Presentation 44
Presentation 44
Introduction
Though out history many artists have in their own way
tried to capture the scene of the last supper. Many of
their paintings create a dreamlike quality of brotherly
kindness and blissful comradeship. These paintings
became a sort of religious flag to wave in public.
There is no indication in many of these paintings of the
deep-seated tensions, the pride and petty jealousies
that superimposed that great occasion when the
disciples were still squabbling about who was the
greatest... No one was prepared to take on the lowly
task of foot-washing... And Jesus had announced that
one of their number would betray him. This could not
be described as a blissfully relaxing meal.
Presentation 44
Introduction
Perhaps for this reason other artists like Salvador Dali
have tried to imply that the event itself is one that we
are not meant to take too seriously. He presents the
scene as a dreamy figment of imagination and paints
the last supper with the table floating in the air and
with a transparent Christ. His painting shouts out
‘unreality.’
But the last supper was a very real event in history! All
the characters were real and not simply figments of an
artist's imagination. These were men with families and
friends, men with ambitions, men with problems. They
knew what it was to have toothaches and sore throats
and fever. When we scratch the paint away we make
some surprising discoveries.
Presentation 44
Introduction
A famous churchman of C20th has written that, ‘the
sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, are becoming
stranger and stranger and less and less meaningful to those
who share in them. People are less and less able to say what a
sacrament is and how they can best benefit from it’.
He goes on to say that there are many, ‘who have
assumed that the sacrament with its dramatic
re-enactment of simple truth is better for the simple
mind than preaching to the intellect. But the weakness
of such a claim is that the sacrament only becomes
effective when it is preceded by the fullest and most
careful instruction. Without instruction the Lord's
Supper either degenerates into formalism or superstition’.
Presentation 44
Introduction
On the one hand people automatically and unthinkingly
go through the motions of a religious rite, while on the
other they endow it with all sorts of magical properties.
This explains why a great many people who do not
come regularly to church make a point of coming to the
communion services.
The sacrament is viewed as a sort of insurance policy.
They think, "As long as I take communion I am keeping
the gate of heaven open ". This is wishful thinking.
Nowhere in the N.T. do we read that by taking the
sacrament we will qualify ourselves for heaven. What
then is the significance and importance of the
sacrament?
Presentation 44
Jesus' Instruction
Jesus carefully planned the first communion service
to coincide with the most important Jewish
sacrament, the Passover Supper. In order to
understand his reason for doing so we need to
remind ourselves of what the Passover Supper was.
About 1500 years before Jesus was born the
Hebrews were slaves in Egypt- conditions there have
been compared with that of a Nazi concentration
camp. They were worked to death and often killed
at the whim of their taskmasters. Into that situation
God sent Moses to be the deliverer of his people. A
series of nine plagues failed to persuade Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, to release the Hebrew people.
Presentation 44
Jesus' Instruction
Finally, God provided a way of escape. The only way that
the Egyptians could be persuaded to let the Hebrews go
was by sending the angel of death over the land of
Egypt. The life of the eldest son in each family was under
threat. Deliverance from death was possible but only by
adhering to the instructions God passed on to Moses.
Each family was to take a perfect lamb and tether it
outside their home for 14 days. They had to ensure that
it was without any blemish. The chosen animal was then
to be killed and on the same evening the blood of the
sacrificed lamb was to be applied to the doorposts and
lintels of their homes.
Presentation 44
Jesus' Instruction
The lamb was then to be roasted over a fire and
eaten as they awaited the signal to escape. The
firstborn son of every family died except in the
houses that had applied the blood of the lamb
on their doorposts. The sons of those who had
applied the blood were safe but only because
they had trusted in the means of escape that
had been provided by God. As a result of this
tenth plague, the Hebrews were ordered by
Pharaoh to leave Egypt. The people were then
told by God to institute an annual feast that
would commemorate their great deliverance.
They were never to forget the connection
between the dying lamb and the living son!
Presentation 44
Jesus' Instruction
God had provided Israel with a wonderful picture
which looked forward to an even greater act of
deliverance which his Son would bring about. As
the Passover lamb was a sacrifice without blemish,
so too Jesus was without blemish - he had no sin.
As the Passover lamb died to secure life for others
so too Jesus died to secure eternal life for the
people he represented. Those living in Egypt who
trusted in God's provision found God to be faithful
to his promise. In the same way men and women of
every nation who place their trust in Jesus, as God's
sacrifice for sin, will find God to be faithful to his
promise to bestow forgiveness and eternal life.
Presentation 44
Jesus' Instruction
The Passover meal was used to introduce the sacrament
of communion in order to throw light upon the
significance of Jesus’ death.
Note that the disciples were to take bread and wine in
remembrance of Jesus’ death. Jesus didn't say, "I have a
sacrament which will help you remember my teaching,"
or, "I have a sacrament which will help you remember
my miracles" but, "I have a sacrament to help you
remember my death". As far as Jesus was concerned his
death was the pinnacle of his mission on earth. It was
the great work he had come to accomplish and
therefore it was its significance is what he wanted his
disciples to remember.
Presentation 44
Jesus' Instruction
The communion service is not just a kind of
solemn religious moment when believers hear
beautiful music and have a warm spiritual
feeling. We are intended to spend time
thinking about Jesus' body which was broken
for us so that we could have eternal life and
enjoy God’s full and free pardon. We are to
remember that he poured out his blood for us
so that we could live with him and for him.
We are meant to ask, “what do these symbols
of bread and wine mean?” I want to provide
you with five answers.
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A Work Of Representation
First, the symbols do a work of representation.
When the bread is broken and the wine poured
out, Jesus' death is then represented and visibly
portrayed to the eye of faith. The believing eye
sees beyond the signs and symbols to the
person and events symbolised.
Christ is advertised. He is what Paul describes
to the Galatians as being ‘publicly placarded’
[Gal. 3v1] before them. We are therefore able
to witness afresh what it cost the Lord of Glory
to make sinner man whole!
Presentation 44
A Work Of Representation
Normally God communicates to us though what we hear
but in the sacrament all of our senses are engaged the
eye, the nose, the tongue and touch and also our minds.
It is possible to touch and taste the elements and for our
minds to be filled with everyday worries, concerns and
plans. At communion we are symbolically handling Jesus.
It is a hands-on experience. A hands on experience at a
scientific exhibitions can open up a child’s understanding
of science. In class they may have been taught lessons
about sound waves, gyroscopes and periscopes but to get
hands on experience brings these things alive to them –
they have a new and fresh awareness. This is what the
sacrament is designed to do, to give us a more palpable
awareness of what Jesus has done for us.
Presentation 44
A Work Of Sealing
Secondly, the sacrament does a sealing
work. In other words, Christ and the
benefits of his death are applied by the
Holy Spirit to the believer, who is confirmed
as Christ's possession.
Associated with the idea of sealing is the
use of the signet ring in the ancient world,
carrying as it did the authority of the
owner. Where the owner’s mark was to be
found then there his power was exercised.
The supper is such a mark and such a seal,
of the covenant love of God with his own.
Presentation 44
A Work Of Nourishment
Thirdly, involved in the sacrament is the work of nourishment.
The supper is for the feeding of our spiritual life together. John
Knox was succeeded as minister of St. Giles in Edinburgh by
Robert Bruce who preaching on the Lord's Supper said:
“This is the Lord's supper, not a profane and common supper,
but a supper appointed for the increase of holiness, for the
food of the soul in holiness, to feed the soul for the life
everlasting...It is not called the "Altar" of the Lord but a table
to sit at, not an altar to stand at, a table at which to take and
receive, and not an alter at which to offer and present. At the
Lord's table we can expect Jesus to minister to our needs and
to pour out fresh and instant supplies of grace.”
We feed upon Jesus as a branch feeds upon the vine.
Presentation 44
A Work Of Engagement
Fourthly, there is the work of engagement. A sharing in
Christ, a committing of ourselves to a new and deeper
love for Jesus. But commitment to him and also means
commitment to one another. We must not simply think
personally, "What benefit can I get for myself " but
corporately, "What benefits will the glorified Christ pour
out on his church". In this way we mature as Christians
and find our niche in the kingdom. We are "fellow citizens
with the saints". Without this, a believing life is greatly
impoverished. At the heart of the supper stand three
great realities: Jesus for me, and I for Jesus, and for his
people. Or, all of him for me, and all of me for him and for
his people. “All for Christ and Christ for all”. The suppers
most searching call is one to consecration.
Presentation 44
A Work Of Pledging
Finally, in the sacrament there is a work of pledging. A
pledge of things to come. A reminder that the believer is
bound indissolubly and irrevocably to Jesus and therefore
eternally secure in him. Children often ask, "Where is the
safest place to be?" In a car, ‘where is the safest place to be,
travelling by plane…by boat… etc. Self-preservation is a very
strong instinct!
Well where is the safest place to be in life? The safest place is
to be united to Christ. He told his disciples, ‘none shall pluck
you from my Father's hand’. When the believer gathers
around the Lord's table he has pledged to him afresh the
assurance that he will one day be will the Lord at the great
marriage supper of the Lamb.
Presentation 44
Conclusion
Guard against allowing the sacrament becoming either a
ritual or a superstition. We do so by learning of its
significance and by approaching it with faith in our hearts.
The sacrament is only made effective to the person who
exercises faith. The person who comes looking for and
expecting to find God will benefit most from the
sacrament. Two people sitting next to each other can have
quite different responses to a communion service. One
has brought faith and expectancy, while the other is
engaged in ritual and is stretched to explain the joy and
excitement of his neighbour. We benefit only in
proportion to our faith. May God quicken faith in our
hearts the next time we gather around the Lord’s table.
Presentation 44