Thanking God in the Lord s Supper (Mt 26:26-30) Sunday Morning July 8, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA

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1 OUTLINE 1. INTRODUCTION a. The bread b. The cup c. What do the bread and cup mean? d. The promise of the new kingdom e. Thanking and praising God 2. CONCLUSION What to do now? a. Call for renewal and re-dedication b. Plea for believer s baptism c. Plea for local church membership 3. TRANSLATION 1. INTRODUCTION: Exodus and Passover theme and context o This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast, (Ex 12:14) - The Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was functionally an extension of Passover, was likewise a memorial celebration: o Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. You shall tell your son on that day, It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. o And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year, (Ex 13:7-10) - The Lord s Supper is just like that: 1

2 o (a) It takes place in the context of the new, figurative exodus from the prison of sin to the promised land of God s grace a preview of the real, physical Kingdom to come o (b) It celebrates God rescuing sinners from Satan o (c) It celebrates and remembers the blood of Christ, which was shed for His people s sins, atoning for our sins o (d) It celebrates and remembers the body of Christ, which was broken so His blood could be shed o (e) It looks forward to His promise to come back, and celebrate it with us in the new era, during His reign here on earth a. The bread: Then, as they were eating, Jesus took bread and asked God to bless it, broke [it] and then gave it to the disciples [and] said, Take; eat! This is my body. - They re already eating a meal together - During this meal, Jesus institutes the ordinance of the Lord s Supper - Here s what the Bible says: o (1) Jesus takes bread o (2) Jesus prays and asks God to bless the bread o (3) Jesus broke it into at least 13 pieces o (4) Jesus distributed it to each of the 12 disciples o (5) Jesus commanded each man to take it o (6) Jesus commanded each man to eat it o (7) Jesus explained why He wanted them to do it; this is my body - What s happening here? What s the background? o The disciples are having their last meal with Jesus before His arrest, later that same evening o He s warned them three times that He ll be betrayed, tortured, executed then rise from the dead The disciples don t quite get it, just like you and I wouldn t quite get it, either They won t get it until they see Jesus after the resurrection, and then are filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost 2

3 And, 40 days after the resurrection (Acts 1:3), He went back to heaven to fulfill His role as High Priest and intercessor for all who repent and believe the Gospel o Jesus promised that He d be them in a spiritual way, just not a physical way (Jn 14-16) He promised that He d sent the Holy Spirit to be a Helper and Comforter for them He promised that, because the Spirit would be with them, the Father and Son would be with them, too Father, Son and Spirit have different roles, Scriptures highlights these roles so we can see the distinction between these three Divine People, but they still do everything in concert, together, as one unit The Spirit will be with them, thus Father and Son will be with them, too o But, abstract promises, no matter how real, are sometimes hard to find comfort in o Surely, there must be something more concrete Christ our Lord can give His people to help them: (a) remember who He is, (b) remember what He s done, (c) and to remember the promise that He ll come back, (d) defeat Satan, (e) judge the living and the dead (f) and make all things new! b. The cup: Then, He took a cup and gave thanks, gave [it] to them [and] said Drink from it, each of you. Because this is my blood of the covenant which is poured for many for the forgiveness of sins. - After the bread was eaten, Jesus did and said several things: o (1) The cup was filled with wine o (2) He gave thanks to God for the provision of the wine 3

4 o (3) He passed it to them o (4) He commanded each of them to drink from the cup Why did Jesus do this? He tells us next o (5) Jesus told them they had to drink from the cup because it s the blood of the covenant (a) The translation poured out is graphic and literal, but it serves a point Just as, up until this point under the Old Covenant, the sinner brings a sacrificial animal to the priest and cuts its throat, and the priest catches this blood as it pours out of the severed artery, then takes the blood and sprinkles it on the alter to atone for the sinner s crimes So, too, Jesus willingly and voluntarily poured out His blood for the forgiveness of your sins not temporarily, but permanently and forever (b) Jesus death won t benefit everybody It s for many, not all Why? o (i) Because there are many people who won t come to Jesus in repentance and faith o (ii) Because there are many people who want to remain as criminals in God s universe o (iii) They don t think they re criminals o (iv) They don t want to be told they are criminals o (v) They don t want to be under God s jurisdiction and authority o (vi) They don t want to he held accountable to His laws o (vii) They want to run their own lives o (viii) They want to make their own rules o (ix) They don t want to acknowledge the tie that bind them to their Creator Jesus shed blood, as a willing and substitutionary sacrifice, is only for the many who come to Him in repentance and faith 4

5 It s only for you if you come to Him in repentance and faith c. What do the bread and cup mean? - So, the million-dollar question what are the bread and the cup, and what do they mean? o Several answers have been given throughout the centuries, but I ll briefly zero in on four of them o You can chart these four options on a progressive spectrum from heretical - Biblical i. Roman Catholics: - They believe their priests have been sacramentally marked and changed by a special and permanent indwelling mark of the Spirit, above and beyond what normal Christians can experience, - Therefore, their priests can utter special words and miraculously turn the bread into the actual, physical, sacrificial body of the Lord Jesus Christ - They also believe that the Mass is an actual, real, literal re-presentation of Christ s sacrifice on the cross o This is why Mass so critical to Roman Catholic theology and practice - The Roman Catholic church also teaches that, if you don t believe partaking of the Eucharist is required for salvation, then you re damned to hell o I ask you, as normal, intelligent people what in this passage suggests anything like that? ii. Lutherans: - The Lutherans do not believe that the Lord s Supper is necessary for your salvation o But, they retained a lot of the heretical baggage they inherited from the Roman Catholics - They didn t believe the bread and wine literally became Christ s body and blood by the command of the priest 5

6 o But, they did believe that when Christian celebrated the Supper, Christ became present in and under the bread and the wine o They think that, because Christ said this is my body this is my blood, that He becomes present in the elements o And, believing Christians receive forgiveness of sins when they partake of the Supper by faith, because Christ said it was poured out for the forgiveness of sins - If you have trouble understanding exactly what this means, you re not alone! o I ask you, as normal, intelligent people what in this passage suggests anything like that? iii. Reformed: - The Reformed churches usually believe that Christ is spiritually present in the bread and wine, and that when Christian celebrate the Supper, they spiritually feed on Christ - The Spirit, as He works in the hearts and minds of the believer, makes Christ spiritually and powerfully present in the bread and wine as you eat it and drink it o This is a lot closer to the mark than the Roman Catholic and Lutheran models, but does our passage (or any of the Gospels) say anything like this? iv. The Bible: - If only we had something that could tell us what the bread and wine meant! - If only the Lord had left us with some data, some evidence, that could set us straight o (1) The Gospel of Luke: And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me (Lk 22:19) What did Jesus say the bread meant? 6

7 o He said it was a vehicle to help them remember what would happen to Him later that evening, and the next day o He told them to eat the bread in order to remember His broken body o You could translate it as, always do this in remembrance of me! 1 and that s the way the Apostle Paul understood it o (2) The Apostle Paul (as he criticizes the Corinthian church or desecrating the Lord s Supper by their drunkenness and the cheap, flippant attitude they brought to the ordinance) in 1 Cor 11:22-26: What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. Why won t Paul commend them? Why is he upset with them? 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, 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. What does the bread mean? What did Jesus say it meant? o He said it was a memorial or remembrance for His followers, to remember what was about to happen that night and the next day, about how His body would be broken for their sake 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. 1 The present tense-form verb ποιεῖτε has an imperfective aspect, which means the action is ongoing. You d have to understand the tense-form to have an iterative flavor ( always do this ). Given that the Apostle Paul (1 Cor 11:26) and the entire Christian church certainly understands this ordinance must be observed on a regular basis, an iterative flavor is perfectly appropriate and likely the best way to translate the verb. In fact, Paul seems to understand this in an iterative way ( as often as you ). 7

8 What does the cup, with its red wine, mean? What did Jesus say it meant? o He said it was a memorial or remembrance for His followers, to remember what was about to happen that night and the next day, about how His blood would be shed and His shed blood would inaugurate the New Covenant For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. What does Paul say the purpose of the Lord s Supper is? o He says that, every single time they eat the bread and drink from the cup, they proclaim the Lord s substitutionary, sacrificial death until He comes back - All this leads us to the fourth and last view; the biblical view v. The memorial view: - In one fell swoop, we ve cut through the musty cobwebs of tradition and routine, and seen for ourselves what the Bible says about the Lord s Supper - The bread and wine represent and symbolize Christ s body and blood o How does the bread symbolize and represent Christ s broken body? Jesus body was broken and mutilated; the prophet Isaiah said He d be so horribly disfigured that He wouldn t even resemble a human being anymore his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind, (Isa 52:14) Jesus made a deliberate object lesson as he slowly broke the bread into 13 individual pieces and said, this is my body. It represented that fact that His body would be beaten, mutilated and broken by His executioners the very next day This is why the representations we distribute during the Lord s Supper are also broken up: not because they become Christ s body, or that He s somehow spiritually present in or among them in some 8

9 mystical fashion, but because: o (a) as you take a piece from the plate, o (b) as you see those pieces in the plate, o (c) as you see the piece in your hands, o (d) you remember that Christ said His body was broken for your sake Think about what a great object lesson this was as Jesus personally broke that single loaf into various pieces, and handed a piece to each disciple! o If you re a Christian, what are you remembering when you partake of the bread? You re remembering that Jesus voluntarily allowed Himself to be tortured, broken, beaten, mutilated and executed so that you would be saved from Satan And, the Spirit uses this object lesson as a divinely ordained vehicle to stir your heart, mind and soul to: (a) greater faithfulness, (b) renewed repentance for sins, (c) and greater love for your great God and Savior, Jesus Christ What a visual picture of His broken, bruised and mutilated body! What a sober reminder for each true believer as we observe the Lord s Supper this morning! o How does the cup symbolize and represent Christ s shed blood, which was poured out for every believer? Again it s an object lesson Just as the juice in these cups was poured from a single container into each individual cup that Christians drink from in the Lord s Supper Christ s blood was shed from a single source (His body) for the benefit of all who repent and believe in Him for salvation The focus isn t the blood per se; it s that the blood represents life If you lose all your blood, you die 9

10 Jesus blood was poured out = He voluntarily gave His life for us o What does Jesus mean when He says that the cup represents the new covenant (testament)? Christ means that He died (i.e. His blood was poured out) to inaugurate and establish a new and better way for God s people to worship Him: (1) A way that gives each Christian perfect and final peace, and a completely purged conscience - not temporary relief o Repetitious sacrifices at an altar vs. Christ s perfect, once-for-all sacrifice (2) A way that gives each Christian direct, personal access to approach God Almighty Himself in prayer anytime, anywhere, for any reason o A priest as an intermediary vs. Christ opening the door for you to approach God yourself, personally (3) A way that gives each Christian a more intimate, personal, direct relationship of God than was ever possible before through the ministry of the Holy Spirit o A more formal, distant relationship with God through priestly intermediaries vs. constant contact and communication via the Spirit When Jeremiah and many other prophets foretold of a day when God would scrap the Old Covenant that men couldn t be faithful to keep, and replace it with a New Covenant that wasn t based on our faithfulness, but His this is the covenant that Jesus inaugurated when He died and poured out His blood on the Cross all those years ago! o When you partake of the cup, what are you remembering? You re remembering that Jesus blood was poured out for many people for the forgiveness from sins Because of what Jesus Christ did, every single Christian has had their sins forgiven and been adopted into God s family You used to be a stranger and foreigner from God s family, but if you ve repented and believed in Christ, you ve been adopted 10

11 into His family His blood was poured out for you, to forgive you from all your sins! o We know the memorial view is right, because: (1) The Bible says it (2) It takes place in the context of a Passover meal, which was itself a memorial for the Israelites to remember God s power, mercy, grace and faithfulness to rescue them from slavery d. The promise of the new kingdom: - Jesus continued: But I say to you I ll never drink again from this fruit of the vine until that day when I ll drink it in the new era with you during my Father s kingdom. - What does this mean? o It means Jesus promises that He ll have this meal with all His people again, one day during the new era when His Father s Kingdom is established on earth, Satan has been defeated, sin has been destroyed, the curse is gone, and there is peace and justice (real peace and justice) on earth o Jesus promises that this ordinance, as we observe it this morning, is an object lesson about: what He s done for His people, and a promise that He ll come back one day, to set everything right and that His people, who ve been forgiven from all their sins by His blood of the new covenant, will be there with Him o Every single time you observe the Lord s Supper: you should remember these promises, 11

12 and pray the Spirit applies them to your heart, soul, mind and life in a renewed and fresh way e. Thanking and praising God: Then, after they sang a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives - I mentioned earlier that it d be nice if Jesus left us some concrete reminder of what He s done, and what He promised to do - This ordinance is that reminder: o His body was broken for many = the broken pieces of bread o His blood was poured out for many = the individual cups of juice o He was the sacrifice that inaugurated the new covenant, and atoned for all our sins and crimes once and for all o He promised that He ll celebrate with us in a new way in the new era, when He rules His Father s kingdom over the face of a new earth - We remember all that and as we observe it: o we show and display our Lord s death, o all it achieved for us, o and His promise to return, o until He decides to come back o and, that reminder should bring us joy, just like it did to these original disciples 2. CONCLUSION What to do now? - Before we partake of the Lord s Supper, I have three very simple instructions for each Christian here this morning: a. Call for renewal and re-dedication: - The Apostle John wrote: o If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the 12

13 blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin (1 Jn 1:6-7) - Let me ask you: o (1) Are you trying to walk in the light? Are you trying to live a holy, pure life and imitate the example of your Heavenly Father, who is light, in whom is no darkness at all? Do you have an honest desire to please your Heavenly Father because of the mercy, grace, love and kindness He showed you by saving you from Satan and yourself? o (2) Are you allowing Jesus to cleanse you (present-tense) from all sin, day by day, moment by moment by continual confession of sins? - If you answer No to any of these questions, that doesn t mean you should abstain from the Lord s Supper o That just means that you must use this Lord s Supper this morning to renew and re-dedicate your life to Christ to start fresh right now in fulfilling your most basic Christian duty - If you partake of the Lord s Supper while remaining deliberately uncommitted to Christ and being unrepentant about sin in your life, you re committing deliberate blasphemy against God b. Plea for believer s baptism: - The Book of Acts is the history book of the early, apostolic church: o That inspired book gives us a very simple and clear pattern folks are baptized by immersion after they re saved (1) Baptism is a public testimony to the congregation about what Father, Son and Spirit have done in your life Father = election in eternity past Son = active and passive obedience Spirit = effectual call (2) Baptism is also a very blunt object lesson and reminder to the rest of the congregation my old, sinful person is dead and gone, and I ve been born again by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ! (3) Baptism is also a public pledge of loyalty I belong to Christ! - If you partake of the Lord s Supper this morning and: 13

14 o (a) you ve never been baptized by immersion, o (b) and never approached George or me about this process, o (c) and you have no intention to be baptized, o (d) then pray to the Lord and consider whether you d be partaking of the Supper unworthily if you participated this morning - If you re a Christian who hasn t been Scripturally baptized, then why not commit to the Lord that you ll fix that this morning? o This is a perfect opportunity to do that c. Plea for local church membership: - The Book of Acts gives us another pattern that s fallen out of favor in recent years local church membership - Church membership is a covenant; a mutual agreement between the believer and the local church o (a) It says you want to serve the Lord with a particular body of believers in a particular place e.g. SKRBC! o (b) It says you want to be an encouragement to others, and you want them to be an encouragement to you o (c) It says you want to pray for other Christians, and have them pray for you o (d) It says you want to grow in your faith with other believers o (e) It says you want to be held spiritually accountable by other Christians, and you re willing to do the same for them, too o (f) It says you re serious about the organization that Jesus Christ established to be the community of faith for this day and age the local church - If you re a Christian, your Scriptural duty is to find a local church which preaches the Gospel and apply for membership o If you attend this church and you partake of the Lord s Supper this morning and: (a) you re not a member of this church, (b) you ve never approached George or me about this process, (c) and you have no intention of ever joining, (d) then pray to the Lord and consider whether you d be partaking of the Supper unworthily if you participated this 14

15 morning o If you attend here regularly, and you ve not joined this local church, then I challenge you to pray to the Lord about why you haven t Come speak to me about it! This is the perfect opportunity to do just that 3. TRANSLATION: Then, as they were eating, Jesus took bread and asked God to bless it, broke [it] and then gave it to the disciples [and] said, Take; eat! This is my body. Then, He took a cup and gave thanks, gave [it] to them [and] said Drink from it, each of you. Because this is my blood of the covenant which is poured for many for the forgiveness of sins. But I say to you I ll never drink again from this fruit of the vine until that day when I ll drink it in the new era with you during my Father s kingdom. Then, after they sang a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. FIRST SEQUENCE THE BREAD - Then, as they were eating, o Jesus took bread o and asked God to bless it series of sequential actions o broke [it] o and then gave it to the disciples o [and] said, COMMANDS Take; eat! EXPLANATION This is my body. SECOND SEQUENCE THE CUP - Then, o He took a cup series of sequential actions o and gave thanks, o gave [it] to them o [and] said 15

16 COMMAND Drink from it, each of you. clarification explanation of command the new covenant purpose of new covenant THE TRUE LORD S SUPPER WILL BE IN THE NEW ERA TO COME THIRD SEQUENCE PRAISING GOD - Then, o But, Because this is my blood of the covenant which is poured for many for the forgiveness of sins. I say to you I ll never drink again from this fruit of the vine until that day when I ll drink it in the new era with you during my Father s kingdom. praise journey to the garden o after they sang a hymn, o they went out to the Mount of Olives. Ἐσθιόντων δὲ αὐτῶν papgpm conj personal they are eating and themselves imperfective, descriptive tense-form; adverbial mod. λαβὼν; temporal transition Then, as they were eating, gen.absolute acting as subj λαβὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἄρτον aapnsm nsm nsm asm He took Jesus bread simple active; attributive; perfective καὶ subject Jesus took bread εὐλογήσας d.obj. λαβὼν conj aapnsm and he asked God to bless 2 simple additive perfective; constative; simple active; adverbial mod. λαβὼν; temporal and asked God to bless it, ἔκλασεν 3 rd,s,aor,a,i He broke perfective; constative; simple active; refers to Jesus 2 On this usage, see BDAG s.v εὐλογέω, 2. 16

17 broke [it] καὶ δοὺς τοῖς μαθηταῖς conj aapnsm dpm dpm and He gave it to the disciples additive perfective; constative; simple active; adverbial mod. λαβὼν; temporal indirect object; implied d.obj is the bread and then gave it to the disciples εἶπεν 3 rd,s,aor,a,i He said refers to Jesus; perfective; constative [and] said, λάβετε φάγετε 2 nd,pl,aor,a,imp 2 nd,pl,aor,a,imp you must take you must eat perfective; constative; simple active; command perfective; constative; simple active; command Take; eat! τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου d.pro;nsn 3 rd,s,p,a,i nsn nsn 1 st,s,g this is body my predicate verb refers to bread; predicate describing partitive subj. of clause nominative bread This is my body. καὶ conj and temporal Then, λαβὼν aapnsm He took perfective; constative; simple active; adverbial mod. λαβὼν; temporal He took a cup ποτήριον asn a cup d.obj 17

18 καὶ conj and additive εὐχαριστήσας aapnsm He gave thanks perfective; constative; simple active; adverbial mod. λαβὼν; temporal and gave thanks, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς 3 rd,s,aor,a,i dpm He gave to them perfective; constative indirect obj; refers to disciples gave [it] to them λέγων aapnsm He said perfective; constative; simple active; adverbial mod. λαβὼν; temporal [and] said πίετε ἐξ αὐτοῦ πάντες 2 nd,pl,aor,a,imp prep gsn papnpm drink from it each perfective; constative; simple active; command derivation refers to cup Drink from it, each of you. 18 substantival; referring to disciples τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν τὸ αἷμά μου τῆς διαθήκης d.pro;nsn conj 3 rd,s,p,a,i nsn nsn 1 st,s,g gsf gsf this because it is the blood my the covenant refers to contents of cup; new subj. reason predicate verb describing cup predicate nominative of cup partitive Because this is my blood of the covenant gen. source τὸ περὶ πολλῶν ἐκχυννόμενον εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν nsn prep gpm pppnsn prep asf gpm which for many it is poured out for forgiveness sins attributive (referring to the article acts blood); simple passive; as benefaction d.obj.prep benefaction d.obj. obj.gen imperfective aspect; rel.pronoun descriptive present tense-form which is poured for many for the forgiveness of sins. λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν οὐ μὴ πίω ἀπ ἄρτι ἐκ 1 st,s,p,a,i conj 2 nd,pl,d strong negation 1 st,s,aor,a,subj prep adverb prep I am saying but, and to you never I will drink from now on from adversative d.obj perfective aspect; futuristic partitive temporal

19 But I say to you I ll never drink again from τούτου τοῦ γενήματος τῆς ἀμπέλου ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας d.pro;gsn gsn gsn gsf gsf prep gsf gsf this fruit the vine until the day refers to cup partitive subj.gen temporal obj.prep this fruit of the vine until that day ἐκείνης ὅταν αὐτὸ πίνω μεθ ὑμῶν καινὸν ἐν d.pro;gsf part asn 1 st,s,p,a,subj prep 2 nd,pl,g asm prep that when it I will drink with you new in temporal refers to w/ὅταν; adverbial w/subj d.obj πίνω association d.obj. temporal ἡμέρας imperfective (temporal) aspect; futuristic when I ll drink it in the new era with you during τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ πατρός μου dsf dsf gsm gsm 1 st,s,g the kingdom the father my dative of space partitive my Father s kingdom. Καὶ conj and, then temporal Then, ὑμνήσαντες aapnpm after they sang a hymn temporal mod. ἐξῆλθον; perfective aspect; refers to whole group after they sang a hymn, ἐξῆλθον εἰς τὸ ὄρος τῶν ἐλαιῶν 3 rd,pl,aor,a,i prep asn asn gpf gpf they went out to the mountain the olives perfective aspect space obj.prep partitive they went out to the Mount of Olives 19