Matthew 26:26-29: In Remembrance of Me: The Celebration of the Lord’s Supper

Scripture Reading

John 6:53–57 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.”

Intro

What are we doing when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper?

We do it here almost every single week as part of our weekly worship, but is it actually worship or are we just going through the motions?

The Lord’s Supper… along with baptism… is one of two ordinances Christ has given to the church and just like baptism… it is foundational for the Christian Life and worship of the Church but many Christians don’t know why or how?

We know the Lord’s Supper is important… we know its necessary… we know its worship…

But for many of us… our theology of the Lord’s Supper doesn’t get much higher than a mid-church snack… a weekly ritual… something we just do without much thought and with little fire… or love… or worship.

I hope to fix that.

Over the next few weeks I hope to make the Lord’s Supper meaningful for you.

I want to do a deep dive on the Lord’s Supper and all the spiritual blessings and benefits Christ has given us in it as we rightly practice it and receive it with faith.

I want to answer the question why is the Lord’s Supper so important for you and in doing so hopefully help you… and us as a church… receive all the spiritual benefits of the Lord’s Supper and worship the Lord rightly in it.

I want to help take the Lord’s Supper from ritual to worship to help grow and nourish your faith in the Lord.

To help you stop just going through the motions and to make the Lord’s Supper as meaningful and essential for you as prayer… singing… and the preaching of the Word.

Let’s start with point number 1 and the institution of the Lord’s Supper with What is the Lord’s Supper? in Matthew 26.

I. What is the Lord’s Supper?

Matthew 26:26–29 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

To remind you of the context its the night Jesus is going to be betrayed.

The next day He would be taken away to be crucified and offer His life as a sacrifice for the sins of His people.

And in the background of all this is the Passover.

The celebration of God’s People of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt… the Exodus.

Their bringing out… there redemption.

And Christ uses the Passover Meal… the meal of the Old Covenant to Celebrate God’s redemption and salvation… to institute the Lord’s Supper… the meal of the New Covenant to celebrate the fullness of God’s redemption and Salvation in Jesus Christ.

In fact in Luke Jesus said I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you (Luke 22:15).

So the Lord’s Supper reveals Christ as a New Exodus… a New Deliverance from slavery to sin and death into the Promise Land of Eternal Life.

And in the Lord’s Supper Jesus took bread and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said Take eat; this is my body.

And He took the cup and said Drink of it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant poured out for you (Luke 22:20)… poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Definition/Big Idea

So Theologically… the Lord’s Supper is a Remembrance of Christ’s Suffering and Death and Celebration of the Salvation and Deliverance we have in Him.

That’s the Big Picture of what we are doing in the Lord’s Supper.

Remembering His death and Celebrating and Feasting on His Grace and Life.

Communion?

Sometimes it is called Communion.

And that’s because in the right partaking of this ordinance… in other words something ordained or instituted by the Lord… we have a real fellowship and communion with Christ and share in all the benefits He has purchased for us…

Grace

Forgiveness

Adoption

Justification.

Similar to the Preaching of the Word where … in a sense… when we hear with faith we hear from Christ… Christ meets with us in the Lord’s Supper… and draws near to us with all His graces and benefits afresh.

That there is a real spiritual presence and fellowship with Christ in the Supper and when taken rightly a real participation and spiritual enjoyment in all the graces that are in Him.

Sacrament vs. Ordinance

This is why sometimes you’ll also hear the Lord’s Supper… and baptism for that matter… referred as a sacrament.

Now we Protestants start to get a little nervous when you use that term sacrament because we usually associate the word sacrament with the Catholic Church which generally sees the sacraments like the Lord’s Supper giving or bestowing grace in themselves.

In a reaction to this many Protestants look at the Lord’s Supper as merely a memorial… a spiritual remembrance of Christ.

That its nothing more than a reminder of His sacrificial death.

But the Reformed Tradition does see the Lord’s Supper as a Sacrament in terms that it is a means of grace.

Now we will get into this in more detail in another sermon… but the Lord’s Supper does convey a real spiritual benefit to the believer… not in and of itself… but in Christ when the Lord’s Supper is taken in and with faith.

It is Christ who gives spiritual blessing and benefit… not the Supper.

But the Supper is the delivery method of that spiritual blessing.

That’s what we mean when we say the Lord’s Supper is a means of Grace.

It doesn’t save just like baptism doesn’t save but it does nourish and grow our faith in our remembrance of the Lord.

Prayer/Preaching Example

Think of it like this everyone would say prayer is a means of grace.

It is a delivery system God has instituted to help you grow in spiritual power… spiritual change… spiritual strength… (Barcellos, Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace, Introduction).

Prayer is how you tap into God’s wisdom and ask for grace and help.

Prayer strengthens and nourishes you.

That’s all we mean when we say the Lord’s Supper is a means of grace.

It is a God instituted means by which we are nourished and strengthened in our faith.

Think about preaching.

Is there any doubt that the Word helps you grow in your faith or brings real spiritual benefit in your life?

Its a means of grace.

And going back to that example of preaching we used earlier… it is only spiritually beneficial for you when it is received with faith.

Preaching has no value for you in an of itself.

Without faith you might hear but they are only dead words.

They don’t spiritually benefit you… strengthen you… bring grace to you as a means of grace.

So it is with the Lord’s Supper.

When it is received with faith it is a means of grace in your life.

It… like preaching and prayer… is one of the ways God strengthens you… feeds you… nourishes you… helps you grow in your love, faith, and dependance on Jesus Christ.

This is why the Baptist Catechism in Question 101 on What is the Lord’s Supper? says…

The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the New Testament, instituted by Jesus Christ… [where] worthy receivers are, not after a corporeal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace.

So… in this way… the Lord’s Supper can rightly be called either an ordinance or a sacrament of the Church.

Both were used by our Reformed Baptists forefathers in the 17th century who helped compose the 1689 London Baptist Confession despite the Catholic understanding of the term…

And the difference would be that they would use ordinance to emphasize the Lord’s Supper as something that was ordained and commanded by Christ… something that we are commanded to practice and instituted by Jesus for the good and blessing of the church…

And Sacrament refers to the function of the Lord’s Supper as a means of grace… specifically a means of grace that spiritually nourishes, strengthens, and feeds the one who partakes in faith.

(Barcellos, Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace, Introduction footnote 5).

Symbols

And what Christ has given to strengthen and nourish our faith are the symbols of bread and wine… bread and the cup… saying Do this in remembrance of me (Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthians 11:24-26).

He said “Take, eat; this is my body”… and He took a cup and gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant.”

Against Transubstantiation

Now as good Protestants we do need to take a moment and talk about what it means when Christ says This is my body and This is my blood because the Catholics have taken these words to say that in the Supper the bread and wine are miraculously transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ.

This is called the Catholic Doctrine of Transubstantiation.

Where the bread and wine still have the appearance of bread and wine and still taste like bread and wine but the substance of the elements are miraculously transformed into the physical body and blood of Christ.

In this way there is a re-sacrifice of Christ where Christ is re-offered up to God for the forgiveness of sins (Sproul, What is the Lord’s Supper, 57)..

These are their own words…

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church its says “As often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which ‘Christ our Pasch has been sacrificed’ is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out.”

“The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist [that’s what they call the Lord’s Supper] are one single sacrifice”

“In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner.’”

(Catechism of the Catholic Church (Liguori, MO: Liguori Publications, 1994), 343, 344; cited in Footnote 19, Chanski, Dave. “Of the Lord’s Supper.” In A New Exposition of the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, edited by Rob Ventura, 497–519. Ross-shire, Scotland: Mentor, 2022, 504).

The Council of Trent… the governing belief of the Catholic Church… says “This sacrifice [of the mass] is truly propitiatory … both for the living and the dead.”

(Council of Trent (1562), 22nd Session, Chapter II, cited in ibid).

Now what this does is lead to idolatry and violation of the second commandment because the elements of the Lord’s Supper and then elevated and adored in the Catholic Church.

One Roman Catholic, David Currie, says “We treat them as we would treat God, because that is what they are.”

(David B. Currie, Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1996), 40 cited in Richard D. Phillips, What Is the Lord’s Supper?, Basics of the Reformed Faith (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2005), 15).

Now we of course object to all this because Christ was sacrificed once and for all for the full atonement for sin.

His once for all sacrifice made perfect… complete atonement.

He said it is finished (John 19:30)..

Hebrews 10:10 And by that will [God’s will and purpose for our redemption] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

The London Baptist 1689 Confession says…

1689 30: 2 In this ordinance, Christ is not offered up to His Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sin of the quick or dead, but only a memorial of that one offering up of Himself by Himself upon the cross, once for all; and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same.

So it is a spiritual sacrifice of praise to God for Christ’s once for all spiritual sacrifice, but its not an actual sacrifice for any kind of forgiveness of sins.

It preaches forgiveness!

The confession continues…

So that the popish sacrifice of the mass, as they call it, is most abominable, injurious to Christ’s own sacrifice the alone propitiation for all the sins of the elect.

Then in Paragraph 6…

1689 30:6 That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine, into the substance of Christ’s body and blood, commonly called transubstantiation, by consecration of a priest, or by any other way, is repugnant not to Scripture alone,9 but even to common sense and reason, overthroweth the nature of the ordinance, and hath been, and is, the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries.

You might think of that the next time you consider or are invited to attend a Catholic Mass.

Practical Arguments Against

Now the reason they believe all that is because Christ said This is my body.

Is means is.

But like the Confession says this goes against Scripture and common reason.

Wine

For example Christ’s own words in this passage deny the Doctrine of Transubstantiation because after saying This is my blood, He says I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom (Matthew 26:29).

He calls the cup the fruit of the vine saying that even after His words the wine remained wine.

Bread

Also when Christ broke bread and gave it to them His body was still physically there.

The disciples sitting in the room with Him would have known immediately what Jesus meant.

This represents my body… this is a symbol of my body.

They would have never imagined the bread becoming physically the body of Jesus.

This is my body in the same way as I am the door… I am the Vine… I am the light of the world… I am the bread.

The bread represents Jesus body and the wine represents Jesus’ blood.

Denial of Humanity

Not to mention to say that Christ is physically and bodily present in the Supper every time we practice it would deny the humanity and divinity of Jesus in the hypostatic union.

That He is both truly and fully God and truly and fully man and as such our one true Mediator and sacrifice who alone can offer His life as a sacrifice in our place for our sins.

Again the 1689 chapter 8 paragraph 2 on Christ the Mediator…

1689 8:2 The Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God, the brightness of the Father’s glory, of one substance and equal with him who made the world, who upholdeth and governeth all things he hath made, did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon him man’s nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities [that is weakness and limitations] thereof, yet without sin…

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so that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion; which person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man.

Without conversion, composition, or confusion of the two…

In other words without converting one into the other or mixing them together to produce some kind of mixture of a GodMan.

In His humanity Christ is not omnipresent… He’s not everywhere at once.

He can’t be… that one of the limitations of being a man.

So how can His human body be everywhere all over the world in the Mass.

Transubstantiation destroys and mixes Christ human and divine natures.

In a way… it denies the incarnation.

Why?

Now why does this matter.

Why spend so much time going against Catholic doctrine?

None of us are Catholic.

Young Men

Well for one the Catholic Church is growing particularly among young men who are disenfranchised by the world crumbling around them and so are looking for meaning and purpose in going back to tradition going back to the old ways…something stable in a crumbling world… but its not sound doctrine.

Forgiveness

The other reason is because of what a true doctrine of the Lord’s Supper means for you.

The Lord’s Supper proclaims that you are actually… once for all… forgiven in Christ.

That God remembers your sins no more (Hebrews 8:12).

They are removed as far from you as the east is from the west and drowned in the sea (Psalm 103:12, Micah 7:19).

The Heidelberg Catechism… one of the great catechisms of the Reformation summarizing and teaching the Protestant Faith from 1563 says in Questions 80…

80. What difference is there between the Lord’s Supper and the popish Mass?

The Lord’s Supper testifies to us that we have a full pardon of all sin by the only sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which He Himself has once accomplished on the cross; and that we by the Holy Ghost are ingrafted into Christ,…

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but the Mass teaches that the living and dead have not the pardon of sins through the sufferings of Christ, unless Christ is also daily offered for them by the priests; and further, that Christ is bodily under the form of bread and wine, and therefore is to be worshipped in them; so that the Mass, at bottom, is nothing else than a denial of the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ, and an accursed idolatry.

The Lord’s Supper… when rightly practiced and rightly understood… was given by Christ to be a reminder and a testimony that your sins are once for all forgiven in Christ to be a comfort and peace for your soul.

So the Bread and the Cup remind and proclaim to us the grace we have in Christ.

That as sure as we hold the bread and the cup in our hands we hold His body and blood by faith…

And in His body and His blood… the full forgiveness of our sin.

That’s what the Lord’s Supper is all about.

The Lord’s Supper is a Remembrance of Christ’s Suffering and Death and Celebration of the Salvation we have in Him.

Its a picture of the Gospel… Atonement… Grace.

We are remembering Christ laying down His life and celebrating His mercy, forgiveness, and grace.

II. The Lord’s Supper Remembers Christ and His Death

With His Crucifixion looming… Jesus said Do this in remembrance of me… and He gives the bread and the cup.

Matthew 26:26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

In Luke Jesus said, “This is my body which is given for you” (Luke 22:19).

Corinthians says broken for you (1 Corinthians 11:24).

Given and broken for you together highlight Christ’s voluntary sacrifice and death.

He gave His life for you.

He came not to be served… but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

The broken bread reminds us that Christ was broken for us.

Not one of His bones was broken in fulfillment of prophecy but He was pierced for our transgressions… crushed for our iniquities… upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace (Psalm 22:17; Isaiah 53:5).

Christ was broken… crushed under God’s wrath because we broke God’s Law.

So in the bread we are to see the death our sins deserved… How Christ suffered in the flesh and in the flesh suffered all the wrath of God for our sins.

He said I am the Bread of Life!

For You

And in that “for you” there is a reminder that Christ’s grace is a personal gift.

He loved you.

He died for you.

He took your place under the wrath of God.

This is my body given for you… Christ gave Himself for you… laid down His life for you.

He loved you and died for you by Name.

In John 10 Jesus said I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

And John 10:3 the Shepherd Calls His sheep and he calls his own sheep by name.

Christ’s grace is a personal grace.

Paul said in Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who… what?…

Loved me! and Gave himself for me!

That is the grace we celebrate in the Lord’s Supper.

Cup

Verse 27…

Matthew 26:27–28 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

That word poured out is sacrificial language.

Christ’s blood is an atoning sacrifice.

Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death…

Leviticus 17:11 The life of the flesh is in the blood…

Therefore Hebrews 9:22 Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

The many are those who believe and trust in Christ which is why we limit the Supper to believers who have been baptized and are members of a Gospel Preaching Church because only the church by baptism and church membership has the keys of the Kingdom to proclaim the forgiveness of sins and to recognize who is forgiven (Matthew 16:18-19, 18:18-20)

Christ did not die for everyone… He died for His sheep and only the sheep are welcomed to the table to feast with the Lord.

And in the same way as the bread… in Luke Jesus says this Cup is poured out… for you (Luke 22:20).

Jesus poured out His blood on the Altar of the cross to atone for… your sin.

All your sin…

Big ones… the little ones…

The ones your most ashamed of… the secret ones that no one knows…

All your sins were atoned for on that cross

Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath…

Remember how He said Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me (Luke 22:42).

The Cup of foaming wine, well mixed… (Psalm 75:8).

Full of fire, sulfur and scorching wind that he pours out… all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs. (Psalm 11:6, 75:8).

That’s the cup Christ drank on our behalf so that we could drink… this cup… the cup of the Lord’s forgiveness full mercy and kindness and grace.

Its a cup of His own blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Thomas Watson says in these words are all the blessings of salvation… Justification, adoption, glory… love, joy, peace… reconciliation with God… Eternal Life.

He says the Lord’s Supper is the Feast of the Cross (Watson, The Lord’s Supper, 16).

Its a Feast of Christ and all the blessings and benefits of His Saving Death.

And in this way the Lord’s Supper is not just a remembrance of Christ’s Death…

Its a celebration of all His saving grace.

And that’s point number 3…

III. The Lord’s Supper Celebrates Christ’s Saving Grace

Matthew 26:27–29 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

When Christ says I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom that is a promise of Victory… Resurrection… and Perseverance.

Christ would conquer the grave and He would save His people to the end.

Not one would be lost but all would receive the fullness of their inheritance.

But here’s what I really want you to see.

He says this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

That’s the New Covenant… the Covenant of Grace ratified and sealed with Christ’s own blood.

Old Covenant Blood

What’s really interesting is when Moses ratified the Old Covenant of the Law… Remember the Lord’s Supper is against the background Passover and God’s deliverance of His people out of Egypt… Moses used similar language to Jesus in Exodus 24:8.

Exodus 24:8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.

Under the Old Covenant this blood represented a curse that would fall on the people for violating it.

The wages of sin is death… your blood will be shed.

But in inaugurating the New Covenant Christ points to His blood fulfillment of the curse and the wrath of God satisfied once and for all.

This is my blood of the Covenant.

Not just the blood of bulls and goats… Christ’s own blood!

The Eternal Son of God made flesh pouring out and shedding His own blood for the forgiveness of our sins and opening and ratifying and sealing all the promises of the New Covenant.

Hebrews 8:10–12 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. [We will be reconciled to God and have full communion with Him] For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.

This is what we Celebrate in the Lord’s Supper.

All the blessings of the Covenant.

The fullness of grace and forgiveness in the death of Jesus Christ.

Giving Thanks

That’s why its a meal of giving thanks.

Matthew 26:27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them…

That word thanks is Eucharisteo.

You here in that word Eucharist… what the Catholics call the Lord’s Supper.

Now the Catholics have taken and perverted that word but we should not let that take away what it means for us.

In the Lord’s Supper we are remembering Christ’ death and giving thanks to God for our salvation in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Remembering and Celebrating.

That’s what we are doing in the Lord’s Supper.

And its not some ritual.

Its not just going through the motions.

Its not remembering like some mental or intellectual exercise.

Its an all of heart… all of mind… all of soul remembering.

We are to remember and celebrate in a way that the inner man is stirred up to love and thank our Savior.

Its a spiritual feeding… a spiritual remembering of the sacrifice and grace of Christ.

We don’t just eat the bread and drink the cup…

We eat and drink by faith and with faith… spiritually feed on the body and blood of Christ.

All the blessings and all benefits He has purchased for us in the New Covenant to save us from our sins.

Let’s Pray