Reverence for the Lord’s Table: Respecting the Body and Blood of Christ

Call to Worship

Good evening! Happy Wednesday! This week is an odd one for me, as I am preaching both today and this Sunday. But, the point of this series has been to bring us to think critically on what the bread and wine truly represent in what is called the Eucharist—or, The Blessed Sacrament. The last two weeks we’ve touched on the Words of Institution, or the blessing of the bread, that is the body, and the wine, that is the blood, of Christ. And if any of you were here for a sermon I gave on Thanksgiving, remember that Eucharist itself means “to give thanks,” and our focus today will be on giving proper thanks in relation to God’s Sacrifice through His mediator: Jesus Christ, Son of God, Son of Man, eternally begotten, not made, God from God, light from light, true God from true God.

Now, let us begin this evening with an exploration of Scripture.

Old Testament Reading

A reading from the Old Testament, in the books of the Moses—Leviticus and Numbers. May God bless the reading of His word,

Leviticus 7:20 “‘But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the Lord, in his uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from his people.”

Numbers 18:32 “‘… You shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, or you will die.’ ””

This is the word of God.

Prayer of Divine Invocation

The Lord be with you. And with your Spirit. Let us pray.

Almighty God, to You all hearts are open, all desires known, and from You no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You, and worthily magnify Your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. In harmony, and in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, your people say, Amen.

New Testament

A reading from the New Testament, the Epistle to the Corinthians, written by Saint Paul,

1 Corinthians 11:26–32 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.”

Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again! Hallelujah!

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, According to Mark. Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Mark 14:25 ““Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.””

This is the word of God.

Moment to Reflect (5-10 seconds)

Sermon

Introduction

As we finished the Words of Institution last week, what else it to be in focus before we partake of the body and blood of Christ this upcoming Sunday? That answer is: taking it honorably, humbly, respectfully, all the aspects you’d want someone to give to you on your deathbed. From Christ we learn how the practice began and was instituted for Christians. Through Christ’s humble servant, of which Paul is preeminent, we learn how best to treat it from the perspective of God’s creation. From the Creator to the creature.

Now Across centuries, the church has gathered at the Table of the Lord—what we variously call the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion. But in every age, there is a tendency either to neglect its importance, handle it irreverently, or elevate it past its proper place. Today’s sermon draws from both Old and New Testament Scriptures to emphasize this truth: To participate in the Lord’s Table is to engage with the holiness of God. That is, engaging with a “means of grace” higher than our usual life in Christ. So, today we focus on what it means to approach the table humbly, respectfully, and in Christ.

I. A Holy Table

The Lord’s Supper is more than memory. It is more than symbol. It is a covenantal meal that holds within it the weight of Christ’s sacrifice and the holiness of God. It is no ordinary bread, no casual cup. As the apostle Paul reminds the Corinthian church, "as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes." The Supper is proclamation, commemoration, remembrance. Yes, but much more. Every time the church partakes, it preaches the Gospel—not with words, but with taste, texture, time, and trust. Every time the church partakes, it is partaking in the death of the Lord. As it is written in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” And in 2 Peter 1:4 “… by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

Christ came not just to atone for our sins, not just to fulfill prophecy and Scripture, but to heal and reconcile us. Last week we spoke of Christ as healing water turned healed blood. In that, we are healed by Christ’s blood. We, as God’s chosen, have been crucified with Christ such that we no longer live, no longer have water within us, but Christ’s blood. At the table of the Lord then, we are fully healed by Christ, having died with Him. And as we are called to be reborn of water and Spirit, from the Gospel of John, as in water first, Christ’s blood after, we are called to partake in the divine nature by Peter. We only do so by grace, a grace given to us not solely, but exceptionally at the Table of the Lord.

The Table is Christ's table, and Christ is holy. That fact should stop us short. We are not invited guests to a private party; we are summoned citizens to a royal court. In a time when casual religion is common and holy things are often stripped of awe, we need to recover a deep reverence for the things God has called holy. And few things are as holy in the Christian life as the Table where we proclaim His death.

II. The Old Testament Pattern

But, as one would do with anyone’s death, whether they lay in front of you the moment they die or are re-presented at the funeral, they are to be handled with the utmost respect. A common theme of this series has been reading each week verses from the Old Testament, New Testament, and New Testament gospels, portraying the whole, congruent story in Scripture. As today’s example, before the Upper Room, where the Institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper took place, and before the broken bread and the shared cup, the holiness of God's food was already well established in Israel's history. The last two weeks we’ve read from the Law of Moses, that taught that even meals could be holy. And in our reading today from the seventh chapter of Leviticus, the Lord gives instructions about the peace offering, part of which was shared by the offerer and the priests as a communal meal. It was an act of thanksgiving and joy. But there were conditions—grave ones.

Leviticus 7:20 reads, "But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the Lord, in his uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from his people." The issue was not just etiquette; it was purity. If a person was ceremonially unclean—whether due to contact with death, disease, or sin—and still dared to eat of the holy offering, he was to be removed from the community. This was not a light punishment. It was exclusion from the life of Israel, from the place where God dwelled among His people.

Why such severity? Because the food of the altar was not ordinary food. It belonged to the Lord. To eat what was holy in a state of uncleanness was to despise the Lord’s presence. It was to pretend that God's holiness made no demands. It was to treat His grace with contempt.

Similarly, in Numbers 18, the Lord warns the priests and Levites to handle their holy duties with care. Verse 32 says, "But you shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, so that you do not die." Again we see the seriousness of approaching holy things improperly. The holy gifts were set apart. To misuse them or take them for granted was to put one’s life in danger. God is holy, and what He sets apart for Himself cannot be treated like the rest.

These passages remind us that reverence is not optional in worship. Holiness is not decorative. It is demanded. And although we no longer serve in a temple of stone, and though our sacrifices are not bulls or goats, the principle remains. The holy must be approached with clean hands and humble hearts.

We find a similar warning in Paul’s writings in our readings today, 1 Corinthians 11:29–30 “For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.” But let us return to this later.

III. The Lord’s Supper as Fulfillment or Pre-figure of Fulfillment

Fast forward to the Upper Room. Jesus gathers His disciples for the Passover meal, a meal already heavy with holy meaning. There, in the solemnity of that night, He redefines the bread and wine—not just as symbols of deliverance from Egypt, but as signs of a greater redemption. "This is My body," He says. "This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."

Then He adds these words, recorded in Mark 14:25: "Truly I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." These are not throwaway words. Jesus is making a vow. He is consecrating the Supper not just as a remembrance but as a pledge. He refrains from the cup until the kingdom comes in fullness. What does this tell us?

First, it tells us that the Lord’s Supper is a meal with a future. It is not merely a backward glance at Calvary, though it is certainly that. It is also a forward look to the kingdom to come, the marriage supper of the Lamb, the day when Christ returns and drinks the cup anew with His bride. Every time we partake, we do so with expectation. We proclaim His death, but we do so "until He comes." There is a horizon to the meal, and that horizon is glory.

Second, this vow by Jesus reveals the gravity of the moment. He is not engaging in sentimentality. He is sealing the covenant with His own blood. The disciples are witnesses not just to a teaching, but to a transaction—the transaction of divine mercy. The bread and wine are not magical, but they are holy. They participate in the very mystery of redemption. To treat them lightly is to misunderstand the Cross.

But this enigmatic phrase, “until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” What would this be referring to? We’ve spoken before about that beautiful statement said by Christ right before he breaths his last breath on the cross, fulfilling Scripture, John 19:30 “It is finished.” But, we must view it in context with Christ’s saying earlier in John, another famous one, John 18:36 “Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.’” I think this concept, crucial for our understanding of how Christ will eventually drink anew with us, can be misunderstood without proper knowledge of the Greek.

What is being said here is not that the kingdom is not going to be this world, but that the kingdom did not originate from this world. But the gospel message is often and mostly about that participation and union in Christ—which is beautifully represented in the Eucharist—and in that Christ has brought the kingdom fully into the world when he says, “It is finished.” Thus in Acts 10 we can read from Peter Acts 10:40–41 “‘God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.’” We are now in the era of eating and drinking with Him, and in Him, when we do so in the Eucharist. So let us take it right. Drawing from the Old Testament patterns and kingdom analogy we turn to Paul’s writings to the Corinthian church.

IV. Unworthy Participation in Corinth

You see, when the apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians, he is writing to a church that had forgotten the holiness of the Table. They were still gathering, still eating the bread and drinking the cup, but something had gone terribly wrong. Their gathering had become fractured. Like the Galatians, they were fractured. The rich shamed the poor. Some ate in excess while others went hungry. The unity of the Body was ignored, and the sanctity of the Table was trampled. The Lord’s Supper had turned into pure ritual, where man performs the action rather than God, seeking self-pleasure over divine preservation.

Paul confronts them with stern words. In 1 Corinthians 11:27, he writes, "Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord." To eat in an unworthy manner is to participate in the holy meal without regard for its meaning. It is to approach with pride, with division, with irreverence. The language is shocking—"guilty of the body and the blood." That is, we do not take the Eucharist with an unwise heart and mind. Partially, this is why the bread and wine is offered to believers only—not that one should fear whether or not they are or not—for it is God that works, knows our hearts, and knows our desires. Or as Paul says a chapter before 1 Corinthians 10:21 “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” Paul is not saying they are guilty of Christ’s death in the same way as His executioners (for in fact we all are, righteous or sinner), but he is saying their irreverence makes them complicit in mocking what that death means.

This is not a matter of liturgical form. Paul is not concerned that they are using the wrong cup or standing at the wrong time. He is concerned about their hearts. Reverence is not measured by external posture but by internal alignment. Are they recognizing what the meal represents? Are they discerning the presence of Christ? Are they aware of the Body—both His crucified body and His mystical body, the church?

He continues in verse 28, "But a person must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup." The remedy is not abstention, but examination. Paul does not say, "Avoid the Table." He says, "Come rightly." The Supper is not for the sinless but for the penitent. It is not a reward for the worthy but a means of grace for the repentant. But it must be approached with discernment.

In verse 29, Paul clarifies, "For the one who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not properly recognize the body." Judgment—not because the Supper is dangerous, but because it is holy. Remember Numbers 18:34, one of our verses today from the Old Testament, do not take lightly those gifts given to God’s chosen people, which for us include baptism and the Lord’s Supper. For you risk, as Leviticus, being cut off. For God will not allow what is holy to be treated with contempt. The Corinthians’ irreverence was not harmless.

And as Paul notes in verse 30, "For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number are asleep." The consequences were physical. Some were suffering illness, and others had died. One biblical scholar wrote that this is one of the least quoted verses that carry great truth. The Eucharist did something, it worked powerfully for believers and had a negative effect for those with unbelief. This is not to say every sickness or death is due to sin, but in this case, Paul connects their judgment directly to their abuse of the Table. Biblical salvation, as I spoke about last week it’s connections to life-imagery (e.g., baptism as rebirth), also has death imagery. Do not die with both physical and spiritual death, but forego the physical (that becomes united with the spiritual) in Christ alone—who is presented to us in the Eucharistic bread and wine.

Let me call on 2 quotes from the ancient Saint Augustine on worthiness and what that means for reception of the Eucharist. First that “Recognize in the bread what hung on the cross, and in the cup what flowed from his side.” Second that “If we receive the Eucharist worthily, we become what we receive.” Thus, let us prepare for this Sunday by remembering that death, the hanging body and dripping blood. Let us not treat the elements in the Eucharist as folly nor as idolatry. Let us worthily receive so that we may become partakers in Christ as Peter says. That is the essence of the gospel, our participation and union in Christ, Christ alone.

V. A Call to Repentance and Reverence

These words are hard but necessary. We are not to panic, but we are to be sobered. Paul is not trying to frighten the church into spiritual paralysis. Rather, he is calling them to repentance. In verses 31–32, he says, "But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world."

The Lord disciplines His church because He loves her. His rebuke is not wrath but mercy. He wants a pure bride (—a common theme in the Old Testament prophetic stories), a holy people. The call to examine ourselves is not meant to drive us away from the Table, but to drive us to Christ. To judge ourselves rightly means to acknowledge our sin, to confess it, to turn from it. It means to remember the cost of the Cross and to approach the Table with humility and gratitude.

We live in a time when reverence is often replaced with casualness. Holy spaces are seen as ordinary. Holy things are reduced to aesthetic. But the Table of the Lord is not a canvas for self-expression. It is a place of surrender, where we lay down our pride and receive Christ afresh. To respect the Lord’s death means to remember what it cost Him to redeem us. It means to grieve our sin even as we rejoice in His mercy. It means to love the body, the church, and to refuse any form of division that mars our witness.

VI. Conclusion: The Meal and the Kingdom

The Eucharist is not just food. It is a pledge of divine love, a remembrance of the crucified Savior, a participation in His body and blood, and a preview of the feast to come. When Jesus said, "I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God," He was looking ahead to the consummation of all things. We should look ahead too.

But we do so with reverence. We must respect the Lord’s death—not in theory, but in practice. When we come to His Table, we must do so with clean hands, contrite hearts, and eyes fixed on the Lamb who was slain.

Let us come often. Let us come gladly. But let us never come lightly.

Lord’s Prayer and Absolution

Now let us end in community by praying the Lord’s prayer, receiving absolution in the embolism, and leaving blessed,

Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 

Almighty God we have forsaken you in thought, word, and deed. Have mercy on us, forgive us all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. In the name of the Father, who creates, and of the Son, who redeems, and of the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies and purifies us before You, Amen.

Benediction

Now as you walk out tonight, wherever that may be, remember the Lord’s blessing as we remember Him in the bread and wine,

The Lord bless you, and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine on you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance on you,

And give you peace.’ Num. 6:24-26