St.
Luke 22:7-20
“This is my body
given for you; do this in remembrance of me
. . . . This cup is the new
covenant (testament) in my blood which is poured out for you.”
Whose Words are these? They are not mine. They are not yours. They are the Lord’s! The Words of the Lord who created everything by
means of His Word! Through His
speaking! His speaking that does and
gives precisely what He says. Like at
the beginning when He spoke “Let there be . . .” and there was
light and everything in creation! This
is the same Lord who speaks to the dead.
‘Talitha koum (Little girl get up!)’” and, “‘Lazarus, come out!’”
Was His speaking a nothing? Were His Words just the words of a man? No!
They are divine – Holy Spirit filled – words of power! His words do exactly what they say!
Now on the night before He dies
the Lord Jesus draws up His last will and testament. He is of sound mind. He is quite sober. He knows what He is doing. Everything is very deliberate and in
order. From the directions about all the
preparations of the room to what He does and says regarding the Passover meal’s
bread and wine.
Will you let the Lord Jesus have
His say? Or will you dare to interrupt
Him? Adjust His Words to what you think
He should have said? Would you presume to
appoint yourself as a preacher with better words than Jesus? Preach your own sermon as an upgrade to
Jesus’ Words? A Lord’s Supper Version
2.1?
It goes like this, “The bread only symbolizes Jesus’ body! The cup of wine is simply a symbol of His
blood. In other words, all that’s there
on the altar and in my mouth are bread and wine The body and blood of Jesus aren’t
there! Can’t be because it just doesn’t
make sense to me.!”
Is that what Jesus said? Of course not! Not even close! You’ve subtracted! You’ve taken away what He clearly proclaims! “Is” means “is”! The Lord Jesus, in His last will and
testament categorically proclaims that the bread IS His body and that the cup
of wine IS the new testament in His blood!
He tells you what it is. He preaches what He gives. What He says He gives! What He gives is what He says! Lord Jesus gets the first and last word! Not you!
He has His say-so! Not you! It is the Lord’s Supper! Not your Supper! He emphatically says that the Bread IS His Body. He definitively declares that the cup of Wine
is His Blood. To be eaten and to be
drunk with your mouth!
Or if you don’t like Lord’s
Supper 2.1, perhaps you know Lord’s Supper Version 2.2?
Or
maybe it’s about sacrifice, the Lord’s Supper is me giving back to Jesus, me
earning something from him. Look how
holy I am – see how many great things I’ve done! I come to the Lord’s Supper, look at this
great work I do as I come up to the altar rail.
Look at my work, at my life, and how by coming I’m doing such a great
thing for Jesus – lessening his work by my holy life. The Lord’s supper is only good because of my
work, my belief, and my thought!
Wow! That’s quite a Lord’s Supper 2.2! I have to ask you again. Where did you get all that from the Lord’s
Words? Is that what the Lord Jesus
says? Of course He doesn’t! You’ve added to what He said! Like Eve did in her conversation with Satan
in Eden about eating from the forbidden middle Tree! And you know how all that ended! In total disaster for Adam and Eve! And for all their descendants! So why in the world would you want to pull
another Adam and Eve and add to the Lord’s Words?
It’s time that you die to all
this thinking and practicing that the Lord’s Supper is something that you do for
God! Good grief! That’s getting the Sacrament totally
backwards! Jesus is very clear that His
Supper is “for you” and not for His Father! It is pure gift from Jesus to you!
When He institutes this Sacrament
as His last will and testament He is talking – proclaiming – preaching TO HIS
DISCIPLES! “Take this bread and eat it. This is my body GIVEN FOR YOU. Take this cup and drink from it. It is the new testament in my blood poured out
FOR YOU.” “For you” talk is gift talk! His Body and His Blood are for you!
THE LORD’S SUPPER IS NOT WHAT WE
DO, GIVE OR SACRIFICE TO GOD! IT IS THE
LORD’S GIVING – HIS PREACHING – HIS HANDING OVER AND GIVING OF THE GOSPEL TO
YOU!
Finally, when Jesus asserts that
the cup of wine is the New Testament in His blood, His point is that God’s
prophecy through Jeremiah is at hand!
Right before your very eyes every time you go to the Sacrament! “‘The time is coming,’ declares the LORD,
‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah . . . This is the covenant I will
make with the house of Israel . . . I
will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my
people . . . For I WILL FORGIVE THEIR WICKEDNESS AND WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS
NO MORE.’”
“I will make a new covenant . . . I will be their God . . . I will forgive their sins!” Jesus does and gives these promises in the
Lord’s Supper. For you! In Matthew’s account of the Lord’s Supper
Jesus says about the cup of wine: “
‘Drink from it, all of you. This my
blood of the new testament which is poured out for many FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF
SINS,” (Matthew 26:27-28)!
This is how Jesus is God for
you! His Body and His Blood He gives you
to eat and drink with the promise that all your sin is forgiven. Those are the
Words of the Lord Jesus who died for you! He says so! He does not lie! It is most certainly true!
Happy eating and drinking tonight
according to the Lord’s Words!
In the name of Jesus.
