The Table That Tells Our Story

Introduction

Kids Table to Adult Table

Do you remember the first time you were moved from the kids table to the adult table?

It felt like belonging, like an invitation into something meaningful.

Many of us have a table in our lives, that is special. Maybe you have that table now.

Maybe you have a table that you could say could “tell your families story.”

Today we have no kids table and adult table — one table in Christ.

A Long History of God Gathering His People at a Table

Many examples in the Old Testament.

Abraham’s table — God visiting His friend

Exodus 24 — elders eating in God’s presence

Most significant to us is the Passover table: a lamb, a substitute, a rescue, a reminder that God came near to His people

Year after year the families gathered to remember deliverance.

There is one table still before us — the future table in Revelation.

Revelation 19:9 “9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”

A table not of rescue but of reunion.

Not a table of shadows but of fulfillment.

Not a table of waiting but of wedding joy.

This is the table where all God’s redeemed will sit with their Savior.

Between the Passover table and the future table stands the Lord’s Supper.

The Last Supper or the Lord’s Supper

Jesus sits at a Passover table full of history and shows how He will be the fulfillment.

He breaks bread.

He lifts the cup.

He speaks new words over this traditional meal.

John the Youngest at the Table

Likely 16–18 years old.

Close enough to hear the bread crack and the cup lifted.

That night shaped his life — and decades later he explains its meaning in 1 John 4.9–10.

Bible Reading

1 John 4:9–10 (KJV)

9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

This table tells the story of a God who came close when our sin kept us far, and who gave His life so desperate sinners like us could be brought back to Him.

1. The table reminds us that we sit here because God came near.

1 John 4:9 “9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”

A. God revealed Himself because we were blind to Him.

Jesus is “the life manifested” making God visible to those who could not see. 1 John 1:2 “2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)”

We did not discover God; God came near and showed Himself.

The bread in your hand tells you God stepped into flesh so we would not miss Him.

B. God moved toward us because sin kept us far from Him.

“The Father bestowed love upon us” (1 John 3.1) long before we moved toward Him.

Sin pushed us away; grace pulled us close.

This cup declares that love pursued the guilty, not the deserving.

C. God invited us because He longed for fellowship with a people who could not reach Him.

God did not wait for us to climb up; He came down.

The table is God saying, “Come to Me — I made the way.”

We sit here today because love initiated what sinners could never accomplish.

We should sit here today overwhelmed by His love.

When God comes to us, it is not because we sought Him, but because His love would not let Him stay away. - Spurgeon

Transition: As we hold the cup and the bread remember, we are only at this table because God came toward us first. We accepted His invitation to this table.

2. The table reminds us Jesus had to leave the table to address the world’s greatest need, our need for forgiveness.

1 John 4:9 “9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”

A. Jesus left the table knowing forgiveness was our deepest need.

Israel faced political oppression, Roman injustice, religious corruption, and cultural tension.

But none of those problems were greater than the problem within — sin that demanded forgiveness.

Jesus left the comfort of the table because forgiveness could not be served until sacrifice was made.

B. Jesus left the fellowship of the Table to confront sin personally.

He walked out of the upper room knowing Gethsemane, betrayal, and arrest were waiting.

He walked toward the cross because sin could not be ignored, softened, or negotiated.

This bread and cup tell us forgiveness required a journey from table to garden to trial to cross.

C. The table reminds us that nothing in this world has ever mattered more than the forgiveness Christ came to secure.

Man’s deepest problem is sin, and unless that be dealt with, all else is of no value or importance. / Like arranging the chairs on the sinking Titanic.

Jesus did not come to fix Israel’s politics; He came to save their souls.

The table tells us that forgiveness is the greatest need of every sinner in every generation.

“He who has slight thoughts of sin never had great thoughts of God.” — John Owen

Transition: As we hold the cup and the bread remember, Jesus left the table so He could make forgiveness possible.

3. The table reminds us Jesus went to the cross to die in our place.

1 John 4:10 “10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

A. The One who broke the bread would soon have His body broken.

From table to Gethsemane — where His sweat became as drops of blood.

From Gethsemane to a criminal trial — where He was mocked, beaten, crowned.

From a malicious crowd to a bloody cross — where the body represented by the bread was torn for us.

B. The One who lifted the cup would soon pour out His blood.

From cup of fellowship to cup of suffering — “Father, let this cup pass from Me.”

From the table of love to the hill of judgment — where blood ran down wood and stone.

The cup in your hand points to the cup He drank so we could drink forgiveness today.

C. The table reminds us that the cross was substitution — Jesus in our place, for our sin, bearing our judgment.

“He is the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4.10)

The Lamb slain so sinners could be saved.

Bread and cup preach the same message: He died the death we deserved so we could live the life He gives.

This table reminds us of how far sin would go in its hatred and how far God would go in His love.

Transition: As you hold the bread and cup, remember they tell the story of a Savior who died in your place.

Before we continue. I want to give you time to reflect upon the cross. This table tells the story of a God who came close when our sin kept us far, and who gave His life so desperate sinners like us could be brought back to Him.

Please read with me before I pray. 1 John 4:9–10 “9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Prayer before Bible reading and Lord’s Supper. Musicians will play and give a time of reflection.

CONCLUSION

During the Passover meal, God’s people traditionally read and sang from Psalms 113 through 118.

These were the worship songs Jesus Himself would have sung with His disciples on the night of the Last Supper.

Let’s hear a portion of what they would have read and sung together.

Psalm 116:1–2 “1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. 2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.”

Psalm 116:12–14 “12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? 13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. 14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.”

Psalm 118:14–17 “14 The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. 15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. 16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. 17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.”

Psalm 118:22–24 “22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. 23 This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. 24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Psalm 118:27 “27 God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.”

Now the disciples would have sat there with Jesus after having sung this words.

His hands break the bread that pictures His body.

His voice offers the cup that pictures His blood.

The betrayal is already underway.

The garden is already waiting.

The cross is only hours away.

Now we turn from the psalms Jesus sang to the words John wrote explaining what that sacrifice accomplished

1 John 1:7 “7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

1 John 2:1–2 “1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

1 John 3:16 “16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

1 John 4:18 “18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

1 John 5:11–12 “11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

The Lord’s Supper

Pastor Beau

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

Prayer Eat together

Pastor Greg

Matthew 26:27–28 “27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

Prayer Drink together

Closing

As you pass your cups to the end to be received we will stand and sing together.

Matthew 26:30 “30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”