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.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, 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 Corinthians 11:23-26 NIVUK
We are often a very forgetful people. And the faster the pace of life, the more we forget. If we're honest, that is. If we remember to be honest.
This is why we have monuments and memorials and statues all over our country. We are far too quick to forget the battles people fought to set us free and to form our nation. And, as the old saying goes, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
Our God knows we are forgetful. That's why we see His people setting up memorials on countless occasions throughout their history, many of them commanded by God.
And this is why we have the Lord's Supper. It is a memorial. Not just in the sense that we remember the tragic death of a religious leader who was cut down in His prime. That is not what the Lord's Supper is all about. Instead, the Lord's Supper is in place to remind us of three things.
Firstly, it is set up to remind us of the Godliness of God: of His character, His goodness, His love towards us. As Jesus Himself said:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:16-17 NIVUK
And Paul:
Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2 NIVUK
And John:
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
1 John 3:16 NIVUK
I have often read the misunderstanding that some atheists and humanists have. They cannot comprehend why a Christian would wear a cross around their neck. After all, a cross is an ancient instrument of torture and death. Their contention is that a modern, but less fashionable, equivalent would be a Walther PPK or an AK47 or a grenade or a bomb.
But they completely miss the point. For every believer, the cross is a greater symbol of love than any heart or flower or box of chocolates could ever be. Why? Because on that cross Jesus Christ, the Son of God, willingly gave up His life for us to be saved. What greater love could there be than that?
The elements of the Lord's Supper - the bread and the wine - are specifically designed to remind us of His sacrifice.
But they also speak of the wrath of God, of His fury towards sin.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 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, 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.
Romans 8:1-4 NIVUK
In other words, Jesus Christ bore God's wrath against our sin in our place. As the famous text in Isaiah states:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:5-6 NIVUK
As the old hymn states:
Bearing shame and scoffing rude
In my place condemned He stood
Sealed my pardon with His blood
Hallelujah, what a Saviour!
The bread and the wine speak of two completely indivisible parts of God's character: His love for us and His wrath against sin.
Love and wrath. Our politically correct, 'woke' culture cannot understand how both can co-exist in the same being. But they can. And they should. And they do. And there is nothing at all wrong with that.
Imagine you had a close relative who was a drug addict, and their addiction was slowly killing them. You would love the addict, wouldn't you? Of course you would! They are your relative. But you would hate their addiction with a passion. You would utterly despise the evil substances that have them in their heartless grip and hate them with a passion.
Now you understand a tiny part of how God can be both the God of love and be full of wrath.
The addictive and destructive nature of sin is writ large throughout Scripture in lurid details:
As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.
Proverbs 26:11 NIVUK
When tempted, no-one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
James 1:13-15 NIVUK
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Romans 7:14-25 NIVUK
Who would not hate that with a passion?
Is not God's wrath towards sin utterly and completely justified? Would any Father not utterly abhor the thing that is destroying His children and wreaking havoc in their lives? Of course He would!
But God, in His mercy, poured out His wrath against sin on His Own Son, as Paul explains:
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NIVUK
And the Lord's Supper reminds us of that fact.
As well as the Godliness of God, the Lord's Supper reminds us of the sinfulness of sin. This meal is not just to remind us of Jesus' victory over the grave. It is also to remind us of something else:
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
1 Corinthians 11:26 NIVUK
But if our Lord Jesus is risen from the dead - and He is - why would we want to proclaim His death, and do so until He comes again? Isn't that a little morbid?
There are two reasons why.
Firstly, to correct wrong thinking. The Corinthians were a Greek church. There was a popular false teaching - a blasphemy or heresy - that stated Jesus didn't actually die because He was never actually alive. It taught that He was really just a spirit.
There was a further false teaching - no less blasphemous or heretical - that states Jesus didn't actually die, but someone else died on the cross instead. This is a teaching that has found its way into Islam.
Others even believe the medically impossible idea that Jesus somehow swooned or fainted and was revived in the cool air of the tomb. This who believe this utter fantasy have little clue of the brutality of the cross. There is no way any human being could face the torturous treatment Jesus faced and only swoon.
The fact is that by taking the Lord's Supper, we proclaim that He lived and that He died.
But why did He have to die?
The Lord's Supper also corrects wrong actions. You see, the horrific violence is plainly visible in the elements Jesus chose. A Passover feast was on the table. There was roast lamb and herbs, and no doubt vegetables too. But Jesus chooses the simplest, most basic, most un-glamourous foodstuffs that were present. He wasn't striking a blow for veganism or mocking those with a gluten allergy.
No, the one thing both of these elements have in common is that they cannot be made without crushing. Grain must be crushed to make flour to make bread. Grapes must be crushed to make grape juice to make wine. These elements were designed specifically to highlight the blood-curdling violence of the cross.
Why? Because sin is so utterly sinful that a violent sacrifice is required to pay for it.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 NIVUK
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 2:1-2 NIVUK
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5 NIVUK
The elements of the Lord's Supper speak of a violent death that was necessary only because sin is so utterly sinful. If sin was not so bad, if it could be dismissed with a shake of the hand or a pat on the back and a "Well, you've made a mistake, just don't do it again", then there would be no need for the cross and no Lord's Supper. But the fact that Jesus died a violent death on the cross and the existence of the Lord's Supper tells us that sin is utterly awful, completely sinful.
But why is it so bad? Why is it so sinful?
Because sin is an act of rebellious disobedience against God. Sin is us saying that we know better than the Almighty Creator of the Universe. Sin is us rebelling against the rule of the One who created the rules that govern creation. Sin is idolatry: it is worship of self instead of worship of God.
You'll have noticed that in Romans 6:23 Paul uses the word 'sin'. He is not just talking here about individual wrong deeds. No, he is talking about sin as a concept - as a rebellious attitude within us that causes wrong action.
This is what we are confronted with when we see the bread and wine. They represent the reality of the sinfulness of sin; of it being so utterly heinous that such a dreadful price had to be paid to deal with it.
The Lord's Supper should never be just a 'tick box exercise': a religious ritual we have to do because it's what we do. If we can find ourselves before reminders of such an incredible sacrifice to pay for our sin and find ourselves being blase or seeing it as part of our weekly routine then we really have lost sight of its meaning and purpose
And that's just it. The Lord's Supper speaks of the Godliness of God and the sinfulness of sin, but it also speaks of the human-ness of humans. Imagine: Jesus undergoes the horrors of the cross because of us and on our behalf, yet we need a regular ritual meal to remind ourselves of it. Our sins pin him to that cross, yet we need a regular reminder of their awfulness in order to confess them and repent.
There really ought to be no need for the Lord's Supper. But the fact that there is speaks volumes, not just about the greatness of what God has done, but also of our need to be reminded of such an earth-shattering event.
When Paul was setting the standards for the wayward Corinthian church to follow, he stated this about the correct approach to the Lord's Supper:
Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
1 Corinthians 11:28-29 NIVUK
In other words, the Lord's Supper is a memory aid. It reminds us of the Godliness of God and the sinfulness of sin. In doing so, it should remind us of the human-ness of humans - of our own human-ness, of our own sinfulness and failings. It should cause us to be healthily introspective, to think on the times when we have strayed and got things wrong. It should cause us to confess our sins and repent of them.
The Lord's Supper should be a joyous event, but only after first bring a sombre and sober event. We find joy in the fact that we have the opportunity to repent because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross, but to find that joy we must first repent.
If you find the Lord's Supper to be a dry, mundane occasion, something of a ritual or a routine, then it has lost all meaning for you and something needs to change. Maybe it's time you allowed the elements to trigger for you the memory of what Jesus did for you on the cross. Then - surely then - the Lord's Supper will become a transformational event for you.
As well as the church's memory, the Lord's Supper also speaks about THE CHURCH'S EQUALITY.
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