The Lord's Supper | Sunday February 9, 2025
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.
As believers we have been called to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We take time to remember the bread which represents the body of Jesus. He is fully God and fully man, and lived a perfectly righteous life. In His body, Jesus walked in a full obedience to God the Father. By fulfilling the law Jesus completed His perfect righteousness. We also remember the cup which is the new covenant in His blood. Jesus took our sin and offered His blood as the perfect sacrifice for sin. When we come to take the Lord’s Supper we are proclaiming His death, but notice that is not the end of the verse. We proclaim His death until He comes. There is a future element to the Lord’s supper that even Jesus is anticipating and eagerly waiting for.
Luke 22:14-18 ESV
(14) And when the hour came, He reclined at table, and the apostles with Him.
(15) And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
(16) For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
(17) And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.
(18) For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
Jesus had longed for and had a deep desire to celebrate the Passover with His disciples and point out to them what it really was about. He was ready to give the perfect payment for sin. Yet in the shadow of the cross, notice His promise not to eat of the Passover meal, the Lord’s supper again until... it is fulfilled in the Kingdom. Jesus declared “It is finished,” on the cross. He perfectly paid for sin, and yet the effects of what He had done were just starting to be unveiled. So as we proclaim His death we cannot ignore the fulfillment Jesus is anticipating in the kingdom. It is so important He is waiting to drink grape juice/ wine until He is in the Kingdom. As great as the Lord’s supper is now, Jesus says something even better is coming.
Matthew 26:29 Wuest
(29) And I am saying to you, I will positively not from now on drink of this product of the vine until that day when I drink it new in quality with you in the kingdom of My Father.
Jesus calls the feast He is looking forward to in the kingdom new, which also carries the idea of being superior in quality. He desires to be reunited with His disciples and in larger degree the church. He is waiting to be united to His bride. The Lord’s Supper will be fulfilled at the wedding feast in the Kingdom.
Revelation 19:6-8 ESV
(6) Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
(7) Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready;
(8) it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
This describes the moment when we as the church are married and united to Jesus our groom. 2 Corinthians 11:2 says we are betrothed to Jesus. In John 14 we studied Jesus’ marriage proposal to us. The wedding is described in verse 7. The church is raptured out before the tribulation on earth. We are in heaven with our groom. Jesus has purified us as His bride and we are left wearing our righteous deeds, the eternal rewards of the church. This is not the end though, after the wedding ceremony is a giant reception.
Revelation 19:9 & 11 ESV
(9) And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
(11) Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.
Revelation 20:1-2 & 6 ESV
(1) Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
(2) And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
(6) Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years.
Then come the reception where Jesus comes back as conquering King to this earth and establishes His perfect Kingdom. Satan is bound for a 1,000 years. We in the church will reign with Him. It is in this kingdom as we are in resurrected bodies reigning with Jesus that we will celebrate our marriage to Him. It is an amazing wedding reception! This is the fulfillment of the Lord’s Supper. Isaiah even described this feast.
Isaiah 25:6-9 ESV
(6) On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
(7) And He will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.
(8) He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.
(9) It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, that He might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for Him; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”
It is hard to imagine how amazing this feast will be. When Jesus said He will celebrate the Lord’s Supper with us His bride, and it would be new in quality He is not exaggerating. It is powerful now to remember the bread and the cup, His perfect body and the payment of His blood. Think about this feast, in the Kingdom, with our groom. Jesus reigning on earth sitting at a massive banquet table, reaches for the bread and says “ this is My body” then He reaches for the cup and says “this is My blood of the covenant.” We will celebrate and worship Him for what He has done. And what is truly amazing is that we will be with Him. This is the moment Jesus has been waiting for. When He is with His people. The Passover meal itself points to this moment. During a Passover meal, also called a Seder, four cups were to be drunk each one connected to 1 of 4 specific promises.
Exodus 6:6-7 ESV
(6) Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
(7) I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
God promised Israel to 1. Bring them out of Egypt, 2. Deliver them from their slavery, 3. Redeem them. The last promise is that God would take Israel to be His people. To be in perfect fellowship with Israel. This is fulfilled in the kingdom. When Israel returns to God and Jesus reigns as their King. We do not know for sure what cup Jesus took to celebrate the Lords’ Supper, but many wonder if it was the third and He is waiting to take the fourth. Waiting until His wedding reception with His bride, when Israel will be united to Him as His people. It is the fourth promise that is waiting to be completely fulfilled.
The fourth promise is fulfilled when Israel comes back into fellowship with God, when they are walking as His people. It will be an amazing thing to be a part of.
Romans 11:11-15 NLT
(11) Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But He wanted His own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves.
(12) Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it.
(13) I am saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this,
(14) for I want somehow to make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, so I might save some of them.
(15) For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead!
Israel has not been replaced. They have not sinned to the point of being abandoned. Their rejection opened the door for us in the gentile church to receive salvation. When they come back to God and walk in fellowship with Him in the Kingdom it is going to be amazing! It means life from the dead. The church and Israel walking in resurrected bodies under one king Jesus. Jesus alone can bring this unity.
Ephesians 1:9-10 ESV
(9) making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ
(10) as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.
It is God’s purpose to elevate Jesus. In His perfect timing and according to His perfect plan all things will be united in Jesus. This goes well beyond a unity of Israel and the Church but that unity cannot be left out. Jesus is the perfect sin payment. His body showed His perfect life and verified His blood that was offered. This payment is what enables Jesus to unite all things. We are gathered here to remember what He has done. We will still be gathered in the Millennium, in His kingdom to continue to celebrate and worship what He has done. He deserves all praise and worship.
Revelation 5:9-10 ESV
(9) And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
(10) and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
The Lord’s Supper proclaims Jesus’ death. We are proclaiming the perfect payment for sin that made Jesus worthy to unite all things. He ransomed us, by His blood which could be accepted because of His body. He made us His people and we will reign in His kingdom with Him. So let’s proclaim His death that accomplished so much as we wait for the perfect fulfillment when at our wedding reception we will feast with our husband, Jesus, with Isreal in His amazing kingdom.
We believe in Open communion- If you are a believer here today you are welcome to take communion with us. It is Jesus’ table not ours.
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 blood is 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 and mediate on when it will be fulfilled in the kingdom. 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
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.
Matthew 26:29 ESV
(29) I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.”