The Last Supper
Come To The Table • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Two songs
Watch clip from The Chosen
Please stand as you are able as we read God’s word:
Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,
We are forgetful people. We forget things all the time. Usually, they are small things. We forget where we left our keys, or we forget to pick up milk on the way home. I’m forever getting up to go into another room, only to forget why I went there. These are things that ultimately don’t matter that much.
Sometimes, there are things that are more costly when forgotten. A birthday or anniversary. A tax payment or job interview. Things that can cause embarrassment or inconvenience when forgotten.
But some things we can forget are a matter of life and death. Things we shouldn’t ever forget, because in forgetting we lose something essential. We lose our identity. Tonight is one of those things. To forget God’s work of salvation through Jesus is to flirt with falling into either a profound doubt in God, or an unwarranted overconfidence in our self. To fall in either direction is to fall away from God.
God knew that his people were prone to forgetting things. As Moses is about to send the people of Israel across the Jordan to take possession of the promised land, we read the warning above. You hear what God is saying here to Israel - “remember”. Remember what I’ve done for you. Remember what I’ve promised you. Remember who you are. Because if you don’t, you will fall either into doubt or overconfidence in yourself. This is the cost of forgetfulness.
Because God knows how forgetful we are, in his grace he gave Israel a way to remember the salvation he performed for them in Egypt. He gave them a meal called Passover. You may remember the events that led up to the first Passover meal, but in case the details are fuzzy let me remind you:
Jacob and all his family moved to Egypt to escape a famine. They were welcomed because of his son Joseph and given land to live on a raise their flocks. 70 people in all moved to Egypt.
God blessed Israel and they multiplied - a lot. Over the decades their numbers grew, until they began to be seen as a threat to the Egyptians. So the Egyptians enslaved them.
400 years go by in slavery. But then God raises up Moses to deliver the people and bring them back to the promised land. God sent a series of 10 plagues on pharoah and the gods of Egypt in order to break pharoah’s will so that he would let the Israelites go.
The last plague is what the Passover meal is based upon. We read in Exodus 12:
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household… Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs… This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
God delivered his people from slavery. He did it under the cover of the blood of a lamb. And he did it in such haste that their bread didn’t have time to rise. This is THE salvation event of the OT, one that God did not want them to ever forget. Because to forget would be to risk falling into doubt in God or over-reliance on self.
So God said, Exodus 12:14 “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.”
To this day, all Jews remember the Passover through a meal. A meal that includes a lamb and unleavened bread. What is most interesting is that in observing the Passover meal, they recount the story. But they don’t tell the story as something that happened a long time ago. They tell it as if it were they themselves that experienced. It’s not “Our ancestors went down to Egypt” but “We went down to Egypt”. When Jewish people today observe the Passover, they reparticipate in it as if they were the ones delivered from Egypt.
It was vital for Israel to remember her deliverance so that she would never fall into doubt in God or over-reliance on self. So that we don’t fall into doubt or over-reliance, it is also vital for us to remember our deliverance from slavery to sin and death. And in his kindness, God has also given us a way to remember - through a meal. We call it The Last Supper, or Communion.
We saw a portion of this portrayed in the clip from The Chosen. But I’d like us to look at the passage it’s taken from in full.
When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
This is what God has done for us through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus: in all haste He has delivered us from slavery to sin. He delivered us under the cover of the blood of a spotless Lamb. In this act, God takes what he did for Israel all those years ago and now does it for the whole world. This is the most momentous act of salvation and grace that has ever happened. And it is something that must not be forgotten. Because in forgetting we lose our identity - we fall into doubt in God or self-reliance.
We need to remember what God has done in Christ. And so in an Upper Room, on the night that Jesus would be betrayed and handed over to death, God said “Here, let me help you remember”. Let me help you remember through a reimagined and deepened passover meal. Take this bread and remember my body swiftly handed over and broken for you. Take this wine and remember the blood of the perfect Lamb shed for you, wiped not on wooden doorframes but on the hard wood of a cross. Do this in remembrance of me.
And again, what is important is that we don’t remember this act of deliverance as something that happened in the past. It is something that we reparticipate in now. This is not a meal that Jesus shared with his disciples 2,000 years ago. It is a meal he shares with us now. And in sharing in the meal we reparticipate in his saving work and forgiveness.
Communion
Let us pray...
It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth through Jesus Christ our Lord. For our sins he was lifted high upon the cross, that he might draw the whole world to himself; and, by his suffering and death, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who put their trust in him.
Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who for ever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us for yourself, and, when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all.
He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself, in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.
Hold up the bread
On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."
Hold up the cup
After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, "Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."
Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Recalling his death, resurrection, and ascension, we offer you these gifts.
Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of your Son, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him. Sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy Sacrament, and serve you in unity, perseverance, and peace; and at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom.
All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ: By him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.
Break the bread
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;
Therefore let us keep the feast.
Invite forward
Song
After final song dim all lights
Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”
You are dismissed. Please leave in silence.
