Ceremonies are very valuable in every culture.
We just had a ceremony inaugurating our new President.
Whether you wanted to or not, you participated because your President changed.
Whether the situation causes you to do a little Trump dance or wish you had the previous President’s memory doesn’t really matter.
It still happened.
On the other hand, your wedding ceremony is different.
I certainly hope that you were a full participant.
And I also sure hope that you remember the significance of your wedding ceremony.
Well, we’re not necessarily supposed to remember the ceremony as much as what it represents.
That should make you feel better if you don’t recall your vows word-for-word.
But I sure hope you remember what you generally promised in your vows.
This morning, we’re looking at the ceremony of the Lord’s Supper
Title: Receive and Remember
The Lord’s Supper represents what we are to receive and remember.
To be Christians means to receive what Jesus has done in His death and resurrection to count for you.
What MAKES you a Christian is God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in you.
What we are to remember with the Lord’s Supper is what it symbolizes.
And that is the breaking of Jesus’ body and the spilling of His blood.
So Let’s learn from Jesus in Matthew 26:26-29
· 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.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 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 a government official presents a symbol of an organization, the weight of the organization is present.
It might be an Police Dept. detective showing His badge.
Or it could be walking into a field office with the FBI insignia hanging on the wall.
The idea is that the symbol communicates that the full authority and backing of that institution is represented.
The bread and cup of the Lord’s Supper are also symbols of something greater.
They represent the willing, sacrifice of the Son of God as a substitute for those who trust in Him for salvation.
As we learn about what we are receiving and remembering, I want to first encourage you to -
RECEIVE THE BREAD AS JESUS’ BODY, BROKEN FOR YOU.
· 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.”
At some point during the Passover meal, Jesus took the customary bread and gave the customary blessing,
“Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”
But Jesus tacked on a statement that would forever transform the Passover meal into the Lord’s Supper.
In this moment, He spoke of His body as having been brought forth to meet man’s need for salvation.
[Factoid]
At some point in the development of the celebration of Passover, there were three pieces of Matza included.
Some scholars attribute this to Jews who became Christians with the pieces representing the Trinity.
The 2nd of the pieces was always broken in two.
The 1st would be divided among those eating the meal.
And the other piece would be hidden to be found later by the children and enjoyed as dessert.
The reason why it’s thought that this aspect was added by Jewish Christians is due to the obvious reference to the life of Christ and His Return.
Of course, Jesus would go on to voluntarily have His body broken.
And this would all take place as the Passover lambs were still being sacrificed in the temple.
As we’ll learn in the coming weeks, Jesus would be physically mistreated form His arrest to His death
He’ll be struck, whipped, have His beard ripped out of the His face, receive a crown of thorns shoved onto His head, be nailed to a tree, be pierced through His stilled heart, and finally have His body removed as an inconvenience to the self-righteousness of His murderers.
I don’t’ know about you.
But I think that describing His body as being “broken” for us is appropriate.
We have a saying that is meant to express how strongly we oppose something.
We say it’ll happen “over dead body!”
What we mean is that we plan to die rather than to let something happen.
Jesus is telling His disciples that He plans to die in order to make sure something happens.
Our redemption will happen over Jesus’ dead body - as a necessity.
In celebrating the Lord’s Supper we are recognizing that our salvation is made possible “over Jesus’ dead body.”
?- Are we receiving the actual body of Christ? - no
We’re remembering the physical act of sacrifice that Jesus accomplished in His body at a point in history.
?- Is Jesus presnt in a special way in our celebration of the Lord’s Supper? - Yes, I think so.
Just as He promises His presence when His followers gather in His name.
He’s present in a special way in communion just as the Lord promises to inhabit the praise of His people.
Application Question:
?- How does it strike you that Jesus’ body was so brutalized to pay the penalty of your sin?
As we receive what is meant in the elements of the Lord’s Supper and Remember Jesus’ sacrifice, I encourage you to -
RECEIVE THE CUP AS JESUS’ BLOOD, POURED OUT FOR YOU.
· 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew describes Jesus as taking one of the four cups used in the Passover meal.
He puts a new spin on it’s meaning as He hands it to be passed around.
this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
These words are overflowing meaning for the Jewish mind.
We can make statements that can communicate volumes of history within just a few words.
Someone might say,
“This is a ‘We the People’ moment in which we need to put our John Hancock on a Hoosier Bill of Rights so that we’ll have D-Day type success rather than to experience our own Custer’s Last Stand.”
Most of us have similar understandings of each of the phrases in my statement
In a similar way, each one of Jesus’ phrases are full of significance, pointing to Him as Messiah and what His sacrifice will accomplish.
The loaded sentence is found in v. 28 which Jesus added to the traditional cup aspect of the meal
this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins
With the phrase my blood of the covenant, Jesus is speaking of his blood as -
THE BLOOD OF THE NEW COVENANT
The Old Covenant of the Mosaic Law was also inaugurated with blood
We can read about this in -
* Exodus 24:7–8 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 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.”
Obviously, Jesus is referring to the wine figuratively as the Blood of the covenant
It didn’t magically become blood, just as nothing magic happens with the juice that we use.
In the next phrase, Jesus is speaking of his blood as -
THE BLOOD OF THE SUFFERING SERVANT
He describes this figurative blood as being Poured out
This phrase would’ve caused Isaiah 53’s statement about the suffering servant to come to their minds.
* Isaiah 53:12 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
This Suffering Servant was known to be an aspect of the Messiah who would come and bring salvation.
Jesus is pointing to the pouring out of His blood as being the fulfillment of this prophecy.
There’s a real big difference between someone pouring themselves out and pouring out their blood.
Jesus’ fulfillment of this prophecy is going above and beyond what anyone expected.
But no one expected the Messiah to bring total forgiveness of sin.
So, everything that Jesus is bringing together in Himself is more amazing than anticipated.
And their all the more amazing that they’re all fulfilled in one person.
Lastly, Jesus is speaking of his blood as bringing this total forgiveness in -
THE BLOOD THAT REMOVES OFFENSE
Jesus says that His blood which inaugurates a new covenant is for the forgiveness of sins
This would bring their thinking full-circle to the New Covenant that was promised in -
* Jeremiah 31:31, 34 31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
with this new covenant, is the promise of a new heart for God’s people
* Ezekiel 36:26–27 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Before this moment, the Passover was a shared experience of the special community of the people of God.
With the creation of the Lord’s Supper, we became a people who are united in our identifying with the broken body and spilt blood of Jesus.
We’re told in the Old Testament that “without the shedding of blood, there’s no forgiveness of sins.”
This is because the wages of sin (what’s deserved) is death.
So, something or someone needed to die to pay the penalty of our sins.
As Hebrews 9 tells us about the special nature of Christ’s sacrifice.
* Hebrews 9:11–14 11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
The fact is that it required the sacrifice of the almighty God to secure forgiveness for all people.
And it took the sacrifice of the eternal almighty to supply redemption for all people of all time.
Like Israel who God made into a nation by His covenant and the giving of the Law, we’re made into the people of God by His new covenant
And we identify with the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.
As Paul states in -
* 1 Corinthians 10:16–17 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
Just as the Passover meal allowed the nation of Israel to identify as one people under God, Christians are one body together under the cup and bread of the Lord’s Supper.
Blood is significant in virtually all cultures
Arabic people have a saying, "Blood cannot be bought."
It means “True effort and sacrifice cannot be faked or purchased.”
There’s a Russian saying, "Without blood, there is no victory."
Germans have said, "Blood is the price of fame/glory."
The French statement is, "It takes blood to write history."
In other words, great historical events are often marked by struggle and sacrifice.
Italians have been known to say, "Spilled blood is not forgotten."
Blood is significant in every culture.
Human blood is more significant especially if it means the loss of a person’s life.
The God-Man’s blood (Jesus’ blood) being spilt to His death is an event that we should never move past.
Illus - [LaSalle Crucifix]
On LaSalle Avenue North of Moody, there’s a statue of Jesus on the cross.
Below it is a question that’s easy to miss - “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by”
?- Is this true though? - “Is it nothing to us as we come to the communion table?”
My hope is that this time that ‘we’re spending in Matthew 26 will help this not to be true when we celebrate communion.
If you know Christ as Your Savior…
?- How often are you reminded of the covenant that you live in with God because of Jesus’ sacrifice?
?- Can you think of some sins that you’re glad are covered because Jesus poured out His blood for you? J
If you don’t know Christ as Your Savior…
?- Are you prepared to pay your own penalty for your sin - death?
Lastly, I hope that I can encourage you from Jesus’ words to -
Receive Jesus’ Invitation to Live for His Father’s Kingdom.
· 29 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.”
With the specifics given of Jesus’s death, the mood must’ve been somber for His disciples.
Jesus wasn’t just explaining what was going to happen to Him, He was explaining why it must happen.
It would open the doors to the Kingdom of God
This is also represented by His death tearing the curtain of the temple,
- showing the Holy of Holies is open to all who approach by the blood of Jesus
In the gospel of John, Jesus is recorded as turning the corner with -
* John 14:1–3 1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Rather than leaving their time on a down note, Jesus shares what we have to look forward to.
Our being made one body in the cup of the new covenant doesn’t just make us a part of a new fellowship.
It means that we will be with Jesus in heaven and at God’s next inaugural feast.
* Revelation 19:9b “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
And we aren’t just told that we’ll be there but that Jesus will be there drinking from His cup with us.
He’s looking forwar to that day when He lifts His cup with His followers again.
What do you look forward to when you’re invited to a wedding? - seeing the joy?
What do you look forward to when you’re invited to a grad party? - congratulating the young man or woman?
What do you look forward to when you’re invited to a Indy 500 cookout? - cornhole with family and friends, catching up?
Let’s admit that most of us look also forward to the food at all of these events.
J- If for any of these you’d look forward to the booze, you need to repent.
We’ve been invited to the wedding of Jesus and His church
Yes, those who trust Christ as Savior are the bride.
We’re looking forward to the Wedding feast.
We’re looking forward to the inauguration of the Savior of the World sitting on His eternal throne.
Application Question:
?- How would you describe how often you think of your future home with Christ in His Father’s Kingdom?
a. Not all that much because I figure now’s the time to think about now.
b. Usually when something breaks down.
c. I regularly long to be with Jesus.
Matthew 26 isn’t the only place were we can learn about the Lord’s Supper.
As an Apostle, Paul received specific revelation from God regarding the Lord’s Supper.
He tells us in -
* 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 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.
It's important that we participate in the Lord’s Supper not because everyone else is doing it or as a ritual.
We’re to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of who Jesus is and the significance of His sacrific
