Lord's Supper
Notes
Transcript
14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.
15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.
18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took 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.”
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
A Time of Remembrance
A Time of Remembrance
Yesterday, we were able to go to mom and dad’s and spend some time with them. Three generations back on the farm, enjoying a meal, picking up potatoes, pumpkins, and Indian corn. While there, we went through some of the things of my grandparents, choosing what items we wanted. There were so many memories, as I looked at those things. The cream pitcher, the cookie cutters, the crystal cake plate. It got my mind to thinking, what about the butter churn? It’s still behind the stove in the place it’s been ever since I was small. It brought back the memories of sitting on my grandma’s lap as I tried my best to church butter, barely even stirring the milk with the dasher. The butter molds, with the leaf and one with an acorn pattern. The old iron, where I have heard the stories of scorching clothes when they got too hot on the stove. The thought of grandma’s biscuits or cornbread on the stove, the family favorites that would be prepared for our meals. And it seemed we always had plenty of leftovers of our favorites (shuck beans, mustard greens, or cream cheese filled chocolate cupcakes) we had to take back with us when we were in college. Memories. Regardless of how long they’ve been gone the memories still remain. They bring back a remembrance of simpler times, a time that I wouldn’t mind going back to at times.
But it is those precious memories that keep us connected to people, places, and events that have shaped us and influenced our lives. We may wish we could forget some things, but even the unpleasant times in life can offer lasting lessons learned through adversity.
At the Last Supper Jesus shared a meal with His disciples and then led them in the observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or Passover. Jesus, the Master Teacher, used this opportunity to plant an important memory in His disciples gathered in that upper room. Jesus shared this meal for their benefit and for ours. As Jesus raised the bread and the cup in thanksgiving, He added new significance to this ancient ritual. Luke 22 records that Jesus told His disciples to observe the Passover "in remembrance of me."
Historically, the Passover refers back to the time when God delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage. He had pronounced judgment, the taking of the firstborn, upon the people of Egypt for their injustices. As He prepared to execute the final judgment, those who believed God were instructed to slay a pure lamb and sprinkle its blood over the door posts of their homes. The blood of the innocent lamb would then serve as a sign that the coming judgment had already been carried out upon the sacrificial lamb. When seeing the blood, God would pass over that house. Those who believed God applied the blood to their homes and were saved, but those who did not believe did not apply the blood to their homes, and they were destroyed.
Symbolically, the Passover pictured the coming of Jesus Christ as the Savior. The lamb without blemish pictured His sinless life (see Jn. 1:29), and the blood sprinkled on the door posts pictured His blood shed for the believer. It was a sign that the life and blood of the innocent lamb had been substituted for the firstborn. The “eating of the lamb” pictured the need for spiritual nourishment gained by feeding on Christ, the Bread of Life. The unleavened bread (bread without yeast) pictured the need for putting evil out of one’s life and household.
In addition to the lamb and unleavened bread, the Jewish Passover Feast was celebrated by using four food and drink items. (1) A bowl of salt water was conspicuously placed on the table to remind the family of the tears shed by their forefathers in their 430 years of Egyptian bondage. (2) A bitter salad-like plate was to remind them of their forefather’s bitter experiences of slavery. (3) A paste-like mixture of fruit (charosheth) with cinnamon sticks was to remind them of their forefather’s toil in making bricks from clay and straw for the Egyptian cities and buildings. (4) Four cups of wine were used to remind them of God’s four promises in Ex. 6:6–8 to deliver their forefathers from Egyptian slavery.
6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’ ”
Bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery.
Redeem you with outstretched arms and with great acts of judgment.
Take you to be my people, and I will be your God.
Bring you into the promised land.
The one thing to be noted about the Passover celebration is that it is all historical. It is celebrating an act of the past, whereas the Lord’s Supper is much more than mere history. It is a celebration of the living Christ in the heart and life of the believer until He returns. It is a remembrance of the potential power of the living Christ within the life of the believer right now—an explosive power that is made possible through the cross.
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Jesus took an old symbol and filled it with new meaning. The meaning of Jesus' words and actions is rooted in His command to remember. As today's disciples, we observe the Lord's Supper in remembrance of Christ. Some congregations refer to this ordinance as the Memorial Supper to highlight the significance of Christ's atoning work on the cross and to call believers to remember His sacrificial death. Others call it Communion to highlight the believer's intimacy with Christ. Whatever we call this observance, one thing is clear: It is clearly a time to us to remember the sacrifice Christ made for a sinner like me.
A Time of Reflection
A Time of Reflection
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.
28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
Please understand, the Lord’s Supper (Communion) is a time where Christians can reflect on what Christ has done in their lives, the same as the remembrance of the Israelites when they reflected back on the release from Egyptian bondage. But in this celebration should come a time of serious reflection. There were clearly some concerns Paul had with the believers within the church of Corinth.
18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,
The church was divided in spirit.
19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
The church was divided in it’s beliefs, they had made self-chosen doctrines and were divided among the body in cliques.
20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.
They had deceived themselves. They were coming to the Lord’s Supper as a meal, not as a remembrance.
21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk.
Some were eating a full “supper” at the time of remembrance, while others got nothing and some got a “snoot full” of wine.
22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
They were irreverent and did not uphold the sanctity of the church. They had forgotten the reverence when approaching the table for the Lord’s Supper. It was a time of remembrance, not celebration. Very frankly, the above list seems to indicate that having sin within one’s heart and life is what is meant by partaking unworthily. Certainly, if we eat the bread and drink the cup with un-confessed sin in our hearts and lives, how can we be counted worthy? We are not righteous on our own, so the only time we could be counted worthy would be when we are walking in constant fellowship with Him. And constant fellowship means actively thinking upon and talking with Him through confession, repentance, praise, and request.
There are three consequences of participating in the Lord’s Supper unworthily (with un-confessed sin in our heart and life).
We become guilty of the Lord’s death. We are held accountable as we sin against God Himself. By taking the Lord’s Supper with unrepented sins, we insult Christ, we offend Christ, and we view Christ’s death as meaningless.
We condemn ourselves if we do not repent of unconfessed sins before partaking. By taking part in the Lord’s Supper, we assume those at the table are believers, so it is not the condemnation of hell we should be concerned with. What it does mean is we do not see the holiness of communion, and treat it like any other piece of bread or any other cup of juice. If we thought about our unrepented, unconfessed sins, we would recognize the irreverence in our actions. It’s like coming to the table with dirty hands, except we approach God’s table with a dirty heart.
We risk God’s discipline. As a matter of fact, Paul points out because of the Corinthians disobedience, he had to punish them - including through sickness and death. I think at times we forget God is a loving Father who will discipline His children in love, he doesn’t want to see His child hurt or damaged by sin, He strives or repentance and confession, and He takes action when our sin affects our testimony and may choose to take us home.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
It appeared some of the Corinthian believers were so deep in sin, and were un-repentant to the point God took some of them home to be with Him. These verses are a severe warning that our unrepentant sins may also result in death for believers.
Appeal to A Sinner
Appeal to A Sinner
20 When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve.
21 And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
22 And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?”
23 He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me.
24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”
The Lord’s Supper was used as an appeal to a sinner. Christ used the occasion of the Supper to appeal to Judas. He gave Judas a last chance to repent of his sin. Christ revealed the sin and the treachery of Judas. It was a shock, for the Lord said the betrayer was a disciple: “One of you shall betray me” (v.21). It was treachery and deception. Judas had tried to hide his sin, and he had done a good job. No one knew about his plot, not even the disciples, his closest associates. But Jesus knew.
The apostles were so disturbed they became burdened themselves, asking “is it I”.
If we are still at a point in our life that we ask the question “Is it I, God”? We still have a repentant heart. Judas had no intention of repenting, and deceived himself and the apostles when he took of the Lord’s Supper while at the same time plotting the most terrible of sins, a direct betrayal of Christ. Jesus knew the fate of Judas, even knowing what His own terrible fate would be. Even with this in mind, Christ was more concerned over Judas and gave him a final chance to repent.
In these passages, I wanted to remind us all here today that God has given Christians a promise just as He did the Israelites. One day, we believers will be able to walk into our promised land - heaven. I want us to think back on the remembrance of Christ and what He did for each and every one of us as sinners. We may refer to ourselves as believers, and rightly so, but I also think a better term for us is “Forgiven Sinners”, you see we aren’t any better than anyone else, but because we have a Savior that loves us we can be forgiven of those sins. Last, we want to extend the love and mercy of Christ to everyone. Someone here today may remember a day they walked an aisle, or got wet in a baptistry, but may struggle with salvation. They may have tricked themselves into thinking everything is okay. Today, we will take a moment of pause, a time of reflection, a time of repentance before we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
Pause for Reflection
Call up deacons to prepare communion table.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Prayer
Ask for those who wish to partake to stand and come forward as I finish.
The meaning of the bread: note the exact words of Christ. “This is my body, which is for you.” Take note of the word “is.” The word has the meaning of representing or identifying as well as of substance. When Jesus instructed the disciples to “take, eat,” He was standing there. He even partook of the bread Himself. Certainly in that instance the bread was only representing or symbolizing His body.
Likewise, in passing the cup, Jesus did not say, “This is my blood.” He said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” The idea is that the old covenant of the Old Testament is being set aside and God is establishing a new covenant with His people. The basis of the new covenant is the blood of Jesus Christ, not the blood of bulls and goats.
The words “which is broken for you” refer to the death, the bruising, and the suffering of Christ. Note the words “for you.” The word for (huper) points to the substitutionary nature of Jesus’ death. He died for us, as our substitute. “This do in remembrance of me.” This means much more than just recalling the death of Christ. It means to actively stir up one’s mind and to meditate upon the person of Jesus Christ. Christ says to remember me, not just one aspect of His Person and work. The believer is to actively meditate upon Christ.
“Do this, as often as you drink it” Christ, very simply, told His followers to do as He was doing in celebrating His supper: set a time aside, take the cup, bless it, and drink of it.
“In remembrance of me.” This is repeated to stress the point that the Lord’s Supper has one purpose and only one purpose: to focus attention upon the Lord. The Lord’s people are to center their minds upon Him and Him alone.
30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Dismiss - Blessed Be The Tie