Like most people, I hate going to the doctor for a physical. I dislike the poking and prodding. One of many aspects I find disagreeable is the perfunctory hammer to the knee. With just the right hit my leg jerks. Now I am sure there is a profound physiological explanation for the cause-effect relationship, but as far as I’m concerned it's because someone just hit me. The knee-jerk reaction is a test of our reflexes. If we are healthy we respond accordingly. Such responses are great as they keep us out of trouble: the quick blink sensing something coming near your eye, the swift withdrawal of the hand from the hot stove, the recoil from the sharp object. We don’t have to think about it, reason through it. We just act. And that is a good thing. Our reflexes keep us safe. But such reflexes are dangerous when it comes to worship. There are times we act reflexively, but not thoughtfully. That may happen through repetition, and our minds shut down momentarily. This morning we repeated the Apostles’ Creed which is meant to be a meaningful statement of what we believe, but when we disengage our minds, it is something we just say without any thought. Songs likewise are easily sung without reflection, prayers are said, but the words do not connect. As far as sermons, it has been said that they are the art of talking in someone else’s sleep. But I think the one place where mindless worship can often take place is in the Lord’s Supper. It is a sacrament so poorly understood that we do it, but really don’t know why. What is so important about bread and wine? Why do we do this? What purpose does it serve? It is far too easy to have a knee-jerk response to Communion. For this reason, on a Sunday when we are not celebrating the Lord’s Table, we are going to look at the passage which gives us the instructions as to what it means and why we do it. 17. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" 18. He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, `The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.'" 19. So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. 20. When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21. And while they were eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me." 22. They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?" 23. Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born." 25. Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" Jesus answered, "Yes, it is you." 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." 27. Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29. 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." 30. When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Preparation for Passover (verses 17-19) The passage begins on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a Thursday, when the disciples come to Jesus to ask about His intentions for the Passover meal. According to Jewish law, to celebrate Passover one must do so within the walls of Jerusalem. That afternoon countless lambs were slaughtered with assembly line precision in the temple, their blood drained and poured on the altar. Their bodies were then portioned out to those in the city who desired to participate in the meal. What was done in the first century followed what had happened for over a millennium as a commemoration of the events in Egypt as the children of Israel took the blood of the lamb or kid, sprinkled the blood on the doorposts of their homes, and consumed the flesh while the Angel of Death passed over their homes. But those homes without the blood saw their firstborn die that night. I wonder if the disciples went through the motions during the Passover celebration as they had for years, not thinking about what was going to happen. They asked Jesus about His plans and they obediently followed His directives. But what happened that night most certainly surprised them as Jesus shifted the Passover celebration from a memorial of a past event into a means by which the good news of His life and death would be communicated for centuries to come. The disciples went into the city, found the man who directed them to the house with a room for them to gather that night. Part of their preparation was to sweep clean the house, removing all traces of leaven. They would have procured the lamb, roasted it and prepared the meal. They would bake the unleavened bread, made a sauce of various fruits, prepare the green vegetables and bitter herbs, get the wine, set the table. This they did in obedience to the Lord’s commands. But did they recognize what would happen next? As they gathered that night around the table, enjoying the meal, Jesus began to speak, but Matthew does not record the normal words of the Seder. Jesus changes the Passover into the Lord’s Supper. First came the accusation: “One of you will betray me.” Then the identification with the broken bread: “Take and eat, this is my body.” And finally the third cup, the cup of redemption was made more clear to be His blood: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” As the meal came to a close and they left singing a hymn, most likely Psalms 115-118, and made their way to the Garden of Gethsemane, their lives would never be the same. What began that night could no longer be just a meal memorializing a past event. The meal became a means by which God would communicate the gospel to us. What was said and done that night, what is done each and every time we come as God’s people to the Table must be done with understanding and faith. WE MUST EXAMINE OURSELVES FOR THE LORD’S SUPPER (verses20-25). Self-examination was necessary for the disciples. As Jesus makes the heart wrenching statement in verse 21, we see two similar responses: “Surely not I?” But while both responses expected a negative answer, they both reveal a very different person. Notice how the disciples addresses Jesus and then Judas. In Matthew’s gospel the way people speak to Jesus is very important. Those who address Jesus as Lord are portrayed as those who believe. To call Jesus "rabbi" or "teacher" is to pay respect, but to see Him as nothing more that just that, a wise teacher. Jesus responds to the disciples by saying what He said earlier, not yet identifying the culprit, but this time making the accusation more personal: “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me.” The bowl was the dipping sauce for the unleavened bread and herbs called the Charoseth, a concoction made of figs, nuts, almonds and fruit mixed together with vinegar. This bitter combination was to remind them of the mortar used to make bricks in Egypt. Jesus is clear: His betrayer is one who is close to Him, one who eats with Him. To this Jesus adds in verse 24 a powerful statement about God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. His betrayal is according to what is written about Him, what God has decreed and prophesied. Nevertheless, there is punishment for the one who does this despicable act. The death of Jesus Christ as our Passover Lamb was of divine decree from all eternity. It was no accident. In Acts 2:23 Peter said, "This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge. . ." In Acts 4:28 we read, "They"- meaning Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and Israel- "did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen." All these events were part of God's purpose, plan, design, determination and God's decree. But Judas was responsible for his crime. Jesus then pronounces a judicial verdict: "Woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born." It is only then that Judas asks his altered question, not wanting to be the only one silent and thus allowing his silence to scream louder than the self-examination of the others. Jesus responds, perhaps out of ear shot of the others with the clear affirmation: “It is as you have said!” The ambiguity of Jesus’ identification protects Judas, giving him but another chance to repent. He will not. The Passover preparation reaches its climax in this confrontation between Savior and traitor. But Judas’s reprobation is seen all the more as his treacherous design is unmasked but he still refuses to repent. There is nothing within him that will allow him to respond to Christ. In the face of this betrayal, Jesus continues offering salvation. In this Supper where salvation is illustrated so well we see most clearly that God’s grace is always surrounded by sin. Self-examination is necessary for us as well. When we approach this table I always give a weeks notice that we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We do this so that you will prepare yourselves, you will allow those penetrating words “one of you!” to strike your heart. This is a time when the terror of the Law should weigh heavily on your shoulders so that you will not be like a Judas. Bach got it right in his St. Matthew’s Passion when at this point he had the congregation sing a confessional chorale with the words “Ich bin’s, ich sollte bussen” (I’m the one, I should repent). That should be our response. When we come to the table a long look at ourselves, at our own sinfulness, is always necessary so that we might repent in order that we may then receive. Spurgeon well said that “our tendency is to decry the particular form of sin that we find in others. We hold up our hands as if we were quite shocked. Better to look in the mirror than look out the window. Looking out of the window, you see one for whom you are not responsible. But looking in the mirror, you see one for whom you must give account to God." One of the most important responsibilities of the church is self-examination before Communion. It is not a ceremony for the self-satisfied. The only thing which makes us worthy to come is knowing our unworthiness. The meal is medicine for the sick, comfort for the depressed. WE MUST RECEIVE THE LORD’S SUPPER (verses 26-30). We receive Christ’s brokenness. Christ gives what we must receive. It may seem simple, but it is a point we must not forget: we are the recipients, not the one giving the gift. Jesus initiates this meal; He blesses and breaks the bread, He gives. The direction of the Lord’s Supper is downward, from God to us. It is a sacrament (a gift from the Lord to His people), not a sacrifice (a gift of the people to the Lord). It is a good gift given, not a good deed performed. This distinction is important, for the Church is well-divided over this issue. Rome on the right and the Anabaptists on the left see the Lord’s Supper as a place where believers do things for God - either by offering Christ to God or by offering their deep devotion to God. At the heart of the gospel we are essentially receivers. Only when we have received something can we be commanded to give something. Therefore the Lord’s Supper keeps priorities straight: first gospel, then demand; first Beatitudes, then commands; first God’s gift to us , then our obedience to Him. The Lord’s Supper nowhere asks for our commitment to God, but celebrates His commitment to us. Brokenness is what should be done to us, but we receive one broken for us. The breaking of the bread is not just a necessity to parcel out the loaf, but shows us most clear how God comes to us - broken. Christ’s brokenness for us, Christ’s suffering for us, is the chief means by which Jesus comes to us. We understand God not chiefly through majesty and glory, but through the Cross. In the broken bread we are confronted with a God who would be broken for us, rather than breaking us as we deserve. We receive Christ’s forgiveness. After the bread was broken and Christ identified Himself with the bread and so changed the character of the Passover meal forever, He then took the cup. During the Passover meal there were four cups of wine that were to be drunk. These four cups were meant to correspond to the fourfold promise of Exodus 6:6-7. First cup: I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. Second Cup: I will free you from being slaves to them. Third cup: I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. This cup, the cup of redemption, explains why the bread is broken. The bread points us to the Cross; the cup points us to the benefits we receive from the Cross. What are those benefits? My blood of the covenant. This comes from Exodus 24 when, after Israel received the Decalogue from the Lord, they swore allegiance to obey God, to follow His Law. Moses then set up twelve altars for the twelve tribes and offered burnt offerings. The blood from these animals was then thrown on the people as they gathered around Moses, who said: “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” The people gave their allegiance, but the covenant was sealed by blood which was not their own, but from sacrificial animals which pointed to Christ. Covenant comes from “con” - together and “venio” - to come, and it signifies an agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament such a covenant always took blood, for it was a bond in blood initiated and kept by God. Here Jesus draws all the Old Testament sacrifices together as He identifies Himself as the guarantee, the promise that God would keep His promise. "Poured out for many" This points to Isaiah 53:12 where we are told that God’s Suffering Servant would be rescued by God, because “he poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. “ "Forgiveness of sins" All of this is so that sins would be forgiven. With this phrase, Jesus points to Jeremiah 31 where the language of a new covenant is used and where we are promised what we now have, that God will “forgive our wickedness and remember our sin no more.” With this we have set before us in a simple meal the greatest truth that addresses our greatest need - that our sins are forgiven. The greatest impediment in our relationship with the God who has made us is our own sin. We are conscious of our sin as it rears its ugly head in how we respond to those around us, in the twisted ways we think, in the hurtful things we do. But in the Lord’s Supper our consciousness of our sin is conquered by our communion with Christ because of what He has done for us. Christ’s blood is the final trump card which guarantees God’s acceptance of us as His sons and daughters. We receive Christ’s presence. What do we have when we receive Christ’s body and His blood? We receive His presence. What this presence means has been debated since the Reformation five hundred years ago. Rome maintained that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood, that their substance changes. Luther countered that there is not a change in the substance itself, but that Christ was nevertheless physically present in the elements. Calvin agreed that Christ was really present, but that reality was spiritual, not physical. Zwingli and the Anabaptists countered that Christ is nowhere to be found in the elements as they are our remembering Christ. For most of you, these may seem like splitting hairs and we do not have the time to delve into the intricacies of this important debate, but our text here does say something to this issue. Notice what Christ does say, what we should not take lightly: “This is my body, my blood.” There is something more than just bread and wine, more than just a memorial. The sacraments are deeply spiritual. Just as Jesus who was both divine and human, Emmanuel and Nazarene, so the sacraments are also deeply physical. In His Word Jesus talks to us; in His Supper Jesus touches us. As Jesus in His historical ministry healed in two ways, by talking and by touching, so also now in His risen ministry in the church He heals mainly by His Word in sermon and by His touch in Supper. The Supper is the tactile Word. As we are created by God and for God, God communicates with us in ways that are understandable to us as physical beings. God communicates His grace to us through His written Word, ink and paper, as well as through other physical means, other media: through water in Baptism and through bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper. The Sacraments do not give us something different from the Word. Both the Word and the Supper give us Christ. People come to faith as they read and hear the Word preached. We see with our eyes and hear with our ears, very tangible means, very physical. We are likewise strengthened and encouraged as we chew the bread and drink the wine, as we combine faith with the physical. The Lord’s Supper is the Word made visible. How does it work? Here is one answer someone once said: "It is a mystery of Christ's secret union with the believer which is by nature incomprehensible. If anybody should ask me how this communion takes place, I am not ashamed to confess that it is a secret too lofty for either my mind to comprehend or my words to declare. And to speak more plainly, I rather experience than understand it" (Institutes, IV, 17, 32). It may be a shock to you that it was John Calvin who said this. But in the Lord’s Supper God communicates to us Christ and all His benefits. He not only points to the gospel; it also makes the truth of the gospel more real in our lives. How it works, we don’t know. What it does do, we are told. In it we have not only the bare promise of Christ’s presence, but we have Christ’s presence made more real to us. As the Lord’s Supper is God coming to us to remind us of the certainty of His covenantal love for us, it does this by not just coming to us, but drawing us to Him. As we see the bread broken, we have a visual image before us of Christ broken for us. As you taste the bread and juice you are reminded that just as you are physically nourished by food, so you rely on God to spiritually nourish you as well. As we participate together we are reminded that we are recipients, beneficiaries of grace, that God made a promise, and kept His promise to remove our sins once and for all, that there is nothing in us which He finds displeasing, that like a father feeds His children, so God cares for us. As we take that morsel and the small sip, we, by the Holy Spirit who combines God’s spoken promise with our faith, are transported, if you will, from this cold and sterile Middle School auditorium to heaven. We are given a glimpse of the next great feast, the marriage supper of the Lamb. There, in the future, we will sit in the presence of the Father, without Judas the intruder, without our own sinful hearts accusing us, humbled by our sin and encouraged by God’s grace. But far too often, we find ourselves seated here as if in a doctor’s office, the Word poking and prodding us. Then out comes the small hammer, testing our reflexes. Our leg kicks the air and we take a piece of bread, wondering what we’ll do this afternoon. Then comes the cup. “What will we have for lunch?” “O I hope I get a chance to talk to her afterward, I have to get her that magazine I promised.” But all the while we reflexively respond to a routine we have forgotten the meaning of, God is presented before us in the simple and common elements. And He passes us right by. I can not encourage you enough to examine yourself when we have the Lord’s Supper in a special way. Prepare yourself to consider your need for a Savior; prepare yourself to see His love expressed to you by His death for you. Prepare yourself not to treat this as a strange rite in the church, something to endure. Rather, see it as God’s great communication to you, in such simple but profound form, that He cares for you. |
