Sermon Tone Analysis

You might wonder what this story has to do with communion, or with the coming of our Lord, which we celebrate at Christmas.

I hope to show how it relates in this message.

A problem arose when my schedule at the automotive parts house conflicted with my schedule at the Dairy Queen.

Since my father was not skilled in automotive parts and repairs, he volunteered to substitute by delivering the Dilly Bars for me.

Now you must understand that my father was the principal of a small elementary school, as well as a teacher.

It was pretty humbling for him to drive that Cushman scooter around town selling Dilly Bars to little children, while fending off the neighborhood dogs.

One day, it became even more humbling for my father.

A woman walked up to purchase a Dilly Bar, and as she approached the Cushman scooter, she recognized my father.

The surprise on her face was obvious.

My father recognized her as well – she was the wife of one of his school board members.

Fortunately, my father saw the humor in it all, as he quickly said to the woman, “Care to help a boy through college?”

You might wonder what this story has to do with communion, or with the coming of our Lord, which we celebrate at Christmas.

I hope to show how it relates in this message.

There are some who believe that the elements – the bread and the wine (or grape juice) – which we partake at Communion are more than symbols.

They believe that in some mystical way the bread and the wine actually become the body and the blood of our Lord.

I wonder if one reason this view is appealing is that the elements would seem too common otherwise.

On the other hand, we believe that the bread and the wine are symbols.

I would like to suggest that these symbols are very significant and meaningful, if we rightly understand them.

I will focus primarily on the bread, which we partake at Communion, because I believe this symbolizes our Lord’s incarnation.

I would like to draw your attention to two ways in which the Communion bread symbolizes the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1.

It symbolizes the fact that our Lord was born without sin.

No one else in history can make this claim, not even a great man like King David.

It is David who wrote,

).1

And yet our Lord could say,

And yet our Lord could say,

“Who among you can prove me guilty of any sin?

If I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me?” (

There is a very important reason why our Lord must be born without sin.

You will remember that in the Old Testament the Jews were instructed that they could only sacrifice animals “without spot or blemish”:

There is a very important reason why our Lord must be born without sin.

You will remember that in the Old Testament the Jews were instructed that they could only sacrifice animals “without spot or blemish”:

17 The Lord spoke to Moses: 18 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man from the house of Israel or from the foreigners in Israel presents his offering for any of the votive or freewill offerings which they present to the Lord as a burnt offering, 19 if it is to be acceptable for your benefit it must be a flawless male from the cattle, sheep, or goats.

20 You must not present anything that has a flaw, because it will not be acceptable for your benefit.

21 If a man presents a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord for a special votive offering or for a freewill offering from the herd or the flock, it must be flawless to be acceptable; it must have no flaw.

22 “‘You must not present to the Lord something blind, or with a broken bone, or mutilated, or with a running sore, or with a festering eruption, or with a feverish rash.

You must not give any of these as a gift on the altar to the Lord”

, emphasis mine).2

The Passover lamb had to be without blemish (), and this was clearly a picture of the Messiah (Jesus) who was to come.

The Passover lamb had to be without blemish (), and this was clearly a picture of the Messiah (Jesus) who was to come.

18 You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed – not by perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ

, emphasis mine).

, emphasis mine).

Jesus was not born with a sin nature, like all of us were.

He was born free from all sin.

Jesus was not born with a sin nature, like all of us were.

He was born free from all sin.

Satan did his best to tempt our Lord to sin, but he failed, and our Lord Jesus prevailed (; ).

It was because Jesus was without sin that He could take our sin upon Himself, bear the punishment we deserve, and thus provide salvation for all who will believe in Him:

Satan did his best to tempt our Lord to sin, but he failed, and our Lord Jesus prevailed (; ).

It was because Jesus was without sin that He could take our sin upon Himself, bear the punishment we deserve, and thus provide salvation for all who will believe in Him:

).

The Apostle Paul put it this way:

The Apostle Paul put it this way:

17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away – look, what is new has come!

18 And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

19 In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation.

20 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us.

We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!” 21 God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God (

, emphasis mine.)

When we celebrate Communion, the bread which we partake is unleavened bread.

It has no yeast in it, because yeast is a symbol of sin.

Concerning this the Apostle Paul wrote:

The writer to the Hebrews wrote this:

11 But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come.

He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, 12 and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption.

13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our consciences from dead works to worship the living God (, emphasis mine).

James reminds us that God cannot be tempted by sin.

Since our Lord Jesus is God, He cannot be tempted by sin:

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one (, emphasis mine).

The Apostle Peter strongly maintains the sinlessness of our Lord Jesus Christ, which enabled Him to die in our place, suffering the penalty for our sins:

21 For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps.

22 He committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth.

23 When he was maligned, he did not answer back; when he suffered, he threatened no retaliation, but committed himself to God who judges justly.

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness.

By his wounds you were healed.

25 For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls (, emphasis mine).

When we celebrate Communion, the bread which we partake is unleavened bread.

It has no yeast in it, because yeast is a symbol of sin.

Concerning this the Apostle Paul wrote:

6 Your boasting is not good.

Don’t you know that a little yeast affects the whole batch of dough?

7 Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough – you are, in fact, without yeast.

For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

8 So then, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of vice and evil, but with the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth ().

After the celebration of Passover (when the Passover lamb was sacrificed and eaten), the Feast of Unleavened Bread began, lasting for a week.

Jewish families would search through the entire house, looking for any leaven and putting it outside if they found any.

The sacrifice of the Passover Lamb was to result in the removal of leaven.

Paul draws upon this symbolism when he deals with immorality that is practiced – and condoned – in the church at Corinth.

Paul reminds them and us that Jesus was the Passover Lamb, and that since He has been sacrificed, we should not tolerate sin.

Christ was sinless, and He died for our sins.

Thus, we should put sin away from us because of Jesus.

From this, we should recognize that the Messiah (Jesus) must be without sin, so that He can die for the sins of others, rather than for His own sins.

In this way, God can forgive our sins on the basis of what Jesus has done for us.

But how could Jesus enter this world without sin when every other person ever born has been born as a sinner?

The solution is the virgin birth of Jesus.

Our celebration of Christmas reminds us how Jesus could come to earth as both God and man and yet be without sin.

Mary was the mother of Jesus, but Joseph was not the father.

It was the Holy Spirit who made Mary pregnant.

The virgin birth meant that the baby Jesus was born without sin.

It meant that He, and only He, could be the Messiah.

He could die for our sins because He had no sin of His own.