The Lord’s Supper | June 29 2025
God knows who we are as people. He knows our limitations and how prone we are to forget things. History emphasizes how many mistakes are repeated with each new generation. One group learns a lesson and the next forgets it. God knew this and built in reminders for us to keep us anchored on His truth. The Lord’s Supper is meant to remind us of the body and blood of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV
(23) For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread,
(24) and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
(25) In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
(26) For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
God instructed the church to celebrate the Lords supper so that we would remember Jesus’ body and Jesus’ blood. In the scope of our lives and all human history it is amazing that we could forget what the perfect life of Jesus and then His sacrificed blood accomplished, yet we do forget all the time.
Ephesians 2:11-13 ESV
(11) Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
(12) remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (13) But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Paul is encouraging the church to remember where we came from. He wants us to remember what salvation and our hope is truly based on. We were not born into the promises of salvation by coming from the right nation. We were separated from God’s promises. We had no hope and were without God in the world. So often we can forget that each one of us was lost and headed to hell. We show that we forget by not have a love and grace for nonbelievers, and by subtly changing what saved us. Pride slips in so quickly and now our hope and promise of salvation is based on us. Something we did right or continue to do. A free gift is now used to control people. We forget the body and the blood. We have been brough near through the blood. It is through Jesus. God wanted Israel to be reminded of this fact. The Day of Atonement showed the need for a blood payment for sin. The commands forbidding eating of blood showed how blood needed to be honored. Leviticus has so many reminders pointing forward to Jesus.
Leviticus 17:11 ESV
(11) For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
Israel was to be eagerly looking forward to the perfect blood payment. It is through blood that atonement can be made. These commands were not pointless but meant to be reminders throughout each generation. The Jews were to be eagerly anticipating the perfect blood payment. This is what made Jesus’ teaching in John 6 so shocking.
John 6:53-56 ESV
(53) So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
(54) Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
(55) For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.
(56) Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
Jesus’ words are shocking enough in our culture, let alone to a Jew. Throughout the Old Testament Israel would walk away from God’s commands, even going so far to forget how to celebrate the feast of booths (Neh 8:14). Then after the exile Israel doubled down on following the law, and became the rule followers we see during Jesus’ time. The Jews knew drinking blood was forbidden. They missed the heart of what Jesus taught. They were focused on the earthly, and not the true reality found in Jesus. He just declared that He is the perfect Messiah that has come to give the blood payment. To have eternal life you have to accept (eat) His body and His blood. He is the payment for Sin. We can struggle with why does Jesus teach such an important truth in such inflammatory, difficult language? This tough language only comes after He tries to teach the same truth in much simpler terms repeatedly.
John 6:28-29 ESV
(28) Then they said to Him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
This is the real struggle, we want something to do. If Jesus would have given them a new law, they would have been thrilled. If He would have given them a list of steps you had to do in a certain order to be saved they would have set out immediately to follow them in exacting detail. Yet Jesus did none of those things. Instead He taught something even more offensive then drinking His blood.
(29) Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
Salvation, doing the works of God is found when we believe in Him.
John 6:35-36; 40; 47 ESV
(35) Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.
(36) But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.
(40) For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
(47) Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
He repeats the same truth so many ways. He is the messiah. Eternal life is found by believing in, looking on, or coming to Jesus. Jesus is not changing language to be confusing but to show that it is about Him and accepting the blood payment He would give. The crowd kept rejecting this message so then He said you must eat His body and drink His blood. This is the same truth. Salvation is found by accepting His perfect life and the perfect blood payment it enabled Him to give.
The Jews struggled with this and so do we. We love to make rules and get lost in details that do not matter. Jesus is offering Himself; He is the truth all the law pointed to and we do not want Him. At this point the Jews had expanded on and formulized God’s truth. One example is at the Day of atonement, Lev 16:6 says Aaron would make atonement for Himself and “for his house.” So, the Rabbis deducted that the High priest had to be married to fulfill His role on the Day of Atonement. This led to a problem if the High Preist’s wife were to die. So, they would appoint a stand in bride to be ready, just in case the High Priests’ wife died. Other Rabbis saw how ridiculous this was, and wondered how many stand in brides would be needed. All this shows how the God’s truth was missed. Instead of focusing on the need for a perfect blood payment for our sins, we are appointing stand in brides. Humanity loves to practice rituals and detailed religion instead of a personal relationship with a loving God.
Isaiah 58:1-5 NLT
(1) “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell My people Israel of their sins!
(2) Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about Me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask Me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near Me.
(3) ‘We have fasted before You!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t You impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and You don’t even notice it!’ “I will tell You why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers.
(4) What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with Me.
(5) You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the LORD?
Israel looked very religious from the outside. There was a lot of ceremony and even regular fasting practiced. They wanted to show God what they could give up for Him and what living for God cost them. God was not impressed with any of this. These religious ceremonies and fasting were for themselves. It did not please Him. We are never accepted or grow close to God by our works, effort, or what it cost us.
Isaiah 58:6-10 ESV
(6) “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
(7) Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
(8) Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
(9) Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
(10) if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
God wanted a heart relationship with His people. This relationship would be reflected though how they lived. He wanted them to reflect Him in each aspect of their life. To walk in a justice for the oppressed and to care for the needy. This did not replace one human effort with another. God wanted a relationship that showed through obedience. It is living out His truth that leads to a fellowship and closeness. Then they could call to Him and He would answer. Jesus’s blood payment was accepted because of the obedient body it came from, not because the ritual was perfectly followed.
Hebrews 10:5-10 ESV
(5) Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, “Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but a body have You prepared for Me;
(6) in burnt offerings and sin offerings You have taken no pleasure.
(7) Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God, as it is written of Me in the scroll of the book.’”
(8) When He said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law),
(9) then He added, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second.
(10) And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Jesus knew that rituals and sacrifices is not what God desired. It is easy to forget as we study Leviticus that God took no pleasure in these offerings. They were a reminder of sin. Jesus walked in a perfect obedience which came from a heart lead relationship.
His blood payment was accepted because of the obedient body it came from. The High Priest could not have followed the law close enough to give a satisfying payment for sin. Jesus lived a perfect life and secured righteousness. His blood then could be accepted to pay for our sin. This is what we are called to remember as we celebrate the Lord’s supper. We have eternal life because we have believed (eaten) the body and blood of Jesus. We have trusted that Jesus lived a perfect life and so could give the perfect payment for sin.
Eating of these elements today does not save. We are remembering Jesus’ body and His blood. I want to encourage us not to get lost in details that take our focus off what we are to remember today. Church history is full of debates about the Lord’s Supper. These range from who is allowed to take it, what it does, who should be prevented from taking it, how it should be taken, on and on it goes. Today let us remember the perfectly obedient body of Jesus and the blood payment it allowed Him to offer. As we remember these amazing truths let us walk in a heart relationship with our amazing savior. Let us guard our hearts from making this into a ritual but remember all Jesus accomplished.
We believe in Open communion- If you are a believer here today you are welcome to take communion with us. All believers are apart of the body of Christ and are to remember what He has done.
If you are not a believer, meaning you have never trusted in Jesus for your salvation, this is not for you. Please believe in Him.
We are going to have a time of reflection
Take this time to confess any sins God convicts you of. His perfect body enabled His blood to be the ransom payment that gave us new life, but we do not always act like we have new life. This is why we need to confess our sins and walk fresh with Him. We also need to be careful to not let Godly conviction lead to self-condemnation. No one is worthy of Him we are accepted by the blood of the Lamb.
His body and His blood, secured our redemption. Take time to mediate on what Jesus accomplished. It is not about us, but about what He did. We do this in remembrance of Him, proclaiming His death until He returns.
After the time of reflection, I will lead us as will all partake of the elements together. (The crackers are gluten free)
1 Corinthians 11:23-24 ESV
(23) For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread,
(24) and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
The Bread Represents the Body- It speaks of who Jesus Is- Fully God, Fully man
Perfectly Obedient to the father
Pray-
Eat the Bread
1 Corinthians 11:25-26 ESV
(25) In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
The Cup represents the Blood- His blood paid the penalty for our sin
Pray-
Drink the Cup
1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV
(26) For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
Revelation 12:9-12 ESV
(9) And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
(10) And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
(11) And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
(12) Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”