If we think of this only as a memorial, then once a year will do. We have Christmas once a year, and that is fine. But more than that would be too much to stop and think about those things. But this is not just thinking about those things. According to Paul, it is a Communion with Jesus. It is a mystery, but mysteries abound in the Christian life. Let us tonight dive into the mystery and experience Christ in Communion.
Now that leads us to another point:
Paul calls it that in verse 20 such:
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"When you come together, is it not the Lord's Supper that you eat?"
The Lord's Supper (as Paul teaches it here) brings to mind several truths about this Sacrament:
1. It is the Lord's Supper not ours. He instituted it, He regulates it, and He is the Lord of the Banquet — not anyone else.
2. The Lord and His atoning work on Calvary are memorialized. The Bible teaches us this is a memorial when Christ says: "This do in remembrance of me." While we see in Scripture that it is more than a memorial, it is yet a memorial. We are brought again to the centrality of our faith: the atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins.
3. The Lord's Supper should then (according to the context here) eliminate factions, heal wounds, and drive us all back to the core element of our faith: The love of God in sending His Son to die for our sins. "You shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins."
Eucharisteo, is the Greek word that appears in the Bible, for instance, in Matthew 26.27. "And He took a cup and when he had given thanks" (eucharisteo), He gave it to them. Paul also uses this word. Paul calls it, in 1 Corinthians 10.16, while using another word for thanksgiving (eulogia) the Cup of Thanksgiving, as the NIV renders it. So Eucharist is a significant part of the four-fold movement of the Lord's Supper:
The Four-fold action:
1. Took bread
2. Gave thanks over it3. Broke it4. Distributed it
It may actually be thought of in a seven-fold action, when the Cup is included:
5. Took the Cup
6. Gave thanks over it7. Passed it.
Let me digress for a bit here. This morning we looked at the feeding of the five thousand. I told you that this was clearly intentional in calling our attention backward to the Old Covenant feeding of the children of Israel in the desert. But it is also clearly forward-looking to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The same four-fold feature of the Lord's Supper is used there. He took bread, he gave thanks, he broke it (John alone fails to mention this part), and he distributed it. Matthew, Mark and Luke use the word Eulogia for giving thanks, but John 6.11 uses the word eucharisteo. John then moves to unveil an enigmatic teaching of Jesus that caused a tremendous disturbance. Jesus goes on to teach that He is the bread that one must eat. The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand was a foretaste of the sacramental meal which believers will see. "I am the bread of life" provokes the Jewish leaders, but Jesus doesn't budge. In fact, he goes further and says, "I am the living bread. 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. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
