For our scripture reading this morning, I ask that you turn with me to Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14 as we read verses 12 through 26. Verses 12 through 26. The context being what we call the Last Supper. And also the institution where our Lord institutes the Lord's Supper. Then also if you would turn and keep your finger in 1 Corinthians 11, verses 23 to 26, which serves as the text this morning. Last week you considered in our preparatory service, we considered a portion of 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the verses following the text this morning, the verses in which Paul calls for self-examination. And now we back up just a few verses, verses 23 through 26, and consider those verses as we read this portion from Mark chapter 14. Then after we read this, I ask that you turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 36 and 37. We're not going to recite some of these questions and answers today as we normally do, but if you would keep that open on your lap this morning, I will refer to a few of the questions and answers dealing with what we believe concerning the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Lord's Day is 28 and 29 in a particular way, and again, spilling over a little bit today into Lord's Day 30. Mark chapter 14, beginning at verse 12, as we hear now the Word of God. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover Lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover? So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, The teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there. The disciples left, went into the city, and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. When evening came, Jesus arrived with the twelve. While they were reclining at the table, eating, he said, I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me. They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, Surely not I. It is one of the twelve, he replied. One who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man. It would be better for him if he had not been born. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take it, this is my body. Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many, he said to them. I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God. When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Turning over to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Again, as you recall from last week, Paul is addressing abuses in the Corinthian church, and in particular in chapter 11, abuses that take place in worship, particularly dealing with the celebration of the Lord's Supper. And now he reminds them here of the institution of the Lord's Supper. Verse 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. 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. 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. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul says, the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed. Now that's a powerful statement. That's a powerful statement because this One whose glory filled the sky on the night of His birth as the angels sang to announce His coming, Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace to men on whom His favor rests. This One of whom the people shouted when He entered triumphantly into Jerusalem to begin the last week of His earthly life, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. This One who was exalted was betrayed. And what an astounding contradiction, even as our Lord tells His disciples on this very night, one of you will betray Me. What an astounding contradiction as He prepared to give and prepared His disciples to receive one of the greatest gifts that represented His love and righteousness, that gift was introduced with evil. The institution of the Lord's Supper which represented the gift of our Lord giving Himself, that greatest, that most beautiful of all Christian celebrations, was introduced in the midst of deception and decay. In the midst of death, Jesus Christ gave to His church, represented by His disciples, He gave her a picture of life. And with that picture of life, He gave a command to partake of the Lord's Supper in remembrance of Him. And people of God, as we come to the Lord's table, in faith this morning and every time we come to the Lord's table in faith, we too are partaking of life with a look to the past, with an eye on the present, and with a view to the future. All of that is included in the Lord's Supper. First of all, with a look to the past. And we know, of course, we must remember that the historical context, what the historical context is here. Paul gives it to the church in Corinth. He points to the Last Supper on the night in which he was betrayed. The institution of the Lord's Supper came in the context of a most important feast in the history of Israel, the Passover celebration. Boys and girls, I trust you remember what the Passover was all about. But the Passover celebration was an annual feast that It happened once a year in which devout Jews came from all over the place to Jerusalem to celebrate this Passover feast. And this had been done for centuries. And it was celebrated by generation upon generation upon generation of faithful Jews. And in this Passover celebration, there was a vivid reminder to those who participated. That feast was celebrated with a look to the past. And that feast included a sign. That sign was the lamb that was sacrificed and was then eaten. And that sacrificial lamb signified something very important for the people. That Passover celebration was like a pair of binoculars with which the people could look to the past and they were reminded of God's covenant faithfulness delivering Israel out of bondage, out of Egypt. Through those binoculars, as it were, they could look to the past and be reminded of the salvation that they enjoyed, that God's people enjoyed from the tyranny of Pharaoh by the blood of another. That blood that you recall was painted on the door frame of the house. And as they looked to the past, they were also reminded that God's people had been given strength for the journey as they ate of that lamb. And people of God, it's in this context that Jesus took bread. And as Paul says in verse 24 and 25, when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me. 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. Now we know, of course, the disciples at that point did not yet understand all that Jesus was saying. They did not yet understand all that He was pointing to. Yet they did understand in these words that Jesus was using the sacrificial language of the covenant. Sacrifices, we know, were a major part of the covenant relationship between God and His people. Shedding of blood was the essential payment for violating the covenant. For disobeying God, disobedience to God's law. God's covenant with His people was signed in blood. Blood was the signature on the dotted line of the covenant contract. In Exodus 24, verse 8, we read, And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words. But because of the failure of God's people to obey God as He required, the sacrifices had to be offered continually again and again and again. Blood had to be shed again and again and again to remove God's wrath, To have life, another life had to be given up with bloodshed. In Leviticus 17, verse 11, we read, For the life of the flesh is in the blood, for it is the blood that makes atonement for your soul. Life is in the blood. We know that from physical experience too. If your blood is gone, you have life. Life is in the blood. God said, in the day that you eat of the fruit of the tree, you will surely die. Life had to be given. Blood had to be shed. And the Old Testament bloody sacrifices, including the yearly Passover sacrifice, all of them, all of these sacrifices were ongoing year after year after year as they pointed to the one great sacrifice to end all sacrifices. The Old Testament bloody sacrifices were promises. They were shadows, not the real thing, but shadows of the real thing. Of the One that would come to fulfill them. The Old Testament bloody sacrifices were not enough. The Lamb's blood only covered sin, but could not actually take that sin away. Those sacrifices could not make one perfect. Hebrews 10, verse 4 says, For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. And therefore, on the night He was betrayed, Jesus instituted a new sacrament to replace the old one. You know how necessary that new one was. In Hebrews 10, verse 14, we read, For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. The Old Testament sacrifices, again, covered sin temporarily. But they were offered continually. But the Lamb of the Lord's Supper washes away sin permanently. It was offered once, but it is remembered continually. The Lamb of God instituted the Lord's Supper on the night He was betrayed, while in just a few hours, as it were, the old bloody symbol would have served its purpose forever. Because it will have reached its fulfillment in the blood shed on Calvary. Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper in the context of the Passover celebration, reminding the disciples of the past and that atonement for sin required the shedding of blood. And beloved in Christ, as we come together to the Lord's table, we also come with a look to the past. The institution of the Lord's Supper, we know, pointed to a future event for the disciples. It was only a day away. But it pointed to a future event that the disciples and we today would look back on to remember and believe. To remember and believe the cross of Jesus and His sacrifice, the real thing. And therefore, in the Lord's Supper, we look to the past, we see the cross, and we remember and believe that His sacrifice is the only ground and foundation of our salvation. As we come to the Lord's table and look to the past, we remember and believe that His body was broken, His blood was shed unto a complete remission of all of our sins. As we look to the past in faith, we remember deliverance. That just as Israel was delivered from the angel of death and the tyranny of Pharaoh, so all believers, including you and me today who believe, we are delivered from eternal death and the tyranny of sin and Satan by Jesus Christ, the author of a new exodus, the Redeemer of an enslaved people. And as we come to the Lord's table in faith and look to the past, we also remember an amazing transformation accomplished by Jesus Christ for you and me, transformed from sinful death to a life of righteousness. But with the institution of the Lord's Supper, our Lord also brought His disciples' eyes from looking to the past to as well focus with an eye on the present they needed to understand the true relationship that was necessary with Jesus Christ again the same words he took bread and in the same way after supper he took the I'm sorry the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread 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 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. Now, boys and girls, we know that the bread and the wine are the juice that you will see and smell in a few moments. We know that the bread and the wine does not literally become the body and the blood of Jesus Christ as we said last week. In the same way, when Jesus held up the bread and the cup before His disciples and said, this is My body, this is My blood, He hadn't torn a chunk of flesh off His arm. He hadn't broke off a finger. He didn't cut Himself and let His blood drip into the cup. He was saying that this bread and this cup that you see represent My body and My blood. In John chapter 6, Jesus referred to Himself as the bread of heaven. And there He taught that He alone is the food that endures to eternal life. He taught that He is the bread that gives life to the world and there's no life without Him. He taught that those who eat and drink of Him will never hunger and thirst. And of course, when He said that He is the bread of heaven, that was symbolic language pointing to salvation, pointing to the fact that He is the eternal provision for you and me. Now, the disciples had enjoyed intimate fellowship and communion with Jesus for three years. But here in the institution of the Lord's Supper, He was teaching them that in order to have saving union with Him, they were commanded to eat and drink of Him. Again, not literally, not to chew His flesh with their physical mouth, but to eat and drink of Him by faith. Again, the bread and the cup that He held before their eyes represented His soon-to-be broken body and shed blood. And they were to have faith that His sacrifice alone could pay for their sin. Question 76 asks, What does it mean to eat the crucified body of Christ and to drink His poured out blood? It means to accept with a believing heart the entire suffering and death of Christ and by believing to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. But it means more. Through the Holy Spirit who lives both in Christ and in us, we are united more and more to Christ's blessed body. And so although He is in heaven and we are on earth, we are flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone, and we forever live on and are governed by one Spirit as members of our body or by one soul. It means to accept with a believing heart the entire suffering and death of Christ and by believing to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Jesus was teaching His disciples that they needed a true relationship with Him. And He was also teaching in the present that the time had come. As they looked to the sacrificial system of the past, Jesus' message to His disciples and the church is that the day had come. The time was here for the promise of the Savior to be fulfilled. In essence, He says, I am the One. I give My life for My people. And just as this bread that you see and feel and taste nourishes your body and gives strength for the physical journey in the very same way my body gives you nourishment and strength for the spiritual journey when you partake of Me by faith. When you believe in Me. When you eat of Me, you will never hunger again. Why? Because of My blood of the covenant, Jesus says. In Jeremiah 31, verse 31, it says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. And beloved, that covenant was sealed with the blood of the Lord's Supper Lamb. Remember, life is in the blood. And the poured out blood of Christ points to His substitutionary atonement, His substitutionary saving work, boys and girls. He substituted Himself. He took the place of... He didn't come alongside of us, as some would say. We have to do our best and Jesus does the rest. But He put Himself in the place of those whose blood should have been shed. He provided the atonement. He accomplished the sacrifice. And we, that is His people, those who believe on Him, enjoy a full participation in His saving benefits. And His saving benefits, beloved, include that He paid for our sin. It includes that He took away our guilt. He satisfied God's wrath that was against you and me. He reconciled us with the Father so that now we find favor in God's sight. Because of Him, God the Father adopts you and me as His sons and daughters. In Him, we are justified. And in Him, we are also being sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit who cleanses us more and more and prepares us for that day of glory. And beloved, we are given assurance as well of all of this. Again, question 81 says, Who are to come to the Lord's table? Those who are displeased with themselves because of their sins, but who nevertheless trust that their sins are pardoned and that their continuing weakness is covered by the suffering and death of Christ and who also desire more and more to strengthen their faith and to lead a better life. And beloved, our ultimate comfort Our ultimate comfort, which we might say summarizes all the benefits of Christ's saving work is seen in the saving power of Jesus Christ. The saving power of Jesus Christ is seen in His shed blood. Again, life is in the blood and His blood is a picture of life for those who believe. His blood is a picture of the forgiving grace of God who remembers our sins no more, who removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. His blood is a picture of His righteousness given to you and me and condemnation taken away from us. His blood points to new life in Christ. Our Lord's message is that the day of salvation has come. He was given for His church in her place. And He was given to His church that His people might eat and drink of Him. That you and I, beloved, might partake of Him by faith, which means to become a member of Him, become united with Him to receive the guaranteed promise of the covenant of God's grace. Through His death, we become heirs with Him of glory. All of that is what our Lord was teaching His disciples at the present at that very time. And beloved, we too come to the Lord's table with our eye on the present. All of that is true for us today. By faith and by faith alone, we have new life in Him. And we enjoy fellowship with Him today. And the Lord's table is an assurance for us of that very thing. Question 75 asks, How does the Lord's Supper remind you and assure you that you share in Christ one sacrifice on the cross and in all His gifts? In this way, Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat this broken bread and to drink this cup. With this command, He gave this promise first. As surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely His body was offered and broken for me and His blood poured out for me on the cross. Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of Him who serves and tastes with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord given me as sure signs of Christ's body and blood, so surely He nourishes and refreshes my soul for eternal life with His crucified body. and poured out blood. Now that's pretty certain. Just as certain as you see this bread and you see the cup, so certain is it that Christ shed, gave His body and blood for you. And just as certain as you taste and eat the bread and taste and drink of the cup, just as certain is it that the Holy Spirit feeds you with the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And beloved, this is only for true believers. If you do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will not be nourished if you come to this table. If you do not believe on Him, this table has no value for you. For the child of God, the physical mouth represents that mouth of faith by which we take in the saving benefits of Christ. If you have no faith, then very simply, you eat nothing more than dust. And you eat and drink judgment upon yourself. And therefore, if you do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, this table calls out to you that apart from Jesus Christ, you have no life. You have no hope. Come to Jesus Christ. believe on Him. If you have fallen away for a season, this table cries out to you that you are to be reconciled with God through Jesus Christ. Boys and girls and young people, those of you who have been baptized, who have received the promises of Jesus Christ, this table cries out to you that you have unfinished business. You have been given a promise. A promise that the Lord's Supper says has been fulfilled in Christ Jesus. you are called to claim that promise and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And beloved, as we come to the Lord's table into the present with faith, we partake with a purpose. Our Lord said, do this in remembrance of Me. Again, it points back. Remember His death. But at the same time, in the present as we partake, we are to proclaim the Lord's death. We are to proclaim His death to ourselves. We are to proclaim it to our children. We are to proclaim it to each other. we are to proclaim it to the world over and over and over again because we are forgetful people. We are to proclaim to the Lord's death that salvation is only in Him and there is no other way to the Father. And as we come to the Lord's table in faith, beloved, we demonstrate something else, and that is this, that He is my Savior. As we come to the Lord's table in faith, we do so with a look to the past, with an eye on the present, but we also partake with a view to the future. Paul says, Ye proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Jesus said in verse 25 of Mark 14, He said to His disciples, I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God. And no doubt these were somewhat confusing words to His disciples because on the one hand, These were the saddest words they could ever hear. But on the other hand, these words, as they would come to understand, would give them the greatest reason of all for rejoicing. The fact that Jesus would not drink again until meant that His death was near. It meant that He was going away. It meant that the day of Christ's physical life and work and ministry was almost over. And as we might say, night had come. But there was to be no despair because tomorrow was coming. As the psalmist says in Psalm 30, verse 5, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. In reality, these were comforting words. Comforting words that fellowship would be restored. It would be continued in a more spectacular way. As Christ instituted His Supper, these were words of triumph. The Lord's Supper points to Christ's triumph. His promise was that He would rise again. He would secure God's kingdom. He would successfully accomplish what He came to do. His work on the cross would be perfect. It would be complete. And indeed, beloved, He has brought His people's salvation. The Lord's Supper is a foretaste of that great wedding banquet of the bridegroom with His bride. One day, Jesus Christ will gather around Himself all who truly belong to Him by faith for that feast of eternal joy. With this institution of the Lord's Supper, beloved, as our Lord commanded His disciples to eat and drink of Him, He confidently prophesied of a glorious future. And this is the secret of His unfailing obedience unto death that He was leading His people onward to eternal joy. That He was fulfilling that which God had planned. He was glorifying His Father and He was leading His people onward to eternal joy. As we come together to the Lord's table, we also partake with a view to the future. As we partake, beloved, we look forward with expectation. We look forward with expectation to that perfect life with Him. The Lord's Supper, beloved, is a symbol and it is a pledge. it is a guarantee of the future eternal meal in glory where Jesus Christ nourishes His people forevermore. That we might look back to the cross, that we might enjoy His fellowship in the present, and that we might look to future glory, Jesus said, do this in remembrance of Me and proclaim My saving death. As we've said on occasion, The Lord's Supper is not an option for those who find their only comfort in life and in death, in body and soul, in their faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. It's not an option. It's a command. And even more than that, it's a blessed privilege. As we look at the Lord's table, we are reminded, beloved, of how deserving we are to come. We are reminded that the whole sacrificial system of the Old Testament was instituted by God because of the filthiness and the imperfection and the sinfulness of man. but as we come to the Lord's table, we are also reminded, we see there that all of that has been done away with by the cleansing blood of Jesus. The gift of the Lord's Supper has been given so that those who believe might remember, reflect, and look forward. And all of that serves to nourish our faith as the Holy Spirit feeds us by faith with the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. The Lord's table is a picture, a snapshot of life in Christ for those who place their trust only in Him. But even more than that, beloved, it's a panoramic view of that everlasting life of fellowship with God through Jesus Christ accomplished in the past that's also very real today and that is guaranteed for the future. Come, for the feast is spread. Amen.