Please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 26. Matthew 26, our focus is on verses 26 to 30, the institution of the Lord's Supper by our Lord Jesus Christ. So Matthew chapter 26, I'll begin reading at verse 17. We'll read to verse 30.

So Matthew 26, beginning in verse 17. Now on the first day of the feast of the unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying to him, where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover? And he said, go into the city to a certain man and say to him, the teacher says, my time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.

So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. And when evening had come, he sat down with the twelve. Now as they were eating, he said, Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to him, Lord, is it I?

He answered and said, he who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me. The son of man indeed goes just as it is written of him. But woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.

Then Judas, who was betraying him, answered and said, Rabbi, is it I? He said to him, you have said it. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat, this is my body. Then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Our Father, we thank you for the written word of the living and true God. We thank you for the sacraments that you have given to the church. We thank you, Lord God, that you bless us richly and you give us these things to help us, to strengthen us, and to fortify us as we make pilgrimage in this lower world. We thank you, Lord, as the householder, as the God who owns the church.

You have blessed us with this privilege to gather together in a special way to remember our Lord's death. And even now, again, we pray for the ministry and the aid of the Holy Spirit and that our hearts would be encouraged and strengthened. And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.

Introduction

Well, as we look at this particular section with reference to the institution of the supper, we have in the first place the setting of the Lord's Supper in verse 26a, and then secondly the institution of the supper in verses 26b to 29, and then finally the conclusion of the Lord's Supper in verse 30. Again, I thought it would be good for us in these Lord's Supper services to look at Matthew's passion narrative not every jot and tittle and not every section, but some of the sections that owe themselves or lend themselves well to our meditation at the Lord's Supper in our worship services. But in the first place,

Setting of the Lord's Supper

look at the setting of the supper. They are celebrating the exodus. They are engaged in the feast of Passover. That's what we find in verses 17 to 25.

The Passover was instituted prior to the exodus from Egypt, and in the same way, the supper is instituted prior to this new exodus. And that's really what's happening in terms of the life and the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a new exodus. Intriguingly, John's gospel is basically structured around three Passover feasts.

At the Mount of Transfiguration in Luke's gospel, we see that Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus and they're talking to him about his exodus, literally his departure. But the word is exodus, his departure from this earth. Christ is our Passover, according to the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. And this is significant in this particular context, that old Passover, that that memorial meal connected to that grand redemptive event where God, where Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, is being fulfilled in a greater way now by our Lord Jesus Christ in the exodus from sin through the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

Betrayal Foretold at Passover

Notice in verse 21, he prophesies his betrayal. Now, as they were eating, he said, Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. He's already alerted them that he will, in fact, die. on several occasions in Matthew's gospel, chapter 16, chapter 17, chapter 20, and then again at the beginning of chapter 26, he indicates to the disciples that it's a necessity laid upon him that he go to Jerusalem, that he be tried at the hands of these guilty men, and that he ultimately be crucified and resurrected from the dead. So they're having the Passover, they're remembering the exodus, and then Jesus institutes the supper.

And

Institution of the Supper

that brings us to verses 26b to 29. Notice in the first place the administration of the supper. When the Passover was celebrated, the various elements involved were explained. The father of the family would indicate to the children and to the servants and to everybody in attendance the significance of what was happening.

The bitter herbs and the lamb and the various cups. There were four cups of wine that were utilized during this particular feast and such was probably the case here in the institution of the supper by our Lord Jesus Christ. So

The Bread: Body of Christ

the first part of it is the bread. Notice in verse 26, as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body. Now this blessing was commonplace. We see Jesus on the occasions where he fed the multitudes.

Blessing God, thanking God, expressing His gratitude to the Father for the gift of bread, for the gift of food. The language of that prayer would sound something like, blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the world, who bring forth bread from the earth. The supper is instituted here by Jesus Christ, and He transitions now where this bread that was commonly used for nourishment alone is being consecrated for a special use. It's not being changed, it's not becoming something other, it is not taking on new properties, but rather it is moving from a common use to a more special use, and that is what's highlighted here in the supper.

Again, the bread and the wine that we participate in do not become changed, they do not undergo some metamorphosis, but rather we move them from a common ordinary use to a special use. They don't have particular beneficial properties in and of themselves, but rather they are consecrated for the use by the people of God in this ordinance given by God. And then notice the distribution of the bread. As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples.

And then the symbolism follows. He said, take, eat, this is my body. Now when he says, this is my body, we need to understand that he is saying, this represents my body. They would have never thought that a metamorphosis had occurred.

They would have never thought that there had been a change, that transubstantiation had obtained. They would not have thought that. Jesus uses that kind of language throughout his ministry. He uses these I am statements with a predicate.

He says, I am the bread of life. He says, I am the true vine. I am the good shepherd. These are things designed to teach us something concerning his ministry, concerning his person, and concerning his word.

So when he says, this is my body, he is not teaching transubstantiation. He is not teaching that I have somehow now transferred this or my body to this piece of bread and it's actually become my body. No, this represents my body is the way that we ought to understand it. Our confession says the outward elements in this ordinance duly set apart to the uses ordained by Christ have such relation to him crucified as that truly Although in terms used figuratively, they are sometimes called by the name of the things they represent, to wit, the body and blood of Christ.

Albeit in substance and nature, they still remain truly and only bread and wine as they were before. manner of speaking. It's a way of communication. There is metaphor used by our Lord, and certainly He is using it here. He is not saying, this is actually my body, but rather this represents my body.

And then He highlights the particular focus involved. Remember, he's already told them, he must go to Jerusalem, he must be crucified at the hands of godless men. And notice the focus here when he says, or he says, take, eat, this is my body. The various elements involved, or rather just before that, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body.

So it's broken for you, and this symbolizes the death of Jesus for us as his people. So again, the idea that it actually becomes the body of Christ is foreign to this particular context. But the idea that it represents the body of Christ is present in the context. So that when we participate in this, when we think through this, we ought to receive the benefit associated with it.

Christ does this, or Christ did this for us. He goes to the cross not because He's a malefactor. He goes to the cross not because He's a political criminal. He goes to the cross not because He's an insurrectionist or a robber.

He goes to the cross because we're all those things. And this broken bread represents His body that is broken for us as a result of our sin. And then the emphasis is seen in the language, this is my body, and then in a parallel passage in Luke 22, do this in remembrance of me. And the idea here is spiritual nourishment.

Again, our confession says for the perpetual remembrance, we definitely do this in remembrance of Christ. But the confession does not stop there. It is more than a memorial, and our confession of faith goes on to say, "...and showing forth the sacrifice in His death, confirmation of the faith of believers, and all the benefits thereof, their spiritual nourishment and growth in Him." In other words, it's not empty ritual, it's not simply a time to remember, but God, by the Spirit, is giving grace to us as we participate in this particular sacrament. It is a blessed thing designed by our Father to encourage and strengthen His people along the way.

And that's why very often we try and remind that it's not good to absent oneself from the Lord's Supper. Because if you're struggling, if you're hurting, if you're having hardship or affliction, you have particular temptations or sins that are sort of seeking to overtake you, The idea is not absent myself from something that God's going to use to buoy up my soul and fortify me so that I can launch a counterattack, but rather it is to take and to eat and to do this in remembrance of Christ, believing the benefits associated with the gospel are in fact for us. And then notice the reception.

Reception and the Act of Faith

He says, take, eat, this is my body. He doesn't put it in their mouths. He doesn't say, open your mouths. Now, if any of you have ever attended Roman Catholic Mass, that's precisely what happens.

You walk to the front, you get on your knees, and the altar boy holds a golden plate under your mouth so that if it falls, remember transubstantiation, that's actually Jesus. If it falls, we'd rather it fall on a golden plate than on the ratty old carpet. So they put that plate under you, the priest says something, you say something, you open your mouth, and he puts the bread into your mouth. Now they withhold the cup, at least they used to, I'm sure they still do, which we will see is unbiblical.

You don't withhold the cup from disciples. You don't withhold the cup from believers. Jesus didn't say, okay, here's bread, but, you know, I'm just going to drink the wine alone. That's not how it works.

But with reference to what Jesus does here, it's up to the disciples to receive this. It's up to the disciples to take this. And I think John Gill is on the right track. He says the words take, eat, show that Christ did not put the bread into the mouths of the disciples. but they took it in their hands and ate it." Now listen to what he says in terms of a spiritual implication.

Expressive of taking and receiving Christ by the hand of faith and feeding on him in a spiritual manner. So it's not the case that we're going to plop it into your mouth. Rather, you receive it, you put it into your mouth, and that is analogous to the act of faith. We hear the gospel.

By God's grace, we believe the gospel. We receive the benefits that the Lord conveys to us, and the same is true with reference to the ordinance.

The Cup: Blood of the New Covenant

So that's the bread. Let's look secondly at the cup. Again, He gives thanks. Back in chapter 20 in verse 22, and then again in chapter 26 at verse 39, the cup is going to represent death.

The cup is going to represent, or does represent, God's wrath and judgment and fury poured out upon the Son of God Himself. And then as we move through this particular passage, Jesus explains further the cup. And we'll get to that in just a moment. But for right now, look at what he does.

He gives thanks and then he distributes both elements to the believer, to the disciple. He took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them. Again, we don't withhold the cup from true believers. We do not keep that back.

It is rather given to the people of God. Now, the symbolism, the contents of the cup represent ultimately his blood. So the same thing obtains here when he says, for this is my blood of the new covenant. Think about the word.

This represents my blood. Jews were prohibited from ingesting blood. The thought of drinking a cup of blood to the Jews, and dare I say to the Gentiles, is offensive. The thought of taking someone else's blood and drinking it down, that is not something we are taught to do.

So the very idea would have been repugnant to them, the very idea would have been nonsensical to them, and the very idea would have been a transgression of the law. If this is my blood means that this cup, this wine, is actually the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that would have been most offensive in this particular context. Listen again to our confession when it speaks about the doctrine of transubstantiation. That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christ's body and blood, commonly called transubstantiation by consecration of a priest or by any other way, is repugnant, not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason.

So you see, the scripture condemns the very notion of transubstantiation, but so does common sense and reason. No man would have ever thought in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that he was actually handing them a cup of his own blood and calling upon them to drink it. This represents my blood. It is an unfortunate era or an unfortunate reality in the history of the church that there has been so much mistaken theology generated by a failure to appreciate metaphorical language.

This represents my blood. This is not, in essence, my blood. The confession goes on to say, it's repugnant not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason, overthroweth the nature of the ordinance and hath been and is the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries. Now, my brothers and sisters, when we talk about transubstantiation and we distance ourselves from it, when we try to make sure that everybody is aware that the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine, they are moved from a common use into a special use.

They are consecrated for service in the church, to be sure, but they remain bread and wine. We do this not necessarily to just pick on Roman Catholicism, but to underscore what the confession highlights. It is the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries. In a Roman Catholic mass, the priest elevates the bread, he elevates the wine, and the people of God are supposed to worship the bread and the wine.

Because according to Roman Catholic theology, the bread and the wine now are not represent, but they are or have become the actual body and blood of Jesus. Now, if you think through that, even for a moment, you will see that is idolatry. We're not supposed to worship creature. We're not supposed to worship bread.

We're not supposed to worship wine. We're rather supposed to see in these elements the great realities of the Christian gospel, that Christ was crucified for our sins, that he was raised for our sins, and that He has done this consistent with what Scripture had prophesied concerning Him.

Covenantal and Sacrificial Significance

Now let us look at the significance of the cup in more detail. The body and the blood are not separated. Christ explains the significance of His death with specific relevance to the cup. Again, He's not denigrating the body, but oftentimes in Scripture, it's the blood that we associate with the death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, that brings that forgiveness. We have redemption through His blood. We have Hebrews 9.22, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. So there's this emphasis on the blood of Jesus Christ as Son.

And so he takes this time to amplify the various effect, or rather the various implications of this for his people. Now with reference to the cup, notice what he goes on to say. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. So in the first place, he underscores the covenantal context.

This is a covenantal transaction. This is my blood of the new covenant. You will see that there's a variant, and that New King James, or the King James tradition, has new covenant here in Matthew. Other modern English versions do not have that.

Hopefully, you have it in the margin. It's definitely in Luke, and it's certainly in 1 Corinthians. It is the blood of the new covenant. Now, when it comes to blood and covenant, this is consistent with the old covenant.

In Exodus chapter 24, after the giving of the law, the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20, and then the amplification or application of that law in chapters 21 to 23, there is then a ratification ceremony in chapter 24, where the people of Israel swear fidelity to Yahweh. They say everything He has commanded, we will do. Now we know that didn't work out very well for them at all, because just a few chapters later they're dancing before a golden calf. But in terms of that covenant transaction, it was ratified with blood.

Remember that Moses sprinkles blood on the children of Israel there at Sinai. And so this is a connection that is certainly obvious that Jesus is highlighting. There is covenant expressed in this particular cup of wine that represents the blood of Jesus. As well, the prophecy of the new covenant by Jeremiah.

If you look at Jesus' statement, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. That comes right from the prophet Jeremiah. Remember that Jeremiah and Ezekiel both foretold a coming new covenant. It all goes back even to the plains of Moab.

Deuteronomy chapter 30 is a promise of the new covenant. The prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah specifically, and Isaiah, take up that idea of new covenant. In fact, in Ezekiel the prophet, he talks about the coming new covenant as a time wherein God will take out the old stony heart, He will replace it with a fleshly heart, He will cause the people that He has set His affection and love upon to want to fear Him, to want to glorify Him. Well, in the prophet Jeremiah, there is a statement concerning the new covenant.

And one of the particular features involved with New Covenant blessing is the forgiveness of sins. And Jesus highlights that in his statement, for this is my blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. And then in terms of the sacrificial emphasis, It's a brief statement, brethren. There's not a ton of data here, but it's to the point, and it conveys a lot of good and rich theology.

So it's not only in a covenantal context, the inauguration or institution of this Lord's Supper, but it also highlights a sacrificial emphasis. Notice, he says, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Davies and Allison talk about ransom for many from chapter 28, is made through sacrificial blood. This last fact is emphasized by the use of this word, pour out or shed, a sacrificial word which connotes a violent death and in connection with the Passover, recalls the slaughtered Paschal lamb.

Again, these disciples understood this. They were just engaged in Passover. They had those great redemptive verities right before their eyes when they were thinking through the reality that Yahweh of Israel called his people, brought his people, delivered his people from Egypt. They understood redemption.

They understood what it meant to be brought out from. Well, Christ now is telling us that this is going to happen, but it's not out of the house of bondage. It is rather out of the bondage of your sin, your lawlessness, your rebellion, your heart of wickedness. The heart is deceitfully wicked. are desperately wicked and, I'm sorry, it is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

Who could understand? So Christ is saying that it's through His blood that there is this forgiveness of sins. And again, this is the emphasis in the New Testament, isn't it? I mean, if you told somebody they had never heard the gospel about the blood, they'd probably think you were a bit odd.

They would think, what are you talking about blood? What do you mean there's cleansing through blood? What does that mean? Well, the blood speaks concerning the death of Christ.

Why did Jesus die? It was as a sacrifice. It wasn't first and foremost an example of God's love for us. It was first and foremost a transaction, so that God could be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ.

So the language of sacrifice is obvious in the statement, but then as well,

Substitution and Particular Redemption

notice the language of substitution. And I think this speaks volumes of comfort to the people of God. For this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins. The language proper for many and broken for you or for you in 1 Corinthians 11 24 shows the referent.

In other words, Jesus isn't simply doing this, again, as an example of his love, but he is doing this in order to procure saving benefit for the people of God. It's not an empty ritual. It's not a vain attempt at something. but rather it signifies what's going to happen to him shortly in terms of his death on the cross and his resurrection from it. And he gives this ordinance so that in this particular time frame, we can look back on that grand event and feed our souls with the comfort that Christ has afforded to us in his life, death, and resurrection.

I suspect the Old Testament background is Isaiah the prophet 53 12, because he poured out his soul unto death and was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. That is such a glorious passage. I mean, the entirety of Isaiah 53, that fourth servant song of the Lord is a beautiful description of the ministry of the Redeemer on the part of his people. The language of substitution is riddled throughout that section.

It comes to fruition here with our Lord's language. And then as well, notice the many. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins, not for all. We talked yesterday about the idea of sufficient for all and efficient for the elect.

Now, there are contexts where you could say such a thing, but you don't need to. You affirm what Scripture says. Christ will save His people from their sins. Matthew 1, 21.

Matthew 20, 28. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom. For what? For many.

You see, it is particular redemption. In Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17, he says specifically in verse 9, I do not pray for the world. I pray for those whom you have given me out of the world. You see, this concept is thoroughly biblical.

When you go out and preach limited atonement or particular redemption, you're going to get Arminians and Pelagians and humanists and a lot of people getting upset with you, saying, well, what about the world? God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. We certainly affirm that wholeheartedly. But it doesn't mean everybody in the world without exception.

It means people in the world without distinction. Jews, Gentiles, every tribe, every tongue, every people, every nation. The reality is that Christ's death satisfied for the ones the Father gave Him. It is a glorious and a wondrous truth that we shouldn't shrink back from declaring.

Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. That is the glorious truth of God's holy gospel. And it's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's nothing to be ashamed about.

It's nothing to try and hide from sinners. The blessed truth is, is that the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. What a blessed and a glorious thing. And if we by grace are counted among the many, we give honor and glory to our great God, not meekly and feebly try to defend a position.

Brethren, this is correct theology and we ought not to shrink back from it. And then in terms of that particular redemptive benefit, he could have said all number of things. He could have said a whole lot of things that obtain in salvation. This will secure the gift of the Spirit.

Not that that's anything we ought to balk at, because the gift of the Spirit is wonderful and glorious. This is the provision or entitlement to a life of glory in the future to come. It certainly does do that, but he underscores the remission of sins. He knows his audience.

He knows what they need. He speaks peace to our hearts, brethren. When we come to this supper, we don't come as spotless, holy, harmless, pure people. We come broken.

We come destitute. We come, in many respects, bankrupt, even as God's people. We need him to speak this peace to our heart afresh, that our sins are forgiven. We don't need a popish priest in a box to convey that upon us.

We have the glory of the Lord Christ himself instituting his supper, telling us the primary focus that we are to receive when it comes to this blessed transaction is to consider the blessed reality that my sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Brethren, this blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, does cleanse us from all sin. The blessing of forgiveness is a chief boon of salvation. The New Testament everywhere connects the forgiveness of sins with the blood of Christ our Lord.

You see it in Paul's letters. You see it in Peter. You see it all throughout this reality that we are washed in the blood of the Lamb. Matthew Henry made this comment.

He said the new covenant, which is procured and ratified by the blood of Christ, is a charter of pardon. I quite like that. It's a charter of pardon. An act of indemnity in order to a reconciliation between God and man.

For sin was the only thing that made the quarrel, and without shedding of blood is no remission. What a blessed way to understand this ordinance in terms of our receipt of the forgiveness of sins. Again, there are other benefits associated with the gospel. Paul says, we praise God and we bless God. who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Certainly that involves sanctification. It involves the work of the Spirit in us to do that which God calls us to do. It certainly involves and includes that prospect of glorification where we are heaven-bound. We are going to Emmanuel's land, and that's something we ought to contemplate and to consider.

That reality, though, that he does highlight relative to our standing before God, that justification of a sinner before God, that is where he puts the primary focus in terms of the reception of the supper. This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Past, Present, and Future Orientation

Now, when we look at the Supper, when we look at it in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, we see there's a past, a present, and a future. Well, the same thing is true here. In terms of past, we reflect upon what Christ has secured for His people. With reference to the present, we see how these things benefit us and confirm our faith and strengthen us even now.

But what does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 11? As often, we eat this until the Lord comes. He causes us to reflect upon the reality that the Lord is coming again. Well, Jesus does the same thing here.

He has a future referent. Notice in verse 29, but I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. The language of new and my father's kingdom points to the consummation. Some of the fathers thought it meant after the resurrection of the dead.

I think the more common approach is that it refers to that eschatological kingdom, the kingdom in its fullness, what we call the consummated glory, when Christ comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and he ushers in the eternal state. And I think that's what he is referring to at this particular place. The language points beyond the death on the cross to the future glory that Christ and his people will experience together in heaven. It really is a wonderful thing.

I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. John Calvin said, thus we see how Christ leads his disciples by the hand to the cross and then raises them to the hope of the resurrection. You see, the very language itself shows or demonstrates that the shedding of the blood of the Son of God and the broken body of the Son of God isn't the end of the story. There is more wine to be enjoyed.

There is more feast to be celebrated. There is more blessedness to share one with another. And I will do this in my father's kingdom with you. So the cross is there to be sure, but there's also a crown.

And I think Calvin is absolutely right. He leads his disciples by the hand to the cross and then raises them to the hope of the resurrection. And then

Conclusion of the Supper

notice finally the conclusion of the supper in verse 30. It says, And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Now as much as we might like hymns by Augustus Toplady and John Newton, he's talking about a psalm. There were the Psalms of Hillel that were sung in connection with the Passover, and they were Psalms 113 to 118.

So it is most likely that they sang one of those particular Psalms at this particular place. One commentator says, the hymn normally sung was the last part of the Hillel, Psalm, either Psalm 114 to 118 or 115 to 18. It was sung antiphonally. Jesus, as the leader, would sing the lines.

Could you imagine that? Being with Jesus, singing, and then we repeat or rehearse it? Well, we have that in our future. It was sung antiphonally.

Jesus, the leader, would sing the lines and his followers would respond with hallelujah. Parts of it must have been deeply moving to the disciples when after the resurrection they remembered that Jesus sang words pledging that he would keep his vows. Psalm 116 verses 12 and 13. Ultimately triumph despite rejection.

Psalm 118. And call nations to praise Yahweh and his covenant love. Psalm 117. I think that's a great observation.

They sang these things with Jesus after the institution of the supper. Lo and behold, he goes to the cross. Lo and behold, he's raised from the dead. He then ascends on high.

He leads captivity captive. And these men get to muse on the reality that as they sang with the Savior, they sang from the Zion songbook, the very words of the Savior himself expressed in Psalms 113 to 118. Brethren, this is, in fact, the institution of the supper, and I hope it's an encouragement to us that this is not empty ritual, this is not just something we do because we have to, but it is a means by which God confers upon His people grace, strength, help, fortification, security, and stability so that we can march onward.

Typology: David and Christ

Now before some thoughts with reference to application, there is some symbolism or anti-type going on. David is a type of Christ I think no one will deny, but in 2 Samuel, there is a departure of David to the Mount of Olives after his rejection as king. There is the revelation of betrayal by Ahithophel, the plan of Ahithophel to capture David, and then ultimately the suicide of Ahithophel. The same thing happens with Jesus.

Judas makes this deal with the devils themselves and sells the master. And then we see him hang himself in a manner similar to Ahithophel. So what you have in 2 Samuel by way of type, you have fulfilled in Jesus by way of anti-type. He is, in fact, David's greater son.

Application

Well, in conclusion, again, just a few thoughts. First, the threefold orientation of the supper. The supper looks back. There is a retrospection with reference to the supper.

We concentrate, or we do this in remembrance, not of us, not of our past week and our good performance as believers, and now we've come to get our award. That's not what the past is about. We reflect upon the broken body and the shed blood of our Savior. The supper speaks to the church's present privilege of observing the supper.

We get to do this with one another. In fact, some of the richest language connected to the supper isn't in 1 Corinthians 11. It's in 1 Corinthians 10. It is there where the means of grace character of the supper is even more vividly seen.

There is something actually happening. It's not the real presence of Christ vis-a-vis Rome, transubstantiation. It's not the real presence of Christ vis-a-vis Lutheranism, consubstantiation, but it is the real presence of Christ. He isn't thrown at the right hand of the father and he sends the spirit here to have dealings with our souls so that we commune with Jesus Christ as we gather together to remember his death on our behalf.

But there is a horizontal element as well, wherein we get to commune with the people that we love and the people that we call brother and sister. It is a blessed thing. And then the supper looks forward to the marriage supper of the lamb. And then secondly, in terms of the specific focus of the supper, it is the death of Christ.

Now there is this faulty understanding, and I know I say this a lot, but persons at time treat the supper as if it's a reward for good behavior. Okay, I didn't really go too far astray this past month, so I think I'm fit and I think I'm ready to participate. Brethren, if we actually contemplate, we are never fit and never ready to receive anything connected to our Lord Jesus. It's all of grace, isn't it?

I've told you the story about the Scottish Covenanters. They would do the supper, I don't know, very infrequently, and there was a time when several churches were gathered together, and there was a woman sitting there, and as the cup was getting closer, she was sobbing even more uncontrollably at the reality, at the thought of her lack of holiness and her lack of purity to receive the cup. And the minister puts it right in front of her face and says, it is for sinners. Now, there are provisos that the apostle attaches to the supper. 1 Corinthians chapter 11.

If we are living in known sin, if we are having truck with sin and not dealing with it, whether it be against God or whether it be against one another, we are harboring those things. It's not a struggle. It's not a, boy, I hate it. It's not the evil I don't want to do, I find myself doing, and the good I want to do, I don't find.

That's not the issue. Paul condemns the kind of a mindset that makes peace, at least temporarily, with sin. And he says to those persons, do not participate in the supper. But if you're participating in the Christian life, and you're struggling against sin, and the fact is you're not a perfectly, you know, pure sinner person, you still participate.

This is a means God has given for the good of the soul. So the death of Christ, the redemptive benefit secured by Christ, and then the gracious nature of our Savior. Christ gave the bread and Christ gave the cup. The Lord's Supper is not our gift to God.

The Lord's Supper is God's gift to us. We look at services of the church as if they're our service unto God. Better it is to see it as God's service unto us. He provides a house.

He provides a place for us to come. He provides these means for our benefit, for our growth in grace, and for our establishment in the faith. And then the glorious gospel demonstrated by the supper. Turn to John 6 for just a moment.

John 6. And specifically look at verse 54. Now, brethren, I do not believe that Jesus is talking about or teaching here with reference to the Lord's Supper. I don't think that's in the context.

I don't think that's in the mind of the Savior. However, when we contemplate the Supper, this is a wonderful place to go to get some further education, some further illustration, some further information concerning redemptive benefit. Now what Christ says in verse 54, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. The same thing is true when he institutes the supper.

The persons hearing him would have been repulsed at the thought of actually biting into Jesus and sucking out his blood. That would have been absolutely contrary and foreign to any thought that they would have possessed whatsoever. I believe that Jesus' listeners probably followed metaphor a whole lot better than Rome or Lutherans. And in this particular instance, verse 54 is a metaphorical representation of John 6, 40.

John 6, 40 says, and this is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the last day. Augustine made this observation in his commentary on the Gospel of John, for to believe on him is to eat the living bread. He that believes eats. He's not calling them to physically eat.

He's calling them to believe, and that is the emphasis in the supper. Its purpose and its design is to confirm and to strengthen our faith in the Son of God so that we may continue to walk by faith and not by sight. This is an ordinance given by our Lord for the good of His people, and may God bless our reception of it tonight, and may He strengthen us with might in the inner man so that Christ may dwell richly in our hearts through faith.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for the institution of the supper by the surety of the new covenant Himself, and we thank You for the things represented. The bread and the wine represent the body and the blood of our blessed Savior. We know His body was broken, His blood was shed for wretches and for sinners like us, and in this we greatly rejoice.

And we have great hope, Lord God, if that blood avails for sinners like us, it avails for other sinners as well. And this gives impetus to gospel preaching and to calling sinners, repentance, and faith. And I pray that as this word goes forth, many, many more people would come to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus. And even in this place, Lord God, for those who perhaps do not confess faith in Christ, I pray that you'd open their hearts tonight, that you would show them the glory of the Savior and show them that there is forgiveness to be had with you through him.

And we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Well, you can turn with me over to 1 Corinthians chapter 11,

Scripture References

• Exodus 20; 21-23; 24
• Deuteronomy 30
• 2 Samuel 15
• Psalms 113-118; 116:12-13; 117; 118
• Isaiah 53; 53:12
• Matthew 1:21; 16; 17; 20; 20:22; 20:28; 26:1-2; 26:17-30; 26:21; 26:26; 26:26-28; 26:29; 26:30
• Luke 9:30-31; 22:19
• John 2:13; 3:16; 6; 6:40; 6:54; 17:9
• 1 Corinthians 5:7; 10; 11; 11:24; 11:26
• Ephesians 1:3; 1:7
• Hebrews 9:22
• 1 John 1:7