Meaning of the Wine
April 5, 2003
Each time we come to church and participate in the Lord’s Supper, the second symbol we use is wine. Now that’s a potentially controversial symbol today, in some circles, but was a very ordinary matter of meals in Jesus’ day, and still is in many cultures. Just like bread, it’s nothing ‘out of the ordinary’ overall. It’s a common beverage that goes along with meals. In many cultures, in fact, bread and wine, maybe with a bit of cheese added, is just a normal, basic, low-cost, even peasant-level meal. But, these normal parts of diet are what Jesus invested with incredible meaning when he began a new ceremony on the night before his death.
Paul tells us what Jesus did and said, in writing to the Corinthian church.
1 Cor.11.23, 24, 25- Jesus made a declaration about what was shown each time someone participated and took of the wine. You can search the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation, and you’ll find no idea of limitation on the number of times this ceremony can be performed in a year. Without question, in the OT, the Passover was an annual ceremony, on a particular calendar date. However, Jesus never tied the Lord’s Supper to a particular date, day, or frequency. The expression ‘as often as you drink it’ means just that. It carries the sense of ‘whenever you do it’ and the idea that can occur frequently. So, frequently- monthly, weekly, daily- Christians proclaim the New Testament that exists in Jesus’ blood.
v. 26- to whom do you show the Lord’s death, when you take the cup? Obviously, it’s not to God. It’s to people. The verb ‘proclaim’ occurs 17 times and always concerns the proclamation of the gospel before men. The action that does it is eating and drinking, not offering, and is only to be used ‘until he comes’. Then He will drink with us in person at the marriage feast!
What do we show in drinking the cup? What are some of the ideas that need to be in our heads when we take the cup, each time, and what become some of the sources for great thankfulness, then, each time?
1. Ro.3.23-25- ‘all’ includes you and me. God- do you get that? GOD set Jesus to be a propitiation for us. He’s the one who ‘makes amends’ for us. He’s the compensation that was needed. He’s the atonement that was needed. He’s the one that brings reconciliation and forgiveness. He’s the one through whom we have ‘remission of sins that are past’. That means exoneration, forgiveness, and pardon. I’ve just noticed something about this, too. ‘Sins that are past’ is not limited just to that time when we repented before we were baptized or when we accepted Jesus as our Saviour. Each day, even, when we repent that propitiation and that remission is there again. Again, and again, and again, that blood of Jesus has impact in my life. Each day, it is effective. Every day, it is effective. That gives me new appreciation for the blood that Jesus poured out!
2. Ro.5.9- we are justified by his blood and will be saved from wrath through him. To be justified means that we are made proper, fitting, appropriate before God by the blood of Jesus. Imagine being made fitting to be before God. Remember that in the old dispensation, it was only the High Priest who was able to be before God, and only annually on the day of Atonement. So, for you and I to be proper, fitting, and appropriate to be before God daily is a great thing! This is something to appreciate when we take the cup.
3. Eph.2.13- Those who were far away are made near by the blood of Christ. Imagine a world where only a small number of people could be God’s people. Imagine a world where, say, 6 million people were God’s people and everyone else was held far away? This is similar to what happened until Jesus. The world, at large, was held away from God, and even among those who were the special, only one was really able to have access. But, now, everyone can come to God. There’s one door, of course, and that is Jesus. We must get past all this ‘fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man’ stuff that people spout and be honest with God’s scriptures. In a creation sense, all are God’s children and we are brothers and sisters, but that doesn’t get us together for eternity. That comes through Jesus and only through Jesus! V. 14 goes on to declare how he has broken down the brick wall that kept us apart- he broke down the Berlin Wall that kept nations apart, even. The blood of Jesus is incredible.
4. Heb.9.14- in the context, we are reading that the ancient sacrificial blood of bulls and goats had some ceremonial effect but the blood of Jesus can even clean up our consciences from dead works. What is the conscience? It is the ‘little voice inside’- the ‘Jiminy Cricket’ of our insides. We can have feelings of guilt for not doing various things. We can feel guilty because we step on sidewalk cracks- you know, ‘step on a crack, break your grandma’s back’. We can feel guilty, in our conscience, if we don’t break a match after two bad things happen- you know, bad luck comes in three’s and this prevents the third time. We can feel guilty, in our conscience, when we move away from past religious traditions and we come to certain times of the year. Maybe you feel guilty because you’re not deleavening your house this time of the year- I don’t imagine many women feel a lot of guilt- more like relief- but, for awhile, you might have. Without doubt, there was the benefit of having the house all clean once-a-year, but what was the real benefit, inside? For most ladies, it was incredible fatigue, not spiritual renewal. But the old conscience can stir you to want to do a ‘dead work’, but Jesus liberates us from that and cleans us from that, by his blood. This is something to be thankful for and to celebrate. You can take all that cleaning time and use it in relationship building, with God, Jesus, and those around you.
5. 1 Pet.1.18, 19- we are not redeemed, or bought back from our sinful state, by corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ, and this was part of the long-term plan that God had for us. He didn’t use money. He used something far more precious to clean you up.
6. 1 Jn.1.7- the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. What do you have lurking deep within yourself that you, maybe, can’t tell anyone about? Or what sin is there that you haven’t thought about to confess, even in a category, if not in a specific? Do you worry that there’s something hidden in you that might prevent your being in the kingdom because you don’t remember it or haven’t brought it forward? Some would have you believe that you have to bring it all out. That’s wrong and this verse tells us this. ALL sin is covered by the blood of Jesus when you repent. God doesn’t require a litany of your sins. He doesn’t require a detailed listing of each sin, in order for it to be forgiven. Hey, what did you do when you were four years old? Or, what did you do when you were thirteen, that you might have forgotten? I am very grateful that this is true, not the false idea of having to discover each sin and name it, by name. This is something that adds depth to my taking of the cup when I come to the Lord’s Table and, I guess, it will add depth to you, too.
What’s in a glass of wine? What’s in a tiny glass of wine? Forgiveness, rightness, closeness, conscience-cleansing, redemption, cleansing- that’s what. It’s not so little, is it? The amount of beverage might be little, but it carries big meaning!
