Seeing the Savior in the Symbol
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NIV)
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
I. We are to Experience His Death
II. We are to Proclaim His Death
III. We are to Rejoice in His Resurrection
IV. We are to Await His Return
I. Through the Symbols we Experience His Death
Jesus was a master teacher. He included all of his disciples senses in this lesson about his death. He had been telling them for some time that he must die and be raised again, but they just couldn't wrap their minds around that. Now on the eve of his betrayal and crucifixion, Jesus teaches one last lesson about what he will soon suffer. The occasion was the Passover, a meal that was itself a remembrance. The Jews at this meal and recalled how through the slaying of a lamb, and using that's lamb's blood to paint the door post of their homes, that the death angel had passed them over as he slew the firstborn in every Egyptian household. So each year at this time it was a major celebration for Jewish families to celebrate this meal. It was a great feast, like Thanksgiving might be for us.Each year as they ate the lamb, as they broke the bread and they drank the wine, they remembered that a lamb was slain, so that no one in their homes might be slain that night. On this night Jesus took that tradition that all of these disciples had celebrated every year of their lives, and he gave it knew meaning. Now instead of thinking about a lamb dying, they would remember Jesus dying. Everytime the Passover season rolled around on the calendar, it would be a reminder to them that Jesus body was broken and his blood was spilled so that they might be passed over when God in his righteous judgment pays mankind for the wages of our sins.
A. We experience his death through our minds eye.
We are told that Jesus blessed the bread, and then he broke it. The one saying the blessing would have the attention of the room. When Jesus broke the bread, it wasn't just a matter of convenience so that everyone could have a piece. I can imagine him saying, "This is my body...." and breaking the bread before them as he said, "which is for you." From that point forward, every time his disciples sat down to eat, when they broke bread, they would see with their mind's eye Jesus breaking this bread. Even more, they would see with their mind's eye Jesus body being broken as it hung on that cross.
Of all the disciples, only John had the courage to be at the cross when Jesus was crucified. It is certain that it is a sight that he would never forget. And when he ate the Passover year after year, and a blessing was given for the bread, as it was broken, he would always see his Savior hanging their. That would always be a visual cue to remember what the Lord had done for him. But I believe the other disciples, those who did not see the cross with their real eyes, still saw it with their mind's eye. Likely they had seen many other crucifixions, as it was a common and very public method of execution used by the Romans in this time. Likely they would see many more people crucified after Jesus. It not only would not be difficult for them to visualize the crucifixion of Jesus, it would be just about impossible not to. They too would see Jesus' in their minds eye, hanging on that cross, his back ripped from the scourging, his face bloodied from the beating the soldiers would have given.
Of all the disciples, only John had the courage to be at the cross when Jesus was crucified. It is certain that it is a sight that he would never forget. And when he ate the Passover year after year, and a blessing was given for the bread, as it was broken, he would always see his Savior hanging their. That would always be a visual cue to remember what the Lord had done for him. But I believe the other disciples, those who did not see the cross with their real eyes, still saw it with their mind's eye. Likely they had seen many other crucifixions, as it was a common and very public method of execution used by the Romans in this time. Likely they would see many more people crucified after Jesus. It not only would not be difficult for them to visualize the crucifixion of Jesus, it would be just about impossible not to. They too would see Jesus' in their minds eye, hanging on that cross, his back ripped from the scourging, his face bloodied from the beating the soldiers would have given.
B. We experience his death through our hearing.
"He broke it and said....." Jesus spoke those words, "this is my body, which is for you." Whenever they heard someone bless a meal for the rest of their lives, and especially at Passover each year, they would hear Jesus saying, "My body was broken for you." They would remember those words were spoken by the Lord on the night before he was crucified. He knew it was coming, but he didn't run from it. He embraced it. It was the only way he could save his disciples, and he loved his disciples. Because they remembered him speaking these words they would forever know that his life wasn't taken from him, but that he had willingly laid it down out of love for them. It would be a debt of gratitude that they could never repay.
This night before the crucifixion was not the first time that the disciples had heard Jesus refer to himself as bread. In John's gospel we hear Jesus teaching that he is the bread of life.
We know that the words were figurative and symbolic for another reason. Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me. He did not say, do this, that you might receive grace, that you might receive forgiveness, or that you might enter the kingdom of God. He tells us plainly that the purpose in taking the bread is that we might remember. The disciples would remember this night every time the heard a blessing for bread. They would also remember Jesus teaching that he is the bread of life. They would remember that he said he was bread that satisfied. He is what all of us are really hungry for whether we know it or not. Jesus contrasted himself with the manna from the time of Moses. That manna had to be replenished every day. Yesterday's manna was not enough to satisfy today. As a matter of fact, if you tried to store up enough for the next day it went bad and became infested with worms. If this were a mystical miraculous transformation of simple bread into they body of Christ, we would only need to take it once, for Jesus whoever eats of this bread would never thirst again. But we don't do that. He instructed us to continue to do in as a remembrance.
This night before the crucifixion was not the first time that the disciples had heard Jesus refer to himself as bread. In John's gospel we hear Jesus teaching that he is the bread of life.
I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John 6:48-51 (NIV)This is one of the most misinterpreted verses in scripture. Many believe that when they take the Lord's Supper, that the bread of the supper is literally, mystically, miraculously transformed into the actual flesh of Jesus. They base that partly on this verse, and partly on Matthew 26:26 where Jesus says, "Take and eat; this is my body." However, Jesus never intended for either of these statements to be taken literally. We know this because a literal interpretation would be inconsistent with the other metaphors he used. He said he was the way. The word translated "way" can mean "road", but we would never think of walking on Jesus. We know he meant that figuratively, that only by faith in him could we have access to the Father. He said he was the door, but none of us imagine him being transformed from flesh and blood into a flat wooden plank, hanging by hinges in the entrance to heaven. Once again, he simply meant that only through faith in him could we hope to gain entrance to heaven. Jesus said he was the good shepherd, but we know that he was a carpenter before he became a rabbi and began teaching his disciples.
We know that the words were figurative and symbolic for another reason. Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me. He did not say, do this, that you might receive grace, that you might receive forgiveness, or that you might enter the kingdom of God. He tells us plainly that the purpose in taking the bread is that we might remember. The disciples would remember this night every time the heard a blessing for bread. They would also remember Jesus teaching that he is the bread of life. They would remember that he said he was bread that satisfied. He is what all of us are really hungry for whether we know it or not. Jesus contrasted himself with the manna from the time of Moses. That manna had to be replenished every day. Yesterday's manna was not enough to satisfy today. As a matter of fact, if you tried to store up enough for the next day it went bad and became infested with worms. If this were a mystical miraculous transformation of simple bread into they body of Christ, we would only need to take it once, for Jesus whoever eats of this bread would never thirst again. But we don't do that. He instructed us to continue to do in as a remembrance.
C. We experience his death in touch, smell and taste also.
I remember years ago when Terri was doing her student teaching she loved to cook with her classes. The kids liked it because cooking made them feel grown up, and because in the end their was something good to eat. Terri liked it because it got all the kids senses involved in whatever the lesson was. They were able to associate the things they talked about with what they tasted, smelled and touched. I'm sure this lesson was the same way. I wonder if these disciples were ever able to walk past a home where bread was being baked without remembering Jesus and his sacrifice.
II. We are to proclaim his death.
Not only do these symbols help us to remember what Jesus did for us, but they help us in a very visual way to proclaim that to others. Jesus said that whenever we eat of the bread or drink of the cup we are proclaiming his death.
Death is something we don't usually get too excited about proclaiming. Instead it's more like bad news we have to pass on. And on the rare occasion that someone's death might be considered good news, it would be the death of our enemy. If Osama Bin Laden had been found dead in the caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan after the battles in the Fall of 2001, that would have been worth proclaiming. But Jesus is not our enemy. He is our friend. He loves us more than we can imagine. And yet he told us to proclaim his death. Because when Jesus died, our enemy was defeated. That enemy is not Jesus, but sin and death. Because Jesus died and paid for our sin the apostle Paul could cry out, "O Death, where is your sting?"
Death is something we don't usually get too excited about proclaiming. Instead it's more like bad news we have to pass on. And on the rare occasion that someone's death might be considered good news, it would be the death of our enemy. If Osama Bin Laden had been found dead in the caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan after the battles in the Fall of 2001, that would have been worth proclaiming. But Jesus is not our enemy. He is our friend. He loves us more than we can imagine. And yet he told us to proclaim his death. Because when Jesus died, our enemy was defeated. That enemy is not Jesus, but sin and death. Because Jesus died and paid for our sin the apostle Paul could cry out, "O Death, where is your sting?"
III. We are to rejoice in his resurrection.
Paul doesn't specifically mention resurrection in this passage. It is however implied here, and it is discussed at great length four chapters later in 1 Corinthians 15. The reason we know that Jesus really is our Savior, that his death was sufficient to pay for our sins, is that God did not leave him in the grave. The evidence is overwhelming that he was actually raised after three days in the grave. Many have put forth various theories about how he didn't actually die, but only swooned. Others have postulated that he did die, and his body was just stolen away. For a thorough treatment of these arguments see Josh McDowell's books Evidence that Demands a Verdict and More Evidence that Demands a Verdict.
IV. We are to Expectantly Await His Return
One of the reasons we know that Paul wanted us to think of Jesus' Resurrection in this passage, is because he mentions his return. This supper is not just a time for us to look back on what Jesus has done for us, but is a cause to look forward on what he is going to do.
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