The Lord’s Supper Matt 26:26-30 1 Cor 11:26-30. Many cups and wafers….

The Lord’s SupperMatt 26:26-301 Cor 11:26-30

Many cups and wafers….

…or single

cup and loaf of bread?

Real wine, grape juice or cordial?

Type of bread?(leavened, normal bread, wafers, etc)

Clergy or laity to administer?(also, do we stand, sit or kneel…)

Can women preside over?Can we do it at home?Different meanings?

Who can take it?

• Ordinance• Sacrament• Holy Mass• Eucharist• Communion• Lord’s Supper• Sacred Feast• Breaking of

bread

What do you call it anyway?

The first Lord’s Supper as recorded by Matthew

• Happens during the Jewish Passover Feast (v 17).

• Jesus gives the commandment to break bread while the disciples were eating (v26).

• The phrase “this is my body” (v26) is identical in all 3 accounts of the Synoptic Gospels and also as recorded by Paul in 1 Cor 11:24.

• The Lord’s Supper confirms the New Covenant (v28).

• Ends with singing of hymn (v30).

The backdrop to the Lord’s Supper

1) Points us to the Grand Feast between God and man.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat, this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all if you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Matt 26:26-29

The supper club

The Lord’s Supper reminds us to draw closer to God.

• Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites, they saw God, and they ate and drank.

Exodus 24:9-11 – context: the Covenant confirmed.

• Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”

Rev 19:9 – context : the Covenant fully realized.

Feasting with God

• The highlight of feasting with God is worship (Rev 10).

• The highlight of worship in the early church was the Lord’s Supper.

• The highlight of the Lord’s Supper is the Gospel.• The highlight of many early Christian’s week was to

celebrate the Lord’s Supper.• Is that highlight nowadays being replaced with other

things?

The backdrop to the Lord’s Supper

1) Points us to the Grand feast between God and man.2) Emphasizes the importance of sacredness.

Sacrament – from Latin saco (“hallow, consecrate”) and sacer (“sacred, holy”). In Ancient Rome, the term meant a soldier’s oath of allegiance. Source: Wikipedia

Is there sacredness in modern churches today?

In the United States, 59% of people ages 18 to 29 with a Christian background have at some point, dropped out. In response, many churches have sought to lure millennials back back by focusing on style points: cooler bands, hipper worship, edgier programming, impressive technology.

And contrary to popular belief, the fog machines and light shows at those slick evangelical conferences didn’t make things better for me. They made the whole endeavor feel shallow, forced and fake.

What finally brought me back, after years of running away; it was the sacraments. The sacraments are what make the church relevant, no matter the culture or era. They don’t need to be repackaged or rebranded; they just need to be practiced, offered and explained in the context of a loving, authentic and inclusive community.

Rachel Held Evans- Christian blogger, author

Sacredness does not necessarily mean a return

to traditional services

A sacred moment

• We are still to revere and fear God.• We examine our sins.• We face ourselves more honestly without

distractions.

The backdrop to the Lord’s Supper

1) Points us to the Grand feast between man and God.2) Emphasizes the importance of sacredness.3) Teaches us the spiritual discipline of remembrance.

The Lord’s Supper is as much as spiritual discipline as praying, serving and reading your bible. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42

God uses 2 tools to aid us in remembrance- symbols and rituals.

These churches make a token of practicing the Eucharist occasionally, just because they are plainly commanded by Christ. But they have no real meaning of efficacy. If something is merely symbolic, it must be unimportant and unnecessary. It becomes a mere “symbolic act of obedience”- read, “We do this just because He said to do it.”

If it doesn’t do anything – if it in itself isn’t necessary for salvation, and doesn’t further the Kingdom of God- then why should we bother doing it? I often get the feeling that these churches feel that the Eucharist merely gets in the way of the more important work of the church, preaching and teaching and evangelizing.

Jarod Grice (Redeemer Theological Seminary)- relevantmagazine.com

Lamb shank represents the lamb sacrificed

Egg and parsley represents new life outside Egypt

Bitter herbs and lettuce in salt water- represents bitterness of slavery

Charoset represents the works of bricks and mortar

Matzo bread represents Israelites left in a hurry

Passover meal symbolism.

Symbols reinforce remembrance because they carry emotions.

Rituals reinforce remembrance by building a shared identity.

What do we remember?

1) The benefits of Christ’s death.2) The importance of the body of Christ.3) The need to have Christ in us.

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Cor 11:23-26

1)The benefits of Christ death

• Remember the suffering of Christ.• Remember the love of Christ.• Remember our covenant with Christ.• Ask how we can proclaim His death in our daily lives,

not just at communion.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

John 15:13- Context: The last supper.

2) The importance of the body of Christ

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

1 Cor 11.27

Who attended Jesus' supper club

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and “sinners”.’

Matt 11:18-19

The body of Christ is Christ in the body.

• A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.

1 Cor 11:28

• Because there is one loaf, we who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.

1 Cor 10:17

• Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar first go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

Matt 5:25

3) Remembering the need to have Christ in us

“You are what you eat”

How do we “eat” the body of Jesus?

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat, this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all if you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sins.”

Matt 26:26-28

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Cor 11:23-26

Is this literal or symbolic?

Doctrine of Transubstantiation (“real presence”)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church :-• 790…the Eucharist, by which “really sharing in the body of the Lord,

….we are taken into communion with him and one another.• 1106…You ask how the bread becomes the Body of Christ, and the

wine…the Blood of Christ, I shall tell you: the Holy Spirit comes upon them and accomplishes what surpasses every word and thought…Let it be enough for you to understand that it is by the Holy Spirit, just as it was of the Holy Spirit that the Lord, through and in himself, took flesh.

“If any one saith, that Christ, given in the Eucharist, is eaten spiritually only, and not sacramentally and really; let him be anathema.” (Chapter 8, Canon VIII) * Note: Anathema- cut off from God, damned.

• Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

John 6:53-57

Christ’s death and resurrection does away with priest needing to offer sacrifices every week for the remission of sins.Hebrews 9: 11-14, 24-26

To eat of the flesh of Christ and to drink of His blood is a one off event, not something to be repeated every time during mass. John 6:54

Symbolism in scripture

• I am the true vine( John 15:1)

• I am the door (John 10:9)

• I am the bread (John 6:41)

• Wisdom as food and wine (Proverbs 9:5).

• The church as the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12, Eph 1:23).

Other issues

• Danger of ritual saving you, not grace.• Danger that we do no have to change our lives as we have had

mass and confession to cleanse our sins.• Catholic doctrine of “real presence” only came about in

Medieval period. None of the early church fathers ever teach when the bread and wine becomes Christ. (Note: However none of the early Nicene church fathers also ever saw the Lord’s Supper as purely symbolic).

• Places too much emphasis on the mystery of the bread and wine, instead of on believers who take it in an unworthy manner.

3) Remembering the need to have Christ in us

• Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me and will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 6:35

• Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

John 6:56-57

The mystery of the abiding presence of Christ.

• Christ Jesus who died- more than that, who was raised to life- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Romans 8:34

• For when two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.

Matthew 18:20

Back to the other controversies…

The bigger issue-traditions

• Are our beliefs grounded in scripture or traditions?

• Are we willing to change our traditions for the sake of spiritual growth?

• Do we bother to learn from early church traditions (eg: 2 Thess 2:15)?

This will become a tradition very soon

The Lord’s Supper as recorded in Scripture

• Was done weekly on the first day of the week (Sunday).

Acts 20: 7-12

• Was done at home. Acts 2:46

• Was celebrated together with community meal. 1 Cor 11:20-21

The Lord’s Supper as practiced by the early church

• Readings from Old and New Testament ‘for as long as time permits’.

• The President of the homily gives a homily.• Prayers and intercession.• Kiss of peace.• The President ‘offers prayers and thanksgivings

according to his ability.’• Communion taken to the sick and absent.• Collection for those in need. Extracted from the 1st Apology of Justin Martyr (100-

165)

The Lord’s Supper was the highlight of the early church worship service (not the singing, message, etc)

Who should NOT be allowed to partake of the Lord’s Supper?

• Because there is one loaf, we who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.

1 Cor 10:17

The sacred feast

• Prepare your body, heart and mind before the service.

• Remember it’s a community affair.

• Self examine our sins - to each other, to outsiders and to God.

• Confess and reaffirm our covenant.

• Remembering must lead to doing.