Date: 11-3-02
Title: The Lord’s Supper
Bible Text: Matthew 26:26-30
Intro: What is the Lord’s Supper really all about? Do we fully understand what this monthly ritual we participate in is supposed to mean? Or do we just do the Lord’s Supper because, well, because that is what a person does at church? It’s…it’s tradition!
I read this week of a small-town church in upstate New York. They’d had a pastor in that church for over thirty-five years. He was loved by the church and the community. After he retired, he was replaced by a young pastor. It was his first church; he had a great desire to do well. He had been at the church several weeks when he began to perceive that the people were upset at him. He was troubled.
Eventually he called aside one of the lay leaders of the church and said, "I don’t know what’s wrong, but I have a feeling that there’s something wrong."
The man said, "Well, pastor, that’s true. I hate to say it, but it’s the way you do the Communion service."
"The way I do the Communion service? What do you mean?"
"Well, it’s not so much what you do as what you leave out."
"I don’t think I leave out anything from the Communion service."
"Oh yes, you do. Just before our previous pastor distributed and administered the cup and wine to the people, he’d always go over and touch the radiator. And, then, he would--"
"Touch the radiator? I never heard of that liturgical tradition."
So the younger man called the former pastor. He said, "I haven’t even been here a month, and I’m in trouble."
"In trouble? Why?" Asked his predecessor.
"Well, it’s something to do with touching the radiator. Could that be possible? Did you do that?"
"Oh yes, I did. Always before I distributed the cup to the people, I touched the radiator to discharge the static electricity so I wouldn’t shock them."
So, for over thirty-five years, the people of his congregation had thought that touching the radiator was a part of the holy tradition. I have to tell you that church has now gained the name, "The Church of the Holy Radiator."
The truth is, we, as God’s people, can find ourselves doing things just because we have always done them that way. Well, I want to take some time today to look into God’s Word and see what it has to say about the Lord’s Supper and why we do it.
In this simple meal that Jesus celebrated with His disciples we find some revealing truths.
Background of Matt. 26: Jesus was alone in the upper room with the eleven faithful disciples. He transformed the Passover of the OT covenant into the Lord’s Supper of the New Covenant.
Passover was the oldest of Jewish festivals, older than the covenant with Moses on Mt. Sinai. It was established before the priesthood, the tabernacle, or the Law. It was ordained by God while Israel was still enslaved in Egypt and it had been celebrated by His people for some 1500 years.
It should be noted, however, that the Passover Jesus was now concluding with His disciples was the last divinely sanctioned Passover ever to be observed. No Passover celebration after that night Jesus spent with His disciples has been anything more than a wonderful time of remembrance. Remembering God’s rescue.
As Jesus and the disciples come to this last meal they would have together. We need to try to comprehend the context of what has happened. Jesus has been teaching and preaching at a feverish pace. Everything is starting to take on a feeling of urgency. Jesus has preached the Gospel and the people were getting it. They were beginning to follow Him.
The problem was that the people were following Him for some wrong reasons. They saw Him as a food ticket, a potential political savior, a wise and gifted teacher.
The religious leaders saw Him as a trouble maker who was cutting in on their turf. He was winning the hearts of the people who used to hang on their every word.
Jesus tried to warn the disciples several times. Even here in Matt. 26:6ff Jesus speaks of His upcoming separation from the disciples. This all leads us to this last meal that Jesus had with His disciples. Jesus knew it was to be His last and He wants to institute a new way for them to think about this meal. What used to be a yearly Passover meal to celebrate God’s deliverance of His chosen people out of Egypt, now would become a celebration meal that Jesus, God’s own Son, who would pay the price for us to enter into and grow in a personal relationship with God. Jesus took us from a remembrance of God’s rescue from slavery in Egypt to remembrance of our rescue from the slavery of sin into a eternal relationship with God.
I. The Directive Is That All Believers Should Participate In The Lord’s Supper. (26:26a,27)
A. The Lord’s Supper involved the breaking of bread.
1. It is not certain as to what part of the meal they were eating at this time.
a) We do know, obviously, that the meal was still in progress.
b) This was not an extra aspect of the meal tacked on at the end.
c) We also can note that while the Passover meal is much longer than our Lord’s Supper, Jesus really was focusing on this last part of the meal.
2. What we see is that Jesus took this old covenantal religious practice and made it new.
a) He instituted a new memorial in the midst of the Old.
b) He took God’s People from celebrating their rescue to their new relationship.
3. It tells us here that Jesus took some bread and offered a blessing of thanks to His heavenly Father.
a) Jesus always did this before eating. (Matt. 14:19;15:36)
b) This is an example for us as we stop and give thanks before we eat.
4. The unleavened bread was baked in large, flat, crisp loaves.
a) Jesus broke them into pieces before He gave it to His disciples.
b) Then He gave them the instructions to take and eat.
5. The fact that He broke the bread does not symbolize a broken body.
a) John makes it clear that, in fulfillment of prophecy, “not a bone of Him shall be broken” (John 19:36; cf. Ps. 34:20)
b) The same thing is true of the original Passover lamb that was sacrificed.
c) Not a single bone of that lamb was to be broken. (Ex. 12:46)
Trans: So, the Lord’s Supper centers around the bread representing the body of Jesus given, sacrificed for us.
B. The Lord’s Supper Involved drinking from the cup.
1. Jesus took the cup and gave thanks saying, “drink from it, all of you.”
a) The Greek verb behind our English words “given thanks” is eucharisteo.
b) It is from that term that we get the term Eucharist as the Lord’s Supper is sometimes called.
2. As would be expected, all eleven disciples drank of it. (Mark 14:23)
a) It should be noted that the practice of some churches and denominations to not allow the entire congregation to participate in the cup is in direct contradiction of Jesus’ explicit directive.
b) It also goes against the obedient example of the disciples as well as the later teaching by the Apostle Paul. (1Cor. 10:16,21;11:28)
3. These two acts of Jesus were normal features of a Passover meal, in which unleavened bread was eaten and diluted wine was drunk at several points in the meal. This was probably the third cup, the cup called the “cup of blessing”
C. The Lord’s Supper is for all believers. (1Cor. 11:27-29)
1. It didn’t take long for the Lord’s Supper celebration to become nothing more than a mindless ritual in the church.
a) Even as early as 55 years after Jesus had been crucified this young church was already making the Lord’s Supper nothing more than another reason for a feast, a party!
b) The true meaning of what the Lord’s Supper was to be had been lost!
2. The Apostle Paul gives us some direction here in 1 Cor. In that he states that some key components about the attitude we must have to approach the Lord’s Supper correctly.
ILL. I read this week of a woman’s daughter Kathy usually stays in children’s church on Sunday mornings, but one Sunday she went with her parents to the regular adult service. When Communion was served, she turned to her mother and whispered loudly, "The snack in children’s church is much better. And we get a lot more juice." No, the proper attitude to participate is more than a “snack time” attitude.
3. Verse 27 tells us that to participate in this meal in an unworthy manner is to sin against the work of Jesus on the cross.
a) It belittles what Jesus has done for us.
b) It mocks Jesus and makes light of this wonderful thing He has done for us.
4. Verse 28 says that the person who partakes of this Lord’s Supper must do so by first examining their heart.
a) Now some have seen this to mean that we are to reflect on our sinful nature and sins we have committed.
b) Possibly refraining from taking the bread and the cup because we are just too sinful this month.
ILL. Old Doctor John Duncan taught Hebrew in Edinburgh long ago. He was sitting one day at the Communion in a church, a Highland church, and he was feeling so personally unworthy that when the elements came ’round, he felt he couldn’t take them. He allowed the bread and wine to pass. As he was sitting there feeling absolutely miserable, he noticed a girl in the congregation whom, when the bread and wine came ’round, also allowed them to pass, and then broke down into tears. That sight seemed to bring back to the old saint the truth he had forgotten. And in a carrying whisper that could be heard across the church, he was heard to say, "Take it, lassie, take it. It’s meant for sinners." And he himself partook.
c) While confessing our sin surely would not be wrong, it is not what Paul is getting at here.
d) It doesn’t even say that if you are at odds with someone you shouldn’t participate.
5. Sin does not disqualify us from participating in the Lord’s Supper.
a) Actually, just the opposite is true.
b) Sin is a prerequisite – the only people who are allowed to take the Lord’s Supper are those who are willing to admit they are sinful.
6. What Paul is urging here for us to do is found in verse 29 and says that the person who partakes must be someone who believes that Jesus bodily existed and that the elements of the Lord’s Supper represent His work on the cross.
a) In other words, a believer!
b) Someone who believes that Jesus is who He claimed to be!
c) Any other view of Jesus… and the person drinks judgment on themselves.
7. So, we must be careful of what we are doing when it comes to communion.
a) Only believers are to participate.
b) Only believers that are aware of their sin and are burdened by it and thankful for what Jesus has done.
c) Only believers that see the elements of the Lord’s Supper for what they truly are- symbols of Jesus’ body and blood, given for us to know God!
d) Clearly, we are to examine our hearts and reflect on our view of the Lord’s Supper and if we find that the Lord’s Supper is nothing more than a snack time, then we should not participate.
Trans: So, we see that the directive is that we are to break bread and drink from the cup. This practice is for all believers who have examined their hearts.
II. The Doctrine The Lord’s Supper Symbolizes Is Our Salvation. (26:26b,28)
A. The bread represents the body of Jesus given for us.
1. Breaking the unleavened bread was a normal part of the traditional Passover ceremony.
2. But Jesus now gave it an entirely new meaning, saying, "This is My body."
a) The original unleavened bread symbolized severance from the old life in Egypt, carrying nothing of its pagan and oppressive "leaven” into the Promised Land.
b) It represented a separation from worldliness and sin and the beginning of a new life of holiness and godliness.
3. By His divine authority, Jesus transformed that symbolism into another.
a) From that point on the bread would represent Christ’s own body, sacrificed for the salvation of men.
b) Luke reports that Jesus added, "given for you; do this in remembrance of Me" (22:19), indicating He was instituting a memorial of His sacrificial death for His followers to observe.
4. In saying the bread is His body, Jesus obviously was not speaking literally.
a) A similarly foolish misunderstanding already had caused the Pharisees to ridicule Him and many superficial disciples to desert Him (see John 6:48-66).
b) It is the same misunderstanding reflected in the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.
c) That literalistic notion that the bread literally turns into Jesus body is an absurd misinterpretation of Scripture and makes us cannibals.
5. Jesus’ statement about eating His body was no more literal than His saying He is the Vine and His followers are the branches (John 15:5) or than John the Baptist’s calling Him the Lamb of God (John 1:29).
B. The cup represents the blood of Jesus shed for us.
1. As the disciples drank of the cup Jesus said, "This is My blood of the covenant."
a) From Luke we learn that the Lord specified "new covenant" (22:20),
b) Clearly this distinguishes this covenant from all previous covenants, including the covenant that Moses had received from God.
2. The importance of blood in making a covenant is clearly seen in Scripture.
a) When God made covenants with Noah and Abraham, those covenants were ratified with blood (Gen. 8:20; 15:9-10).
b) When the covenant at Sinai was ratified, "Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, ’Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words’" (Ex. 24:8).
3. When God brought reconciliation with Himself, the price was always blood, because "without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Heb. 9:22; 1 Pet- 1:2).
4. Jesus therefore did not simply have to die but had to shed His precious blood (1 Pet. 1:19).
a) Although He did not bleed to death, Jesus bled both before He died and as He died--from the wounds of the crown of thorns, from the lacerations of the scourging, and from the nail holes in His hands and feet.
b) After He was dead, a great volume of His blood poured out from the spear thrust in His side.
5. Obviously there was nothing in the chemistry of Christ’s blood that saves people.
a) The shedding of His blood was required and it symbolized His atoning death.
b) His death made relationship with God possible.
c) The giving of His unblemished, pure, and righteous life for the corrupt, depraved, and wholly sinful lives of humanity.
6. That blood made forgiveness for the sins of all mankind, Gentile as well as Jew who place their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
a) The many includes those who trusted in God before Christ died as well as those who have and will trust in Him after His death.
b) Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and every other true believer who lived before Christ, was saved by Christ’s death on that cross, just the same as believers who died after the fact.
III. The Duration Of The Lord’s Supper Being Celebrated Is Forever. (26:29)
A. The Lord’s Supper is a remembrance.
1. Theological debate has been varied over the centuries.
a) Some Christians felt that the wine became the literal blood of Jesus and the bread his literal body.
b) This is called transubstantiation.
c) Some felt that the presence of Jesus was present around the Lord’s Supper elements so strongly that Jesus was present in the act of celebrating the Lord’s Supper. This is called consubstantiation.
2. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial, a remembrance
a) Just like the Passover meal which Jesus changed into the Lord’s Supper for us was a remembrance meal for the Jews to remember how God had rescued them.
b) The Lord’s Supper is a memorial, it was commanded by Jesus so as to help us remember what Jesus has done for us.
B. The Lord’s Supper is a new remembrance of redemption that the Lord will honor forever.
1. The Lord’s Supper began at the upper room.
2. Jesus said that He would not drink of the “Fruit of the vine”
a) This expression was a common Jewish colloquialism for wine, which Jesus told the disciples He would not drink with them again until that day when He would drink it new with them in His Father’s kingdom.
3. He had instructed them to remember Him in the eating of the unleavened bread, which represents His sacrificed body, and in the drinking of the cup, which represents His shed blood as a sacrifice for sin. "Do this," He said, "as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me" (1 Cor. 11:25).
4. That memorial was to continue until that day in His Father’s kingdom.
5. The Lord’s promise to drink with the disciples in that future kingdom was another assurance to them of His return, an assurance that would take on intensified meaning after His death, resurrection, and ascension. "When I return to establish My kingdom" He promised them, "you will all be there and you will all drink the cup new with Me."
6. In other words, the Lord’s Supper not only is a reminder of our Lord’s sacrifice for our sins but also a reminder of His promise to return and share His kingdom blessings with us.
7. From those words we learn that the end of this present age does not signal the end of this observance.
Conclusion: The supper concluded with the singing of a hymn, probably Psalm 118, the last psalm of the Hallel. Then they went out to the Mount of Olives, where Jesus would pray fervently to His Father, be betrayed by Judas, and be arrested by the officers of the chief priests and elders.
Some days test our sense of humor. A bread loaf ... used to stand on the Communion table. ... It had been kneaded from real flour and baked with a mom’s loving touch in a red-hot oven, only to be lacquered into permanent staleness to preside for more than a decade over many a celebration of the Eucharist.
One day, without warning, it vanished, ... to be replaced by wheat spikes in a vase--hardly what we usually think of as the bread of life. The bread loaf, it seems, was a casualty of an overconscientious visiting preacher. In the middle of a Communion service, according to reliable sources, the preacher mistakenly took the mummified bread with both hands, blessed it in the ancient tradition. ... Yielding to two hundred pounds of preacher, the crisp shell vaporized with a thunderous explosion before the startled solemn assembly. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, I think of God’s words to Ezekiel: "Son of man, you are to tremble as you eat your bread."
