Sunday Sermons
The Table of the Lord
The Table of the Lord
With everything that Jesus was facing as He prepared to be humiliated, tortured and die for our sins, He took the time to institute the most beautiful and meaningful ceremonies you will ever experience: the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-29). Every Christian can rejoice in the reality that this event was not to be just a one-time celebration, but was an invitation given to every believer throughout time, to draw near in a very holy way, to the Lamb of God, to the Savior of our souls:
- Jesus spoke of observing this supper again, but celebrating it in a new or different fashion in the coming kingdom of God with His people (Matthew 26:29).
- We find the early church celebrating the Lord’s Supper on a frequent basis (Acts 2:42; 20:7).
- Some thirty years after Jesus instituted this event, Paul teaches the Corinthians the very same truths concerning the observance and meaning of this supper as He taught and claimed that his information came directly from Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:23-25).
- Not only were Christians in Corinth partaking in this holy rite when they came together as a congregation, but Christians in other places, including Troas (Acts 20:7), Jerusalem (Acts 2:42) and Ephesus (1 Corinthians 10:17)also took the Lord's Supper.We know this because when Paul in this last passage says that “we” all partake of the one bread, he was working, worshipping and meeting with the Christians in Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:8), who were also partaking of the communion.
- Both church historians and liturgical scholars agree that the Lord’s Supper was observed frequently in the New Testament by the early church.
“You Proclaim The Lord’s Death”: 1 Corinthians 11:26
So partaking of the Lord’s Supper is not only a remembrance of what Jesus did for you and I, it is also an opportunity to “preach” or “evangelize”. When I gather with Christians and partake of this holy meal, I am saying to souls stumbling in darkness:
- “I believe that Jesus came into this world, died for the sins of mankind, was resurrected, is at the right hand of God and is coming again to Judge the world”.
- “I believe that Jesus is the only way and hope for lost people”.
- “I believe that Jesus’ death actually did atone for my sins”.
- “I believe that when I came into contact with the benefits of His death in baptism, I was truly forgiven of all my past sins”: (Romans 6:3-5; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21).
“Guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord”: 1 Corinthians 11:27
One of the lessons that we should learn when we read the Old Testament is the importance of approaching God with respect (Leviticus 10:2-3; Ecclesiastes 5:2; Malachi 1:6-10). Sadly, the religious world, which so often has turned worship into mere entertainment for the worshipers, has in the process given the false impression that we no longer need to approach God with reverence or a sense of awe. In fact, the whole idea of offering what they call a “casual service” seems ridiculous when one reads all that Scripture says about approaching our Holy God. This passage, is just one among many in the New Testament that reminds us that God and everything related to Him calls for our utmost attention (Hebrews 12:28).
“Shall be guilty”: “The adjective ‘guilty’ is a technical legal term to express liability either ‘guilty of sinning against the Lord’ in some way, or ‘to be held liable for His death’ which the body and blood represent” (1 Corinthians, Gordon Fee p. 560). Disrespect shown toward the observance of the Lord's Supper, is disrespect shown toward the death of Christ, and therefore places the disrespectful in the same moral category as those who crucified Him in the first place (Hebrews 10:29).
Application
- Again, if one is not paying attention or is focusing on something else when one observes this feast, this is the same category as those who actually nailed Him to the cross.Side note:Children, during this time, think about what you can do to not interrupt your parents so they can focus all their attention on Jesus.
- If I put something else ahead of meeting with Christians to observe this memorial—am I not saying that Jesus’ death is rather unimportant and that I don’t really need it? Could it be that my intentional absence is viewed by Him as spitting on Him like those who spit on Him when He was on the earth? (Mark 15:19).
“A Man Must Examine Himself”: 1 Corinthians 11:28
Think about it. Where would you be at this moment without Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection? You and I would be sunk without any hope of salvation, not only in eternity, but likewise without hope of deliverance from my sins in this life (1 Corinthians 15:16-19). Note that Paul does not teach that a person should abstain until they are ready to partake with the right attitude. Rather, one needs to take this event seriously. There must be some deep soul searching before one partakes. Recently I read that after the days of the apostles a number of factors contributed to a less frequent observance of communion. In the fourth century increasing numbers of half-converted people entered the churches, and preachers admonished at times the unruly crowds not to approach communion in an unworthy manner. Sadly, many half-converted members preferred to give up partaking of communion rather than to amend their lives. One writer notes, “Many people stayed until the time for communion and then left” (Worship and the Reality of God, John Jefferson Davis, pp. 118-119).
“Weak, Sick and Asleep”: 1 Corinthians 11:30
Unfortunately many of the Corinthians had not been taking the Lord's Supper seriously, this is seen especially in light of 11:20-22 where they had actually turned this sacred event into a social gathering. The vast majority of commentators take this verse to refer to physical ailments, diseases, and even physical death ("sleep") that had come upon many in the Corinthian church because they abused the Lord's Supper. In the New Testament we do find that some diseases and even some deaths were the consequence of sin (Acts 5:1-11; 13:9-11; Romans 1:27; Galatians 6:8). The key verse in this section in determining whether these passages refer to physical disease brought on because of sin or spiritual weakness, is verse 32. Paul seems to be saying that what has happened to the Corinthians is “a chastening" from the Lord (31-32), with the hope that such "chastening" will turn them around, so they would not end up condemned with the rest of the world. Mike Willis, in his commentary on First Corinthians, makes a good observation when he says, “How can physical death lead one to repentance? Will the soul which was stricken dead because it took of the Lord's Supper unworthily be saved?” (p. 405) So I believe a more accurate understanding of these verses is that not taking the Lord’s Supper seriously was resulting in weak and spiritually dead Christians, which brings up a convicting thought in my mind. Can I afford to put other things ahead of the gathering in which this meal is offered? What Paul says here is obvious: Believers who miss this event do grow weaker and often end up falling away.
The Sharing: 1 Corinthians 10:16-21
The word “sharing” here is the same as the term “communion”. “Since, therefore, the cup is specifically interpreted by the Lord (cf. Mark 14:24), and continued to be so understood in the early church (1 Corinthians 11:25), as ‘My blood of the new covenant’), this language almost certainly refers to their sharing in the provisions and benefits of that covenant” (Fee p. 468). Partaking of the Lord's Supper does not impart the forgiveness of sins, rather it is something that forgiven people (i.e. those who already have contact with the blood of Christ) have the right to share in (Acts 2:41-42).
Where is Jesus?
The doctrine of transubstantiation was officially defined at the Fourth Lateran Council in Rome in 1215 A.D. and expounded in the same century by Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica as the elements of bread and fruit of the vine becoming the true or actual body and blood of Jesus when blessed by the priest. Unfortunately, what this view did was it place Christ in the elements rather than spiritually being with His people during the observance. Repeatedly, at the original institution, Jesus is recorded as saying, “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes” (Luke 22:17). “I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God” (Mark 14:25). Matthew adds, “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” (Matthew 26:29). Obviously, Jesus is Divine and being omnipresent can be everywhere, and yet He made it clear that during the future remembrances, He would specifically be present with His people when they remember Him in this very important and meaningful event. No wonder Paul was so intent on being with God’s people on the First Day of the Week, because that is where the Lord would be. So, where should I be? And more importantly, where should I earnestly desire to be every Lord's Day, but communing with Him in this very holy way?
Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net
