JDL - Direction Twenty-seven - How God works - through means part two (Lord’s Supper)

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. (1 Cor. 10:21 (ESV))

The Passover meal was for the children of Israel and any foreigner who might be in their midst. This was a meal to remember and celebrate the “passing over” of the angel of death in Egypt when the children of Israel were delivered from their bondage of slavery in Egypt. This meal was meant to remind the children of Israel to keep from straying and sinning lest they be overtaken and put into bondage again (as happened many times throughout their history).

Although this meal was intended for the children of Israel and any foreigner in their midst, when Jesus gave His Supper, He gave it only to those of His closest friends. He gave it to those of the same faith. As you read through the accounts of Jesus giving the Lord’s Supper, you will notice that before Jesus gives His supper, Judas has left. Jesus then institutes, gives His supper and He gives it as a closed communion, without foreigners.

Understanding what Jesus gives us is the Lord’s Supper, that is, it is His Supper means we do it best, we do it right when we do it the way in which He has given it to us to do. For example, when you are invited to someone’s house for dinner, you do not go in and say, “I do not want to do it the way you are giving it, I want to do it my way.” No, you sit and are given to as the host gives to you. Likewise, at the Lord’s Supper, you do not say, “This is a me and Jesus thing, and so I should be allowed to come to your table.” No, instead you come as a poor miserable sinner, desiring to be given Christ’s body and blood and the forgiveness of sins. You do not come with the attitude that it does not matter what you believe because we all believe something different about this meal; again, that is a “me and Jesus” attitude. No, you come in faith, believing the very words of the Host, Jesus Himself, that with the bread you are being given body and with the wine you are being given blood. You come, not to take but to receive. You come to be given to. The Greek word for “take” in “take eat” literally means take or receive, or be given to. We do not take; we are given the Lord’s Supper. We are given His Supper in faith, preparing ourselves and being given in the way in which He gives it. In this way we remember, we participate in His death until He comes again.

We come to the Lord’s Supper to be given to, and what are we given? We are given bread and body. This is what we call real presence. In, with and under the bread is the body of Christ, truly, really present. We physically eat the bread while we spiritually eat the body.

We are also given wine and blood. This, too, is what we call real presence. In, with and under the wine is the blood of Christ, truly, really present. We physically drink the wine while we spiritually drink the blood.

And we participate in the Lord’s death. This is what we call remembering His death. We participate in His death meaning that His life becomes our life, His death becomes our death, His resurrection becomes our resurrection. The forgiveness which He earned He earned for us and is ours.

In good Lutheran fashion we ask, “What does this mean?” This means that we take seriously our statement of our practice of the Lord’s Supper which is printed in the bulletin each week (See Appendix One). Hopefully your congregation includes such a statement.

This means that we come prepared. We examine ourselves to make sure that we believe that we are sinners and are in need of forgiveness, that we are sorry for our sins, and that we believe that through the Lord’s Supper we will be given forgiveness of sins.

This means that we come in faith, especially believing in the real presence of Jesus’ body and blood, in, with and under the bread and wine. As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 11:27-31, “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.”

This means that we come as a community of like-minded believers. That we come, not lying about our confession, but confessing together. In other words, if we partake of the Lord’s Supper at the table of other denominations, then we are saying that we confess what they confess. If that is true, then we are lying when we come to our table, because our confession is not the same. Thus, it is important that we make a clear and honest confession when we come to the Lord’s Table.

And this means that we come being given to. We come to be given forgiveness, strengthening of faith and eternal life.

The Lord’s Supper is just that, the Lord’s Supper. He gives it to us, and He gives it to us to be given in a certain way, a Jesus-directed way, according to how He has given it. The Lord’s Supper is where we go to be given the gifts which the Lord earned on the cross on Calvary. May the Lord prepare us to faithfully be given and to make use of His most blessed Supper.

Think About
What is your attitude when coming to the Lord’s Table? What do you believe concerning the very Words of the Lord in His hosting and giving His meal?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your body and blood in Your holy meal. Forgive me when I take Your meal and Your Words lightly failing to examine myself and believe what You are giving to me. Help me to come with an attitude of gratitude and be given what You so lovingly have to give to me, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.