Matthew 30-26:26 NIVUK
[26] 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.’ [27] Then he took a
cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave 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 from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’ [30] When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Never have so few words been impregnated with so much meaning.
Yet rarely have so few words been so badly misunderstood.
This was a deeply meaningful, deeply profound moment for Jesus and His disciples, yet one we breeze through without even thinking of it, even when we’re at the Communion table.
It reminds me of the often-told anecdote of when we visited Berlin while my daughter was a toddler. I had watched the Berlin Wall being dismantled on TV in 1989. To touch it, to view it at the East Side Gallery, to read the plaques about what happened there, was something so profound for me.
But it was largely lost on my daughter.
My wife asked her, ‘So, what do you think of the Berlin Wall?’
She thought for a second. ‘It’s all broken down.’ she replied. ‘They should have left it the way it was.’
And that’s just it, isn’t it? Whether through over-familiarity or immaturity or simply a desire to ‘get it over and done with’, we often miss the deep significance of these moments.
Well, no more.
I hope you will join me in exploring three of the deep meanings of this plain, but deeply meaningful meal.
We begin with noting that this Passover meal, from which we derive our Communion, is a symbol of Death.
Perhaps you didn’t expect me to start there.
But think about the main elements of a Passover meal, as given to Moses (Exodus 12:1-9).
This feast, commemorated by Jesus and His disciples, featured roast lamb, which had been slaughtered, yeast-less bread, made of grains which had been crushed under a millstone, and wine, from grapes which had been trodden underfoot. Not to mention the bitter herbs, which had been plucked from the garden.
Everything on that table was a symbol of suffering and death.
And this is deliberate:
Exodus 7-12:6 NIVUK
[6] Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. [7] Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door-frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. [12] ‘On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. [13] The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. https://bible.com/bible/113/exo.12.12.NIVUK
The Jews were saved by the blood of a dead lamb from a plague that cost the lives of every single firstborn in Egypt, whether human or animal.
John the Baptist took this picture and declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God:
John 1:29 NIVUK
[29] The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
In other words, Jesus is the sacrifice to save God’s people from slavery – but not to the Egyptians. He saves us from slavery to sin (John 8:34; Romans 6:16-18, 7:14).
That is why Passover, or any Communion, must remind us of death:
1 Corinthians 11:26 NIVUK
[26] For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
At the heart of both meaningful religious celebrations is an act of violence against someone or something that is pure and innocent. That is jarring for us, especially those of us from more modern generations. We can’t fathom how something so beautiful could come from something so apparently ugly. Even modern theologians struggle with this.
But there is a very good reason why a violent act lies at the heart of our religion: because the horror of sin requires a horrible response. The violence of sin requires a violent response.
The Bible is painfully clear:
Hebrews 9:22 NIVUK
[22] In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
The cross is so awful because sin is so awful.
Communion is a chance for us to reflect on the fact that sin might be easy, but it is not cheap, and the price to save us from it was difficult and very high. It is a reminder that our life came at the price of a death. It teaches us the deep value of our salvation, and reminds us that we should never neglect it or take it for granted.
Communion is an act of remembrance. But it is definitely not a funeral.
Communion and Passover don’t just talk about death. They also reminds us of Deliverance.
To the Jews, Passover is a time when they remember their deliverance from slavery in Egypt:
Exodus 4-13:3 NIVUK
[3] Then Moses said to the people, ‘Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. [4] Today, in the month of Aviv, you are leaving. https://bible.com/bible/113/exo.13.3.NIVUK
Deuteronomy 25-6:20 NIVUK
[20] In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?’ [21] tell him: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. [22] Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders – great and terrible – on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. [23] But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. [24] The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. [25] And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.’
Now, I have little doubt that it is a humbling experience to reflect that your people were slaves, were unable to free themselves and were freed by an act of God. Of course it is!
But, and this is really important, it is not just true of the Jews. It is true of all people.
We were all once slaves who could not free themselves.
But we were not slaves of other people. No, we were slaves of sin:
John 8:34 NIVUK
[34] Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.8.34.NIVUK
Romans 6:20 NIVUK
[20] When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. [21] What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!
Now, with all that has happened over the centuries, that is truly an uncomfortable, and for some, perhaps offensive, thought.
However, that doesn’t stop it being true.
Think about it: a slave has to obey their master’s every whim, without question. Many of us find that we follow our own selfish impulses, and get highly offended if anyone questions them.
A slave has no choices, no agency, no freedom. If you have ever met an addict, or been an addict, of anything, you will know what this means.
Very often, a slave has few, if any, ways to escape their awful predicament. Likewise, when sin holds us fast, it is very difficult to escape.
This is why, again and again in Scripture, we see being caught in sin compared to the Jewish slavery in Egypt – and by Jewish authors.
We shouldn’t be surprised at people having a hard time with this. The Jewish leaders – the experts in their own history – were highly offended by it:
John 33-8:31 NIVUK
[31] To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. [32] Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ [33] They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’
It may be hard to take and difficult to stomach, it may offend our dignity and sense of self, but that doesn’t stop it being true.
In the same way the lamb’s blood on the door frame delivered the Jews from slavery and death, so Jesus’ shed blood delivers us:
Acts 39-13:38 NIVUK
[38] ‘Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. [39] Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. https://bible.com/bible/113/act.13.38.NIVUK
Romans 4-8:1 NIVUK
[1] Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, [2] because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. [3] For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. https://bible.com/bible/113/rom.8.1.NIVUK
At Communion we remember a death, but we also remember the deliverance that death brought for us, and we are grateful.
Apart from death and deliverance, there is one last, and often forgotten, aspect of Passover and Communion that we remember: that of Departure.
The Jews were given very precise descriptions about Passover, and not just what they should eat and how they should cook it, but even how they should eat it:
Exodus 12:11 NIVUK
[11] This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. https://bible.com/bible/113/exo.12.11.NIVUK
Two things are very unusual here.
Firstly, the clothes they should wear. Given the lack of footwear choices that would protect the foot against the dust, heat and filth of the road, allied to the fact that Jews ate reclined at a low table (see Luke 7:36 and 22:14 for examples), footwear was removed and feet washed before eating. So to eat with their sandals on, not to mention their outer cloak, was quite something.
And to eat a meal like this – a festival meal – in haste instead of savouring it is also quite unusual.
But there is a very good reason for it: their departure. It was sudden. At short notice.
Likely not long after midnight:
Exodus 33-12:29 NIVUK
[29] At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. [30] Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. [31] During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. [32] Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.’ [33] The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. ‘For otherwise,’ they said, ‘we will all die!’
This was also the practical reason why their bread was unleavened – they had no time to add the yeast to the dough and give it time to rise (Exodus 12:39). Hence it became known as the ‘bread of affliction’ (Deuteronomy 16:3).
So everything points to a sudden, speedy departure.
This is an area we have so much to learn about. When the Jews were given their freedom, yes, they celebrated it with a festival, but no, they did not party. They did not hold parades or sing or dance.
No, they got themselves ready and left. Soon as they could. Fast as they could.
There is a very big, and challenging, object lesson here for us, and one to which we must be attentive. If we have been freed from addiction and dependency to sin, it does us no good at all to stay in the place where we were tempted. That is such a bad idea.
The teaching throughout the Bible is that we should be radical with our sin – as radical as the Jews were when they left Egypt – and that we should flee from the sources of our temptation as quickly and as far as possible.
For example:
Jeremiah 51:45 NIVUK
[45] ‘Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord. https://bible.com/bible/113/jer.51.45.NIVUK
Revelation 5-18:4 NIVUK
[4] Then I heard another voice from heaven say: ‘ “Come out of her, my people,” so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; [5] for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. https://bible.com/bible/113/rev.18.4.NIVUK
1 Timothy 6:11 NIVUK
[11] But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
That is why Jesus was so direct in the Sermon on the Mount when it came to temptation:
Matthew 30-5:29 NIVUK
[29] If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. [30] And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. https://bible.com/bible/113/mat.5.29.NIVUK
The call of the Passover, and also of Communion, is to recognise the seriously high cost of our sin, in that it caused the death of out Lord Jesus on the cross, to thank Him for the deliverance we have from our sin, but also to repent and flee from it. After all, what use is there in seeing how much it cost Jesus to save us, to thank Him for that salvation, and then to deliberately choose to do the things that caused Him to die in the first place?
That is far from correct.
So the next time you sit down to eat the Lord’s Supper, examine yourself – absolutely (1 Corinthians 11:28). Fix issues in your relationships – absolutely (Matthew 5:23-24).
But when you identify that something you have said or done, or not said or not done, has got you into this mess, be equally as ready to repent, flee from it and not do it again.
Don’t just celebrate your freedom – exercise it!
This was a very poignant, significant celebration. It perfectly illustrates God’s plan to save us and change our lives.
However, reactions to this plan were not altogether positive.
The disciples ignored it. We see their reaction here:
Luke 22:24 NIVUK
[24] A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. https://bible.com/bible/113/luk.22.24.NIVUK
This is nothing short of scandalous. Jesus has just explained His death, and the extraordinarily painful way in which He will die (Luke 22:19-20). He has just explained the horrible truth that He is about to be betrayed by one of His own disciples (Luke 22:21-23).
So what do His disciples do?
They use this as an opportunity to jostle for position.
Galling! Completely and utterly galling!
Jesus’ patience with them in the verses that follow this completely inappropriate behaviour is just astonishing (see Luke 22:25-30).
And yet this is not the only time it happened.
The Corinthian church – which had no tradition of a Passover meal as they were majority Gentile – turned Communion into something that wasn’t even a shared meal. Instead, it was an excuse for gluttony and drunkenness for the rich while the poorer members starved (1 Corinthians 11:20-22).
Further astonishing behaviour, designed to express the differences between the members of the Body of Christ.
Also not acceptable.
There is a strong lesson for us here. There is no room at all, anywhere, in the Body of Christ for power plays, politics or manoeuvring for position. They are all completely wrong. Totally inappropriate.
The second reaction is also wrong. Judas rejected it. He betrayed Jesus.
Judas, a man who was clearly using his position as one of Christ’s followers for his own personal gain, clearly believes that this gain is disappearing from his grasp (why else would his first contact with the Jewish authorities take place immediately after he was rebuked following the anointing of Jesus' feet? See Matthew 26:14-16), and so he walks out of the very room where Jesus has proclaimed again His suffering and death, and ensures that it will happen by betraying Him to the Jewish authorities.
Again, quite an astounding thing to happen. Here is a man who clearly has no love, or even respect, for the man he has betrayed.
And yet we see the same thing happening over and over and over again. People standing beneath an image of the cross where Jesus died and betraying Him for nothing more than financial gain. I recently read of a pastor in America who told his congregation in an online church that God had told him to set up a digital currency and God had told him that they should invest in it. He made a fortune. The currency went bust. Thousands of people lost everything.
A modern day Judas: personal gain before the glory of the God he claims to worship.
This bare naked betrayal when personal gain is no longer available happens time and time and time again in the church. Hardships cruelly expose the reasons why people darken the threshold of a church. As Jesus illustrated in the Parable of the Sower, those whose motivations are wrong are soon gone (Matthew 13:20-21).
Some of them will actively deny Jesus in public and effectively become anti-Christs.
But Jesus’ reaction to this extraordinarily painful situation ought to leave our mouth’s gaping in awe and wonder.
Jesus embraced it. And in such a simple, matter-of-fact way. Look at His last words before He led His disciples out of that upper room:
John 14:31 NIVUK
[31] ‘Come now; let us leave.’
Jesus leaves the upper room, taking eleven of the Twelve with Him. He makes no attempt to change His routine. He does not even change His route. Look what John noticed:
John 18:1 NIVUK
[1] When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. [2] Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.18.1.NIVUK
Let these facts sink deep into your soul. On a night when Jesus knows the Jewish authorities are going to take any opportunity they can to arrest Him, but won’t do it in daylight, He leaves the upper room at night.
On a night when Jesus knows they will not arrest Him inside the city for fear of how the people might react (Matthew 26:5; Mark 14:2), He leaves the city.
On a night when He knows He has been betrayed by one of His own, a man who knows all His habits and routines, Jesus goes to the garden where He usually goes with His disciples.
I don’t know if you have ever known criminals or people who are on the wrong side of the law. Let me tell you, they do not do this. If they realise they are in the wrong and might get caught, they evade justice, they skip town, they cross a state line, they live their lives on the run.
They do not at all stick with their daily routine.
Jesus did not run from His Father’s plan. He did not evade it.
He walked towards it. He embraced it.
To save you and I.
Out of love.
And our Communion, our Lord’s Supper – whatever you want to call it – is a commemoration of that glorious fact.
So let us never forget.
Let us never forget that it is a commemoration of death – a death that defeated death and a resurrection that brought life.
Let us never forget that it is a commemoration of deliverance – our deliverance from the destructive clutches of sin.
Let us never forget that it is a commemoration of our departure – from hell, yes, but also from sin. And let us never, ever, even consider returning.
Choeung Ek in Phom Penh is a very interesting place. Look at it from afar, and you see a quite attractive black, white and yellow Buddhist stupa with an orchard and rolling fields nearby.
Draw close and you see that it is a monument containing thousands of human skulls in glass cases. And beneath those rolling hills is the mass grave of thousands of victims of the barbarism of the Khmer Rouge, who swept through Cambodia following the Vietnam War in 1975 and, up until 1979, slayed a million of their fellow countrymen, reducing those left alive to absolute poverty.
That shocking monument is a reminder to Cambodians, and the world, to never turn back to the barbarous communism of their past.
The reason why we have a violent act at the centre of our faith is to remind us of the horrors of sin that brought about the evil in Cambodia, and, indeed, every evil that has ever been perpetrated under the sun, so that we are reminded of its painful cost.
But also, that Jesus Christ has delivered us from it in grace and love and given us a glorious opportunity to live again.
Less than a week before I wrote this, a prisoner was executed in USA. Sadly, that is not unusual. There is a tradition in some states whereby a prisoner is offered a last meal before they die. It’s as if the state wants to offer one last crumb of humanity before enacting their vengeance on the criminal.
This is Jesus’ last supper. This is His last meal. He has done not one single thing wrong, but He is about to be arrested, tried in a court where the verdict was predetermined, found guilty and executed in the most inhumane way imaginable.
He already knows all this.
Yet Jesus is about to embrace it. While His disciples either battle for power or betray Him for money, Jesus endures all this injustice, ignominy, pain and agony for us.
Out of love.
To give us the chance to live a new life.
Communion can never be routine. Not anymore.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, forgive me for ever taking Communion lightly. I can’t now. Not now I know what it means. Thank You for loving me so much that You went to the cross and died for me. Amen.
Questions
1. What is so significant about Jesus celebrating the Passover with His disciples before He is crucified?
2. Why did Judas and Jesus’ other disciples react the way they did?
3. How did Jesus react to the truth the Passover proclaimed? How will you approach Communion now?
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