Eucharist as Elements
1 Corinthians 10:16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
Introduction:
This morning I want us to take a look at the Eucharist.
Now, our commitment at All Saints is that approximately every quarter we stop and look at a particular aspect of the Lord’s Table.
And the reason for this commitment is that- if we are going to be a sacramental church (a church that celebrates the Eucharist each week) we need to make sure that we understand what we are doing and why we are doing it.
This morning I want us to look at the elements used in the Eucharist. That is, I want us to look at the bread and wine. And as we do so, I want to ask two basic questions:
· Why did Jesus feel it important to use outwards signs?
{why do we have outward signs at all}
· Why did Jesus specifically choose bread and wine as those outward sings?
So let’s begin with our first question: why does God use outward signs at all? Why are these outward signs so important to the sacrament? What is their purpose; what do they contribute?
I. Why Elements?
The first question we need to ask when examining the bread and wine is why does God use outward signs at all? Why are these outward signs necessary and so important to the sacrament?
A] First, the outward signs alert us to the spiritual reality at hand- think about it, Scripture teaches that the spiritual reality portrayed by the Sacrament (i.e. the New Covenant) is already ours in Christ.
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness,
However, we do not yet experience that reality in full. Therefore, Jesus instituted the outward signs to alert us to the current operation of that reality and to our actual participation in it.
Luke 24:35 And they began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. FN#1
B] Second, the outward signs identify the spiritual reality at work. It is not enough that you know something is going on. God wants you to know exactly what it is. So, what is it? Simply put, Grace and Peace. Notice then
· First, Christ’s onetime sacrifice has removed all that once separated you from God (peace) and has restored you to fellowship with God.
Romans 5:1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Bread)
· Second, the reality of the New Covenant means that God’s grace is at work in you, forgiving you, cleansing you, and renewing you.
James 4:6 But God gives a greater grace (Wine)
C] Third, the outward signs assure you that the spiritual reality signified is truly received. In other words, what God offers and sets before your eyes, He truly gives. Thus, when we come to the Table, the grace is real and God’s spiritual presence is real.
Luke 22:19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; (also 1 Cor 10:16)
Bottom line: why does God use outwards signs? To alert you to what you might not otherwise see and to assure you of your actual participation in it.
II. Why Bread? Why Wine?
Our second question asks, why did Jesus specifically choose bread and wine as the signs that he would use to alert, identify, and assure us? What do bread and wine tell us about the nature of the spiritual reality we are about to encounter?
A] The Bread:
Central to the idea of breaking bread is the notion of fellowship (e.g. Acts 2:42, 46) FN#2. Thus, the first thing that the breaking of bread tells you is that you have fellowship with and are included in the full merits of Christ’s all sufficient sacrifice (what He did, He did for you). However, that’s not all: the central result of our inclusion in this salvation is that our relationship with God has been restored. In other words, our fellowship with (inclusion in) Christ’s onetime Sacrifice means that our fellowship with God has been irrevocably secured
2 Corinthians 5:18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ
Importance: when the bread is broken and handed to you to eat, God is assuring you of His abiding fellowship, favor, and presence with you. In other words, the Lord’s Table is a time of real fellowship at the heart of a real relationship. God is spiritually present with His people in fellowship at His Table.
However, please note: the fellowship and blessings enjoyed at the Table are not a weekly fix. Instead, they are indicative of the whole of the new life.
Matthew 28:20 I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
B] Why Wine: Simply put, wine looks like blood. As such, the wine explains the bread. That is, the wine tells us how we have fellowship with God and His people. How? We are redeemed by the blood of Christ
Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,
Notice then, each week, as Christ hands you the chalice, He is assuring you that the grace of His all-sufficient sacrifice is already at work in the very specifics of your life (All that you bring, He has covered) FN#3.
Bottom line: every week God brings us to His house in the very midst of life. He sits us at His family table to love, nourish, and cleanse us. In doing so He hands us bread and wine to assure us that His presence (bread) and His grace (wine) are with us and are at work in the very details of our life.
Footnotes
1] Compare the account of the Last Supper with that of the Emmaus event, noticing the deliberate parallels. Jesus intentionally draws their attention back to the Last Supper and then opens their eyes.
(Last Supper) Luke 22:14 And when the hour had come He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 19 And when He had taken bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
(At Emmaus) Luke 24:30 And it came about that when He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.
Notice the supernatural/spiritual element at work in Luke’s account. The two followers don’t just recognize Jesus when they see Him in a familiar light (the breaking of the bread). Instead, their eyes are opened (Luke 24:31). In other words, Jesus couples the repetition of the Sacrament with a spiritual blessing/recognition. Add to this the fact that Luke tells us that these two followers didn’t just fail to recognize Jesus on the road, they were kept or prevented from recognizing Him (Lk 24:6). In other words, Jesus intentionally uses the very rehearsal of the Sacrament as a spiritual means to open the eyes of His followers to His presence with then, the reality of His Resurrection, and the completion of the salvation He came to accomplish for us. Jesus’ coupling of this alert with the Sacrament is intentional- just as is Luke’s repetition of the event (Lk 24:30, 35). Both are meant to tell us something important about God’s intention for the Sacrament. God intends the Sacrament to open our eyes and assure us of Christ’s presence with us, His victory for us, and the new life that is ours in Him. Notice, we see this same understanding again in Paul (c.f. I Cor 10:16).
Note: when Jesus rehearsed the meal that night in Emmaus, He did not become the bread nor did his followers simply say that they remember when Jesus did something just like that. Instead, God uses the rehearsal of the meal to open their eyes to the fact that Christ is present with them at the Table. From the very day of the resurrection, God was indicating to His people what blessings He intended this meal to provide.
2] It is vital that we remember that the breaking of the bread during the Eucharist is not a symbol of the breaking of Christ’s body. Scripture is emphatic that Christ’s body was not broken
John 19:33 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs;…….For these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, “Not a bone of Him shall be broken.”
Notice then the Scripture to which John is referring: first, from the beginning God commands that not one bone of the promissory Passover sacrifice was to be broken.
Exodus 12:46 “The Passover lamb is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it.
Second, God directly ties this specific command about the Passover Lamb to His promise of the Messiah, who is the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb.
Psalm 34:20 He keeps all his bones; Not one of them is broken.
Simply put, John’s Gospel reminds us that Scripture makes it clear, Christ was not broken for us. Thus, the breaking of the bread in the Eucharistic meal cannot point to such an errant notion. Instead, central to the idea of breaking bread is the notion of fellowship. Notice then at the Last Supper Jesus takes bread and after giving thanks He breaks it. Then the very next thing He does is He gives it to His disciples (fellowship, a sharing in)
Matthew 26:26 Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it (fellowship) and gave it to the disciples (inclusion in that fellowship)
Importance: the phrase “this is my body which is broken for you” never occurs in any of the Gospel accounts of the Supper. Furthermore, it does not occur in the earliest and most reliable manuscripts of any part of Scripture. Instead, it only makes its appearance in a handful of later manuscripts of I Corinthians 11:24. The earliest of these is a notation/ explanation found in the margin of the 4th century אcmg text (Note: א is the name of the 4th century Uncial MS; while c means it has been corrected/edited; and mg means that correction occurs in the margin of the text). The next appearance is in the 6th and 7th century texts Cc and D06c where this explanation has made its way into the text but is marked as an editorial addition/explanation to the text (again C and D06 are the uncials’ names while c means the text is corrected/edited but this time the correction has moved from the margin mg and is bracketed in the text itself). Thus, in the two 6th and 7th century texts (Cc and D06c), the addition would have appeared something like this:
1 Corinthians 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is [broken] for you;
At some latter time, the brackets indicating that “broken” was an addition/explanation to the text and not original, were forgotten. The result is that the word “broken” was presented as if it were original. Thus, the ensuing confusion. However, the earliest, most reliable, and most attested reading of the verse is:
1 Corinthians 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you;
א – London Sinaiticus Uncial
C – Paris Ephraemi Rescriptus Uncial
D06 – Paris Claromontanus Uncial
Uncial – Text in all Capital letters (common from ~3rd – 9th century AD)
3] In the Chalice we are handed the receipt of the whole of our salvation paid in full (not by our blood but by His). Notice the result:
· In the Chalice we see: the blood of perfect payment– Christ has paid the full debt for all our sins
1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,
· Not only that, in the Chalice we see the blood of perfect obedience– Christ has fulfilled for us all that God required of us.
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.
Bottom line: the bread and wine of the sacrament assure us that when we come to the Table, God’s spiritual presence is real and God’s grace is truly and actually received. Why? Grace and Peace are what Salvation means