| Introduction Our Lord Jesus Christ loves his Church. He gave us his Word so that we can read of his love for his Bride. He declares to us in his Word that, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (Jn. 15:13). So having his Word is a great thing! But he didn't stop there. He also gave us visible signs of his love for us. He gave us the waters of baptism through which he says, "As real as the water on your head is, so is your membership in my visible Body, the Church." He also gave us the bread and the cup of his Supper in which he says, "Taste the bread, drink the cup, and know that your sins are forgiven. Eat, drink, and share in all that I accomplished for you on the cross!" God knows we are physical, earthy people. So, he gave us physical, earthy signs of his redemption, so that we not only get to hear the Word preached, but also we get to feel the Word poured on our heads and we get to taste the Word with our mouths. "The Lord's supper is a sermon to the eye, and a confirmation of God's word to us…." Matthew Henry "The word is added to the element, and there results the Sacrament, as if itself also a kind of visible word." Augustine on John 15:1-3 (Tractate 80) God calls us to walk by faith and not by sight, but he knows our struggle to do that. So, he gives us these two sacraments in which all our senses are involved in receiving Christ. The Heidelberg Catechism puts it beautifully in question 75: How are you admonished and assured in the Lord's Supper, that you are a partaker of that one sacrifice of Christ, accomplished on the cross, and of all his benefits? Thus: That Christ has commanded me and all believers, to eat of this broken bread, and to drink of this cup, in remembrance of him, adding these promises: first, that his body was offered and broken on the cross for me, and his blood shed for me, as certainly as I see with my eyes, the bread of the Lord broken for me, and the cup communicated to me; and further, that he feeds and nourishes my soul to everlasting life, with his crucified body and shed blood, as assuredly as I receive from the hands of the minister, and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, as certain signs of the body and blood of Christ. In the Lord's Supper, we taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8). In it, God ministers to our whole being: body and soul. The passage we read this morning records the very moment our Savior gave us this great gift A. This was an important and emotional night for Jesus, 15. 1. Hebraism "with desire I have desired" meaning with "fervent or great desire". 2. Great desire because one last chance to fellowship his disciples before his suffering. 3. Great desire because one last chance to teach his disciples before his suffering. 4. Great desire because he was going to institute the New Covenant continuation of the Passover. B. It was a night that was all about love for Jesus. Jn. 13:1– Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 1. Perhaps this night was a night of the most intense fellowship with his disciples in the three years they had been together. 2. In a lot of ways the night in Bethlehem 33 years prior was pointing to this night in the upper room. C. Jesus tenderly pointed his disciples to himself. 1. He urged them to love each other because he loves them. Jn. 13:34-35– A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. 2. He encouraged them to believe. Jn. 14:1– Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 3. He reminded them of the exclusive relationship with him. Jn. 14:6– Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." 4. He gave them his peace. Jn. 14:27– Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. D.It is in this context that our Lord Jesus Christ gives us his table: the bread and the cup. 1. This was the ideal time to introduce the Lord's Supper. 2. The disciples' minds were already focused on the concept of one dying for another for the purpose of redemption as they were gathered to celebrate the Passover, 7, 14. 3. The Passover was fulfilled in Christ's death and resurrection. a. The OT Passover had the blood of lamb put on the doorpost so that the wrath of God would not be poured upon that household. Ex. 12:17, 26-27– So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance…. And it shall be, when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?' that you shall say, 'It isthe Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.'" b. The NT Passover has the blood of the Final Lamb shed upon his people so that sin and death have no longer dominion over them. 1 Cor. 5:7– Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. E. Jesus gives his Church the good gift of his Supper, 17-20. 1. This first cup is not the cup of the Lord's Supper, 17. a. There were four cups drunk by everyone during the Passover meal. b. This is the second cup (the first was usually drunk before sitting down). c. Jesus drank some of it and passed the rest (same cup) to the disciples. 2. The bread as the body of Christ, 19. a. This probably took place toward the end of the meal. b. "This bread is my body," means that the bread represents the divine punishment Jesus suffered for his Church. c. It also means that there is a special union between the bread and Christ. 1) Christ is actually present in the sacrament, but not in physical sense, rather in a spiritual sense. 2) Thus, we are not blessed by the Lord's Supper just because we think about him and what he has done. 3) We are blessed by the Lord's Supper because Christ is mystically present in it. 4) The channel for that blessing is our faith in him – therefore, no unbeliever. d. Notice Jesus says that his body was given for his disciples. 1) In celebrating the Lord's Supper, we acknowledge that Christ died for us. 2) It is a personal observance. 3) But it is also a communal experience in that the disciples ate the bread together. 4) It also means that only those that Christ died for are invited for the Supper. e. We are to partake of the bread remembering what Christ has done for us in his death and resurrection. 3. The cup of the New Covenant, 20. a. Close to the end of the meal, Jesus raised the third cup as the other element of the sacrament. 1) Both elements have to be present in the sacrament. 2) We need to eat and drink both elements to be partaking of the Lord's Supper. b. The cup represents the blood that will establish the New Covenant. 1) Every other covenant so far had been inaugurated/sealed by the blood of animals. Gen. 8:20– Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. b) Covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15:9-10, 17-21) – the animals are killed and God walks through the pieces. Ex. 24:6-8– And Moses took half the blood and put itin basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient." And Moses took the blood, sprinkled iton the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words." 2) The covenant with Moses in particular had to be renewed every year by the shedding of more blood. 3) But the New Covenant doesn't need any more shedding of blood. f. When we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we are also celebrating the New Covenant that Christ entered into in our behalf (blood shed for us). g. We celebrate the fact that Jesus took the curse of the covenant upon himself so that we could enjoy the blessings – the entire book of Hebrews. Heb. 9:23-28– Therefore it wasnecessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which arecopies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. Heb. 10:8-10– Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, andofferings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the law), then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will,O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. h. In addition, when we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we acknowledge that all God's promises are fulfilled in Christ. 1) Jesus repeated the promised he made in verse 16 after he institute the bread and the cup. Mk. 14:24-25– And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." 2) Therefore, the Lord's Supper celebrates not only his death, but also his resurrection and sovereign rule over his church. 3) It also looks forward to the eschatological Supper when he comes back to receive his lamb, Rev. 19:1-11 (the coming of Christ). 4) We are now part of the church militant, but the Lord's Supper reminds us that we will be also part of the church triumphant. a) The Lord's Supper looks backward at the death and resurrection of Christ. b) The Lord's Supper looks forward to the eternal state after the resurrection of the body. c) The Lord's Supper looks to the present to our current state of being in Christ. II. Why Change the Passover into Bread and Wine? Or, Why Connect the Passover with the Lord's Supper at All? Because of the cosmic event of the crucifixion and resurrection of the Son of God. A. The God of the Bible is a God who redeems a people to himself. 1. Since this is the primary significance of the Passover, it makes sense that the New Covenant includes a sacrament that continues to show forth the redemptive work of God. 2. Thus, like the Passover, the Lord's Supper continues to remind us that we are part of God's redeemed people (a covenant renewal celebration) through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. B. The New Covenant opens up God's promises of redemption to all nations Mt. 28:18-20– And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, evento the end of the age." Amen. Acts 2:38-39– Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." C. Celebrating redemption from bondage to Egypt is great, but celebrating redemption from sin through the shed blood of Jesus Christ is infinitely greater. III. In His Great Goodness, The Holy Spirit Helps Us Understand the Practical Implications of the Bread and Cup even Better (Turn there) 1 Cor. 10:12-17– Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God isfaithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we,thoughmany, are one bread andone body; for we all partake of that one bread. A. The Lord's Supper helps us see who we really are, 12. 1. Spiritual pride was a big issue in Corinth. a. They believed that they were wiser than God, 1:20-25. b. Some of them believed that they were better than the other Christians in the church, 8:9. 2. The Lord's Supper, if understood rightly and partaken by faith, is a great antidote to spiritual pride. a. As we eat the bread, we realize that it took God becoming man in order to atone, to cover, to take care of our sins. b. As we drink from the cup, we realize that it was our sin that spilt his blood. c. As we receive spiritually the body and blood of the Lord Jesus, we are confronted with the fact that the only thing we bring to our spiritual life is our sin, and that God does all the rest. d. The result of this: humble and confident faith in the work of Christ for us. B. God uses the Lord's Supper to give us the grace that we so desperately need. 1. The Corinthians were confronted with their sins, brought low, and given the tall task to consider themselves truthfully and accurately. 2. They could have fallen into despair because they would soon realize that they couldn't on their own do the things that Paul was telling them to do. 3. So, Paul says look to Christ, 13. a. The Lord's Supper gives us the opportunity to look away from ourselves and look to Christ. b. God is so kind to us that he gave us this physical sign to draw us away from us and put our eyes squarely on Christ. "For every look at self, take ten looks at Christ." Robert Murray M'Cheyne in a letter to a parishoner C. The Lord's Supper helps us flee from idolatry, 14. 1. Paul says that if they are indeed wise, they will listen to what he is saying, and that these truths about the Lord's Supper won't be hard for them to understand, 15. 2. The Lord's Supper communicates to us our union with Christ, 16-17. a. We get together, we bless the bread, we bless the cup, and we partake of them together. b. Partaking of it together signifies very important things – it points to very important truths. 1) It signifies/points to the fact that we share by faith in the benefits that Christ secured for us in his life, death, and resurrection – that's what the communion/fellowship of the blood and body is. WLC 168– What is the Lord's Supper? The Lord's Supper is a Sacrament of the New Testament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine according to the appointment of Jesus Christ, his death is showed forth; and they that worthily communicate feed upon his body and blood, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace; have their union and communion with him confirmed; testify and renew their thankfulness and engagement to God, and their mutual love and fellowship each with other, as members of the same mystical body. 2) Not only does the Lord's Supper point to our communion with Christ, but also to our communion with one another, 17. a) We are one bread, one loaf. b) Our union with Christ also unites us to one another – body and head imagery makes it even clearer. c) So, this morning when you eat bread and drink from the cup, realize that it is not just you and Jesus. d) It is you, Jesus, everyone around you, everyone in the Church throughout the world, and everyone in the Church throughout the ages! e) In this way, the Lord's Supper unites us to the cloud of witnesses that has gone before us and now says, "Yes, you can flee idolatry by God's grace." Heb. 12:1-2– Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of ourfaith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3. When we truly partake of Christ by faith, we will not want to be yoked with idols, 18-21. 1 Cor. 10:18-21– Observe Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? a. Some of the Corinthian Christians believed that going to the temples where idols were worshiped was consistent with their Christian testimony. 1) They hid behind the expression, "idols are nothing!" 2) They would hide behind the true statement that there are no other gods but the God of the Bible. a) We have our idols as well and we often justify our love and service to them with the Bible. b) That's what the Corinthians were doing. b. Yes, there is only one God, but there are also such things as demons, that's what is behind the idols, 20. c. You may claim that you are not doing that, but the activity itself is sinful and you can't redefine it – sharing of the altar, 18. d. You just cannot serve God and partake of Christ in the Lord's Supper and serve and partake of your own idols, 21. 1) When we participate in the Lord's Supper with the desire to still keep our own idols, we are not partaking of Christ by faith. 2) The cup and bread are no longer the cup and the bread of blessing. 3) They become a means of God's judgment upon us. 1 Cor. 11:27-30– Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks thiscup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many areweak and sick among you, and many sleep. e. That's the depths of our sinfulness – we transform such a beautiful blessing into a curse and we challenge God thinking that we are greater than he is, 22. f. But that's where the depths of the grace of God is also demonstrated – he grants repentance and calls he people to come to him.
Our Lord Jesus Christ loves his Church. He gave us his Word so that we can read of his love for his Bride. He declares to us in his Word that, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (Jn. 15:13). He displays his love in his broken body and shed blood.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-new-covenant-in-blood-luke-2214-23.html
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