Sunday Morning Service (Matthew 26:26-30, Communion)

Matthew 26:26-30

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“What Believers Believe About Communion” • 8.6.17 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- Every time our church commemorates communion, I recite Matthew 26, which is Matthew's account of Christ's initiation of it.

- By those in certain segments of the church, this practice is called the "Eucharist," meaning to "give thanks." By others, it is called "The Lord's Supper." We simply call it "communion."

- Because we are often pressed for time, I am forced to explain things quickly and am often bothered by how trite my words can seem in light of the significance that communion holds.

- In observing this ordinance, we are affirming our union with Christ and with every believing member of His body, including Old and New Testament Saints.

- It is the church's way of remembering the centrality of Christ's death, reminding ourselves often of the core of our faith.

- Consequently, we are not saved by practicing it. Rather, communion is for the saved to practice! But practice without knowledge is simply rote religion.

- What beliefs do we affirm every time we take communion? What are we agreeing to? Let's examine this with fresh eyes today as we move toward communion.

Text

• Matthew 26:26 : "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.'" : Most all of us will recall that Jesus is celebrating the Passover Meal with His disciples.

- The Passover was the oldest and most solemn of the feasts, as it brought to mind the final plague that led to Israel's exodus from Egypt.

- The Angel of Death swept over the entire land of Egypt, destroying all of the firstborn of all of Egypt, except for a single group of people who had made a response of faith.

- Moses relayed God's command to slaughter a lamb per household and to apply that lamb's blood to the top and sides of their own doors. That faith to apply the blood would ensure their survival.

- This is the meal that they were eating together. Each of the synoptic gospels mention the betrayal of Judas prior to the taking of this meal. Jesus did not share this meal with Judas.

- The eleven disciples were experiencing their usual Passover fare when Jesus took the bread and blessed it. He "eulogized" or commended the bread.

- The bread was merely a part of the meal. He took a hold of it and made it the first element of a new ceremony, fulfilling the Passover and beginning something new.

- He broke that bread, essentially allowing the disciples to distribute the bread between each other. When each disciple took of a piece of their representative bread, Jesus assigned it's meaning.

- The bread that they were holding was to be taken and eaten because it represented His body. These men had to physically claim the bread and then ingest it.

- Communion has always been an outward sign of an inward work. My taking and eating represents my faith commitment. I have taken ahold of the bread.

- I have made a choice to allow the bread of life, Jesus Christ, to enter into the center of my being and to control, through His Spirit, the actions that best suit Him!

- These disciples on that night obeyed His command without any of the confusion that has arisen over the centuries.

- There are those in certain segments of the church that believe that the bread literally becomes the body of Christ, a belief called "Transubstantiation."

- The problem is that when Jesus called them to recognize it as His body, He was still living in it! He was physically all there! No, the bread became a symbol, a representation of His body.

- What would they be identifying in that moment? For the disciples, at that moment, Jesus Christ embodied perfection, complete consecration to the Lord.

- He lived before them and provided them with an example of true godliness. He showed them the characteristics that they would spend the rest of their lives emulating.

- When the Spirit of God came upon them, they would all eventually look at each other and recognize Jesus Christ in each other! They knew Him physically and emotionally.

- Soon, the youngest disciple, John, would see His body bruised, battered and bloodied, nearly beyond recognition. He would witness the bloody visage of a man torn to pieces.

- He would watch His body endure the torture of crucifixion and then expire in a matter of hours. He would watch as His dead body was taken down from the cross, lifeless.

- For you and I looking back upon the cross, we join them in that vision, but also enjoy the experience that they shared three days later when they saw His resurrected body!

- We know of the body that rose from the grave, that walked through locked doors, that traveled great distances in seconds, that was seen by 500 at once and that ascended to heaven!

- It is that body then represents all of the righteousness of God in His actions, all the justice of God in His death and all the power of God in His resurrection!

- When you take of the bread of life, think about that! It represents His body which secures your righteous standing because He fulfilled God's law!

- His body represents your freedom from judgment, because He experienced the fullness of God's wrath against your sin!

- His body ensures your future hope of resurrecting because He was the first to experience what will be the norm for all Christians that pass from this Earth. Verse 27.

• Matthew 26:27-29 : "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.'" : After the men had ingested the bread, the Lord designated a single cup to distribute the "fruit of the vine."

- As with the bread, there is a simultaneous offering of thanksgiving as He passed it to each one that they might all drink from it.

- For those familiar with the Passover, wine was given three times during the meal. Most believe that this was the time of the meal when the "Cup of blessing" was passed.

- Paul identifies this as such in I Corinthians 10:16. The Passover is being fulfilled in this action! The cup of eternal blessing is being passed!

- That is the historical element, but there is also a theological element that we'll explain in a moment. He took the cup and he gave thanks!

- He is about to endure the most cruel form of capital punishment ever invented by men and He gave thanks! Consider this for a moment.

- One of His own men has just left to ensure His betrayal. It was a fulfillment of scripture and it was known, but when you share a meal with someone, it's with a friend for life!

- The betrayal by Judas was still jarring the mind and the closer Christ came to His execution, the more acute His mental anguish was going to become. How then can He give thanks?

- Hebrews 12:2 tells us that it was the joy that was set before Him that allowed Him to endure the cross. What was that joy that issued in His giving of thanks?

- I can't help but believe it was the joy of turning these servants into brothers, these fallen men into redeemed men! This cup was going to be their security for eternity!

- He assigns it with a meaning that is unbelieveable when you think about it. The wine that they held in their hands symbolized His own blood!

- Here is another knock against transubstantiation: A Jewish person was prohibited from drinking blood! That being said, we aren't sure of what they understood in this moment.

- For those who have studied the gospels, you know that while Jesus taught them of His death, none of them understood the truths as we do.

- His blood which ran through His veins would be spilled to ratify a new covenant. Why?

- The Old Covenant was insufficient! Sacrifice after sacrifice, lamb after lamb, morning into evening into morning, and nothing gave God final satisfaction. Jesus is about to change that!

- Jesus is about to offer His own blood and is committing the Godhead to this covenant!

- Man cannot make God commit to an eternal covenant. Only God can commend, accept and ratify a covenant with man! What am I saying?

- When you take communion, you affirm your belief in Christ's deity as well as the sufficiency of His blood to satisfy God's wrath against your sin!

- When Jesus dies hours from this moment, His blood will be poured out from His body and it will effect the remission of sins.

- The word "remission" is also translated "forgiveness." The word refers to a release from bondage or imprisonment with the twin consideration of having one's record wiped clean!

- Because of His blood, you are not only no longer living under a deserved sentence, but you are treated as though you never earned that sentence to begin with!

- I mentioned earlier that there was a theological note to consider when we heard the phrase, "the cup." The Old Testament speaks often of God's cup of fury, or indignation.

- Psalm 75:8, Isaiah 51:17, 22, and Jeremiah 25:15-17 all mention this cup of wrath.

- In Matthew 20:22,23, Jesus speaks to James and John about their desire to sit at His right and left hand. Jesus asks them if they are able to drink His cup and be baptized with His baptism.

- Not knowing what they were saying, they replied that they were able. Jesus tells them that they will drink His cup and be baptized in His baptism.

- In other words, they would drink of His cup as they drank of the cup of communion! They would drink of the cup that symbolized the full vent of God's wrath against sin!

- You and I drink of that same cup every time we take communion! It is the symbol of God's wrath poured out upon Christ! His blood poured out toward us though, is our escape from wrath!

- Christ experienced what our sin deserves and when His perfect blood was shed, we who have taken of the blood experience what His life deserves: Remission of sins!

- What a beautiful statement! This is the truth for many! I've often wondered how people view that word. I suppose I've been on both sides

- For some, it is a cause for depression. "You mean not all?" Yes, there are some who will turn down Christ's blood, seeking to offer God an alternate source of satisfaction.

- They will offer their works, their good behavior, their complicated systems of negotiation. God will look to see if there is a drop of Christ's blood over their souls.

- Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins! Sadly, not all will come before the Lord with the blood! But the word "many" need not be depressing.

- I find it to be a cause for celebration. "Look at that great coverage beyond the borders of Israel and the boundaries of time!"

- The same blood that saved Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and Isaiah, saves you and me! What is the extent of that salvation? Notice the next phrase.

- "But I say to you." This phrase has been translated by the NLT, "Mark my words." Christ's blood will be spilt. His life will be lost. His disciples will mourn His death, but that is not the end!

- Jesus says, "Be sure of this, we will drink of this cup again when it is new." This statement has been a true source of difficulty for me.

- It doesn't refer to the age of the wine. It may refer to the cup turning from a symbol of judgment to a symbol of redemption. It is fresh.

- But when I consider all of this, I truly miss the point. It's not about the drinking of the cup and what it means. It's the person we will be drinking with that matters!

- Jesus is telling His disciples to do this with each other until the day that they do it with Him! "Keep doing this until I come!"

- There will be a day when Jesus Christ rules physically from this planet. He will sit on His rightful throne in Jerusalem and we will reign alongside of Him!

- We will drink then looking back upon the sacrifice that Jesus made, with Jesus Himself! When you take communion today, remember that you are committing to do this until then! Verse 30.

• Matthew 26:30 : "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." : Literally, it reads, "and hymning." They sung unto the Lord. Do you know that we are commanded to sing to the Lord?

- Psalm 33:1 says for us to sing to the Lord and it's written in the imperiitive! It's not an option for believers! We are to sing to Him.

- We aren't told what they sang particularly, though it's safe to say that in keeping with Passover tradition, that they sang Psalms 113 through 118. These are the "Hallel" Psalms.

- The first part of the meal would include the first three Psalms (113-115) and the last part, which is where our section takes place, would include the final three Psalms. (116-118)

- One cannot imagine the beauty of Christ's voice! Think about that? What voice would project through the God Man?

- However He sounded, listen to some of the lyrics that He would have sang that night, particularly from Psalms 116 and 118.

• Psalm 116:3,4 : "The pains of death surrounded me, And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord: 'O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!'"

• Psalm 116:12-15 : "What shall I render to the Lord For all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord Now in the presence of all His people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."

• Psalm 118:22-28 : "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, And He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You."

Conclusion
- Can you see now that communion is exclusively for believers in Christ? Believers believe that we must take His body and live from the nourishment of His life.

- His righteous actions committed in His body provides our example. His death in His body provides God with satisfaction that justice has been served. His resurrection provides our hope.

- Believers believe that His blood is the cup of God's wrath that Jesus has fully received. He took it completely.

- We take it in a commemorative way, declaring the He experienced God's wrath for our deserving sin.

- Believers believe that His blood satisfied God's wrath toward God and extended God's grace towards the many that would trust in Him! His blood is the basis for our standing with God forever!

- Finally, believers believe that communion will last until we stand with Jesus Christ in His Kingdom! We will remember Him until we stand with Him!

- If you do not believe, please refrain from taking communion. But what keeps you from believing today? Jesus calls to all that they might enter into "the many!"

- If you hear His voice and your heart is stirred to believe, the Lord invites you to partake!

- Take His body and let go of any notion that you have anything to offer God but your own sin.

- Take His blood and thank Him that He has absorbed your wrath.

- Take your remaining life and make it an altar of sacrifice, an expression of the Holy Spirit's work to bring glory to Christ. Let's pray.