Will You Drink From His Cup? - Matthew 26:26-29 - May 29, 2011
Turn with me, in your Bibles please, to the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew chapter 26 and we’ll begin reading in verse 26. The verses we’re about to read take place at the tail end of the last Passover that Jesus and His disciples shared together before He was betrayed and crucified.
From our own Passover celebration last year many of you will remember bits and pieces of what would have taken place there that night. You’ll remember the part the matzah – the unleavened bread – and the cups of drink - played during the course of that meal. Those are the images that ought to be in your mind as we read these verses. So let’s begin … Matthew 26, beginning in verse 26 …
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 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 of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:26-29)
It’s about 15 years ago now since I sat in the front room of Heather’s parent’s place and had a heart to heart talk with her dad. I remember it very clearly because it wasn’t an easy conversation to have. You see, I was there to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage, and, while my heart was beating a mile a minute, I didn’t appreciate going into that conversation, just how difficult it would be for her father as well. Here was this young man, whom, in reality, he hardly knew at all, asking for his permission to marry his daughter. As I thought about it later I think he was even more nervous than I was when he realized where the conversation was heading. And now, with two daughters of my own, I can understand in a whole new way, what he must have been going through that day!
At the time, though, I couldn’t appreciate what he must have been contemplating as the conversation developed, so I just dove right in and told him how I felt about Heather, how I wanted the two of us to build a future together. I told him how much I loved her and of how we were good for each other and how I would do my best by her. Eventually I finished saying my bit and I waited, somewhat apprehensively, for his response. A lot was riding on what he would say next.
To my great joy, and immense relief, he gave a tentative ‘yes.’ I say, “tentative,” because then we got into the really difficult part of the conversation as we began the hard work of negotiating the bridal price. I knew that if we couldn’t come to some sort of agreement on what I would be able to pay for his daughter, all of my heart felt words would have been for nothing. So we held nothing back - money, assets, manual labour – anything and everything was on the table until we had arrived at a price we both agreed upon. Then, and only when we had agreed upon a price, would Heather and I be able to become engaged and begin to plan for a wedding. ….
Now judging by the looks on some of your faces, I take it that’s not quite how it worked out in your marriages? And ladies, before you start throwing things at me let me confess that that’s not quite how it worked out in mine either! Everything I shared with you was - true right up to the point where Heather’s dad and I began to work out the bridal price. I shared that little scenario with you though because that is something like what would have taken place in Jesus’ day, and if we want to get the full impact of our Scripture passages this morning, we need to understand a little bit about Jewish wedding customs of that time.
And that’s often how it is. The Word of God, while timeless, does not stand outside of time. It is written to real people, in a language they understood, taking into account all of their customs as a people. So, because our culture is far different than theirs was, we tend to miss some of the subtle nuances that the people of Jesus’ day would have picked up on right away, and which add to our understanding of God’s Word. That’s why I appreciate so much the DVD lessons that Ray Vanderlaan has put together and which we’re using in both the Sunday School class and the Bible Study that I lead. Mr. Vanderlaan opens up the Scriptures in light of the customs of the day in which they were written and much of what I’m about to share with you, comes from that, and was new to me when we first saw it in our class a couple of months ago as well. So I’m going to give you a little background this morning just before we go deeper into the Scriptures so that we can better understand the enormity of what is taking place here.
When it came to getting married in Jesus’ day there was a certain sequence of events that needed to take place. First, the young man, often accompanied by his father, would journey to the young woman’s house and sit with her, and her father. The young man would state his desire to take the woman as his wife and then a bridal price would be negotiated. The prospective bride’s father would ask much because his daughter was precious to him.
When a price was finally agreed upon the groom’s father would take and pour a cup of wine and hand it to his son. His son, in turn, would take that cup and hold it out to the woman he hoped to marry, saying, “This cup I offer to you.” That was his way of saying, “I love you and I offer you all that I have to give – I offer you my life.”
Now at that point that young woman had to make a decision. She could either refuse the cup or she could take and drink from it. To drink from it was to enter into a binding covenant and to tie her life to that of he from whom she took the cup. If she took, and drank from the cup, she was accepting his proposal. In effect she was saying, “I accept your life and I give you mine in return.”
At that point the couple was, in the language of our day, engaged to one another. But unlike in our day, the engagement was binding. The only way to break it off was to get a divorce. That’s how serious this commitment was. So the moment the woman took the cup that was offered, and drank from it, she was binding herself to that man. They were committing their lives to one another.
Now, even though they had pledged themselves to one another, it would often be about a year, before that couple was actually married. During that time the man had to go and build a house, often attached to his father’s house, for he and his bride to live in. The bride to be would use that time to get ready for her marriage.
Now, when all was ready, and at a time unknown to the bride, the groom would come to her father’s house. He would not enter the dwelling, nor would he knock at the door. Instead, he would call out with a loud shout calling his bride to come to him. She always had to be ready for she never knew the day nor the hour at which he would come for her. Upon hearing his shout, she would drop what she was doing, and put on her wedding clothes, and go out to meet him. At that point they would be married and after the marriage was consummated this fact would be announced to the guests and a 7 day wedding feast would be held.
Now that’s the background that’s going to help us understand our Scripture passage this morning because Jesus, as He ate the Passover with His disciples, is going to change things up and give new meaning to that celebration.
Now you might remember that during the Passover there were four cups of wine that were drunk. Each cup represented something different. The 3rd cup represented redemption. It was the cup of salvation and it was drunk near the end of the meal. The man who was leading the Passover would take the cup and give thanks, or offer the blessing saying, “Blessed are you O Lord, King of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.” Then everyone present would take their cups and drink along with the one who was leading them.
That’s what Jesus did that night as well except he changed it up on them. He did something completely new and unexpected. Look back to Matthew 26, verse 27 …
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28)
Jesus took this 3rd cup, the Cup of Redemption / The Cup of Salvation, gave thanks for it saying, “Blessed are you O Lord, King of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.” Then the NIV says he offered it to them, and invited them all to drink from it saying, “This is my blood of the covenant.”
Suddenly, Jesus is doing a new thing. This ceremony of remembrance has turned into something more. An offer is being made. A proposal is being given. A covenant is being established. Jesus is holding the cup out to them, as young man would to a young woman to whom he wanted to be married, in effect saying, “I love you. I offer you My life. I offer you this covenant, written in my life blood, by which you may have forgiveness of your sins. Will you accept it? Will you join your life with Mine?”
Folks, there is a reason the church is called the “bride of Christ” again and again throughout the pages of the New Testament. As the disciples drank from that cup that was offered to them, and as we drink from the cup even today, they were saying, and we will say again as we have many times in the past, “I accept Your life and I give you mine in return! I will join my life, my future, my everything, with Yours! I will enter into this covenant with You. I will be, as it were, Your bride.”
Now, I want you to notice a few things here. Number 1 … Jesus offers us the cup. He offers us His life but He never forces us to drink from it or to receive Him. Just like the prospective bride we have the ability to refuse the cup, to reject the covenant, to continue in our sins and to go our own way and many people do just that. But beyond that Scripture tells us this, Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12) With those who receive Him he establishes the New Covenant written in His blood. A covenant by which our sins are exchanged for His righteousness, a covenant by which we are forgiven, a covenant by which we are born into the kingdom of God, a covenant by which we are made new creations, a covenant by which we enter into our salvation, a covenant in which His life is given for us, and by which our lives, are given to Him.
The second thing I want us to understand is that Jesus paid the Bride Price in His Blood. That’s how precious you are to God. That’s how much He loves you – that He would give His own Son that you might be redeemed from the penalty of your sin and enter into eternal life with Him. The Bibles tells us that “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Bought by what? By the precious blood of Jesus. In the 5th chapter of the book of Revelation we get a glimpse of the throne room of Heaven and the living creatures and the 24 elders that are talked about there, they fall down before the Lamb of God in worship declaring, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10) You have been bought at a price.
The third thing I want to draw your attention to this morning is this: Just as the groom would go to prepare a place for his bride at his father’s house, so too has Jesus gone to prepare a home for you in His Father’s house. In the Gospel of John, Jesus comforts us with these words … “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:1-2)
At the time that the woman drank from the cup that was being offered to her some sign of the covenant they were entering into would be given. Often it was something like a ring. It would be a seal reminding them of their covenant until that time when they could come together and be married. It was a sign of the man’s commitment to return and to call his bride to him and to do life together with her.
At the moment you received Christ you also received a similar sign that seals the covenant and reminds you that you are spoken for. 2 Corinthians 1:22 tells us that God has “set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Corinthians 1:22)
Which leads us to our fourth point because the Holy Spirit is the seal guaranteeing that Jesus will come again to call you to His side. Remember how I said the groom would stand outside the bride’s dwelling place and with a loud shout invite her to join him? Well Scripture says that when Jesus returns to call us to His side that He will do it with a loud shout as well. “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
Folks, the groom is coming for His bride, and like the brides in Jesus’ day, we need to be ready! Despite what you might have heard some people preaching recently, we do not know the day nor the hour when Christ will return. We only know that He will. And when He does we want to be ready because not everyone will be called to His side on that day; only those who are in Christ. Many have rejected Him, many have never received Him. He is not coming for these for they do not have salvation and the Spirit of God has not been set in their hearts. Nor is He even coming for all who call themselves by His name. In Matthew, chapter 7, we are reminded that Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23) So like the brides of yesterday we must take this time until Jesus returns to ensure that we are ready, and to proclaim His coming again to others, that they too may make themselves ready for His appearing.
Now, in Luke’s account of the Passover Jesus is recorded as saying to His disciples, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:15) Jesus knows the horror that lies ahead, so why is He eager? He’s eager to enter into the covenant with His bride, to give His life for her, that she may find her life in Him. He’s eager for the wedding banquet to come when He and His bride, which is the Church, can rejoice in what God has done. And He’s eager to share it with you.
In a few moments we’re going to share the elements that remind us of that night – of the new covenant that Jesus was making – and the cup of His life that He offers to each one of us. To drink of that cup is to say, “I accept your life. I receive your gift and I give you my life in return.”
So the only question remains is this: Will you drink of the cup that is being offered to you? It is the cup of salvation, the cup of the covenant, the cup of the bridegroom and it’s being extended to you. Literally drinking this cup does not bring you salvation but it is a reminder of that which does. To drink of this cup today is to acknowledge once again the salvation and the hope we have in Jesus; His commitment to us and our commitment to Him. His life for us; our life for Him.
So if the servers will come forward at this time we will have a moment of prayer …
Friends, as the elements are being served I invite you to consider what you’ve heard today as you watch the closing minutes of this video clip and listen to the words of this beautiful song. The video will finish before the serving is done. Use the time that remains to give thanks to God in your hearts.
[Elements are served – bread and cups. Start video as servers begin to server ….]
“In remembrance of Christ and in anticipation of His coming again let us eat and drink.”
Close in prayer.
