Jesus came to this earth when sinners were in moral and spiritual darkness. The manna was small (His humility), round (His eternality), and white (His purity). It was sweet to the taste (Ps. 34:8) and it met the needs of the people adequately.

Jesus instructed Satan in Luke 4:4 “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

They made an emphasis on the physical and Jesus emphasized on the spiritual.

John 6:41–51 (The Bible Exposition Commentary): When Jesus called Himself “the Living Bread,” He was not claiming to be exactly like the manna. He was claiming to be even greater! The manna only sustained life for the Jews, but Jesus gives life to the whole world. The Jews ate the daily manna and eventually died; but when you receive Jesus Christ within, you live forever. When God gave the manna, He gave only a gift; but when Jesus came, He gave Himself. There was no cost to God in sending the manna each day, but He gave His Son at great cost. The Jews had to eat the manna every day, but the sinner who trusts Christ once is given eternal life.

John 6:41–51 (The Bible Exposition Commentary): The manna was given to a rebellious people; it was the gracious gift of God. All they had to do was stoop and pick it up. If they failed to pick it up, they walked on it. The Lord is not far from any sinner. All the sinner has to do is humble himself and take the gift that God offers.

That is exactly the message of Jesus in John 6.

Let’s think upon His body (flesh) for a moment:

It was no different than your flesh or mine. It grew, needed nutrition, felt pain, calloused.

The main difference was Jesus NEVER used His flesh to commit sinful acts.

This flesh housed the very Son of God.

It was in this flesh God’s perfect moral law was fulfilled.

It was in this flesh He comforted the despairing, healed the sick/dumb/blind, He spoke words of life, beaten, tortured, crucified, buried, and resurrected.

“In like manner” Jesus is coming back for all those who have committed a trusting faith upon His as Savior and Lord.

Let’s think upon His “blood” for a moment:

It was His blood that fulfilled all the blood sacrifices of the O.T. period up to that present day.

Hebrews 9:22 “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

3)Precise Elements

A. Jesus took the bread of which they used for Passover

Turn to: Exodus 12:1-11

Exodus 12:1–11 KJV 1900

And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover.

They were to kill the spotless lamb of the first year.

They were to roast a certain quantity of the flesh (number within their home) and eat it within their home.

They were to be properly clothed to travel as they carried this out.

The element Jesus would have used would be that which typified the purity of His body.

Exodus 12:14–15 “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.”

B. Jesus took the cup which they used for Passover

God gave them specific instruction on what to do with the blood of the same lamb.

The door frame of the home they were to eat the flesh of the lamb was to be marked with the lamb’s blood.

Jesus is described as the “Spotless lamb of God.”

It had to come from the “blood” (juice) of the grape.

They would have taken the juice through a purifying process (fermentation)

While the Jews and early Christians rejected the misuse of wine, it was often used in wonderful symbolism.

Wine would have been the best of selection for the Jew to use to represent purity, peace, judgement, God’s power, etc.

4)Particular Observance

Turn to 1 Corinthians 11

A. Jesus’ body and blood should be remembered in a worthy manner

There were divisions among the people

I’m not sure what they were. I do know there is no tolerance for them when observing Jesus’ supper.

When it comes to people, the division could be a shallow as the type of flooring to a more serious division regarding the treatment of people or the scriptures.

Divisions among yourselves creates shameful distance from Christ.

“Divisions” SCREAMS “I don’t know Jesus.”

Jesus said, “If you love one another, the world will know you are following me.”

NO room for ego.

No room for the narcissist.

An unworthy manner of observance brings judgement

“Discerning” — Their evaluation of the Lord’s Supper was no different than eating a common home meal.

This issues of “evaluation” has ruined so many pastors and churches today. THE LORD’S THINGS LOOK DIFFERENT THAN THE WORLDS THINGS!!!

The Lord’s Supper is not some potluck production and neither is corporate worship a time for a flesh appealing production.

Jesus’ pattern for all worship is quit simplistic. Men have productionized everything.

Why can’t Christians today see the simplistic beauty of Jesus’ plan and fall in love with it?

Many became sick and many took their last breath!

Conclusion

How many of your professing Christians are being serious enough about the broken/mutilated body and shed blood of Jesus? Have you been baptized? Have you joined a New Testament church? How long will you go not prioritizing the body and blood of Jesus in your worship?

How many of you unbelievers are going to be serious enough about Jesus’ invitation of receiving the gift of eternal life because of His broken body and shed blood?

Jesus did it all! He is waiting on your faith to be placed on Him!