Beloved, for our Scripture reading tonight, please turn with me to the same Scripture reading we read this morning, John chapter 6, as we read together again verses 47 through 58. Our text is Matthew 26, verses 26 to 29. So please turn there as well. But first of all, again, John 6, verses 47 to 58. Once again, the discourse of Jesus as the bread of life. And we read just a portion of that discourse, beginning at verse 47, as we now hear the Word of God. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 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. Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day, For my flesh is real food, and my body is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died. But he who feeds on this bread will live forever. I'm turning over to Matthew 26, the verses 26 through 29. This, of course, is the night before our Lord was crucified, the night in which He celebrated the last Passover feast with His disciples and as well instituted the Lord's Supper. Verse 26. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, Take and eat. This is My body. Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and offered it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you. in my Father's kingdom. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the time for Christ's death quickly approached, He was gathered one last time with His closest friends on this earth, with His disciples, whom we call apostles. And all of His teaching and all of His training of them up until this time had been to prepare them for His great work that was shortly to be accomplished on the cross. Yet what He was still about to give them and teach them on this very night would bring together centuries of practice while also pointing far down the future's road. And of course, what was about to take place wouldn't really make complete sense to them until sometime later. And what we have before us in this text is Christ's institution of that for which the Lord has prepared us and that which we look forward to participating in tonight. and that is the Lord's Supper. The disciples represented the church of Jesus Christ, and what Jesus gave to them, He gave to the church to practice throughout the ages with the command, as we consider this morning, this do in remembrance of Me. As the table of the Lord was prepared before His disciples, what they saw, even though they did not yet realize it, was a picture of life. And the same is true today. As we look at the Lord's table, which has been prepared for us, we see a picture of life. And as those who have been invited by the Lord, as we come to His table, we must understand that as we partake, we are partaking of life. And this is done, first of all, with a look to the past. Secondly, it is done with an eye on the present. And finally, it is done with a view to the future. Now, the context of Christ instituting His supper was the Passover celebration. We know that Jerusalem was filled with devout Jews who had gathered together to observe the Feast of Passover. This feast, we know, was celebrated with a look to the past. Many, many generations had celebrated this feast in order to remember God's covenant faithfulness in delivering the Israelites out of the bondage of the Egyptians by the hand of Moses. And as they sacrificed their sheep from year to year at their annual celebrations, They were reminded of how their lives were spared by God's grace, by the shed blood that was painted on and around the door. And they were reminded how strength was received for the journey from the lamb that was eaten. You see, the Passover celebration was to be kind of like a pair of binoculars with which God's people could look to the past and be reminded of their salvation from the bondage of Egypt and the tyranny of Pharaoh. And it was in that context that Jesus took some bread and after blessing it, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take and eat. This is My body. Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying, drink from it all of you. This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. And again, even though the disciples probably didn't understand exactly what Jesus was saying, they would have understood that He was using the sacrificial language of the covenant. Sacrifices were a major part of the covenantal relationship between God and His people and the shedding of blood was the essential payment for violating the covenant. Because in a sense, Jehovah's covenant with His people was signed in blood. Blood was the signature on the dotted line of the covenantal contract. Exodus 24, verse 8 says, 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. And we know that because of their failure to give God the obedience He required, they continually offered sacrifices to Him. And in order for God's wrath to be removed, blood had to be shed. In order to have life, another life had to be given with the blood shed. Leviticus 17 verse 11 says, For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Life is in the blood, boys and girls. In a sense, we know that to be true because as long as there is blood flowing through our veins, we are living. But the moment that blood stops flowing through our veins, there is no more life. Life is in the blood. And all of the Old Testament bloody sacrifices, and especially including the yearly Passover sacrifices. These were ongoing as they pointed forward to the one great sacrifice of Christ. The Old Testament sacrifices were the promises, the shadows. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment, the reality. The Old Testament sacrifices were not enough. The Passover lamb's blood only covered sin in the sight of God temporarily, but could not take sin away. The blood of the Passover lamb could not make anyone perfect. The writer of Hebrews in chapter 10, verse 4 says, For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. On this particular evening, Jesus institutes the new sacrament to take the place of the old one. Because as Hebrews 10, verse 14 says, For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. You see, beloved, the Old Testament sacrifices covered sin temporarily, but they had to be offered continually. But the Lamb of the Lord's Supper washes away sin permanently, and therefore this Lamb was offered once, but as we consider this morning, is remembered continually. And having just eaten the last Passover lamb, the Lamb of God institutes the Lord's Supper. In a few hours, the old bloody symbol will have served its purpose forever, having reached its fulfillment in the blood shed on Calvary. And as Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper in the context of the Passover celebration, He reminds His disciples of the past and of the atonement for sin that required the shedding of blood. and then He brings them back to focus their eyes on the present as He explains His true relationship with His people. They had just eaten the Passover lamb and then, again as verse 26 says, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it and gave it to His disciples saying, Take and eat, this is My body. Now of course, boys and girls, we know that that bread which the disciples ate wasn't really Jesus' body because He was standing there before them. He didn't tear little pieces off of His arms and give it to them to eat. And the bread which we eat tonight isn't really the body of Jesus either. It doesn't magically turn into His body as some, like the Roman Catholics, believe. The bread was then and still is today a symbol of Christ's body. And of course, Jesus had talked before about Himself as being bread. We find that in the beautiful speech of His in John 6, which we've read this morning and again tonight, about Him being the bread from heaven. He Himself is the food which endures to everlasting life. He is the bread that gives life to the world. Now verse 35 of chapter 6, which we did not read there, Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty. And in verse 51, Jesus said, 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. And then in verse 53, Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. And then after the bread, as the text says in verses 27 and 28, then He took the cup, gave thanks, and offered it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Now we know that the disciples had intimate fellowship with Christ. They had communion with Him for three years and now in order to have saving union with Him, He commands them to eat and drink of Him. The bread and the cup represent His broken body and shed blood. And as they look to the sacrificial system of the past, His message to the church was that the day has come. The time is here for the promise of the Savior to be fulfilled. And Jesus is saying, I am the one. I give my life for my people. And just as bread nourishes your body and gives strength for the physical journey, my body gives you nourishment and strength for the spiritual journey. Eat of me. And never again will you be hungry. Why? Because of the blood of the covenant, my blood of the covenant, poured out for you. Jeremiah 31, verse 31 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. That new covenant, beloved, is sealed with the blood of the Lord's Supper Lamb. Remember, beloved, life is in the blood. And the poured out blood of Christ points to His substitutionary atonement. Boys and girls, atonement is talking about Christ's work, His complete sacrifice on our behalf. It's talking about our salvation. And it is substitutionary because Jesus Christ took the place. He substituted Himself in the place of those, not alongside of those, but in the place of those whose blood should have been shed. And by doing that, He provided atonement for His people and His people enjoy the full participation in His atoning benefits. And that means that He took away our guilt before God. That means that He satisfies God's wrath against us. That means He paid for us so that our sins are forgiven and we are delivered from the bondage of the world. That means He reconciled us with the Father so that once again we find favor in His sight and we as believers are incorporated into the new people of God. as well that means. His atonement includes the fact that He conquered over Satan, sin, and death. And beloved, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God's people have been given an inner obedience to the heart of the heart to the will of God. And we have the joy and the blessing of His presence. And we enjoy the fellowship of the age to come. The saving power of Christ is seen in His shed blood. Life is in the blood. His blood. And through His blood, He gives life to many. That is, to those who believe in Him and partake of His body and blood. And we know that this life is seen in the forgiveness of sins. Isaiah 53 verse 12 says, Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul into death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. We say, we confess, I believe the forgiveness of sins. For the sake of Christ's satisfaction, for the sake of His poured out blood, God will no more remember my sins, nor my sinful nature, and instead He gives to me the righteousness of Christ, and I will never see condemnation. My slate is wiped clean. The filthy, sin-stained rags are removed. And I have been clothed with the white robes of righteousness. I am cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. Our Lord's message to the church, to His disciples at that time, is that the day of salvation has come. Christ was given for His church in her place. But He was also given to His church to eat and drink of Him. And all those and only those who partake of His broken body and shed blood can become members of Him and receive the guaranteed promises of the covenant. Through His death, we become heirs with Him of glory in all that His blood has purchased and won for us, including forgiveness, righteousness, reconciliation with God, and eternal life. And you see, beloved, not only does the Lord suffer that partaking of life, Not only does it involve a look to the past and a keeping an eye on the present, but it also involves a view to the future. Jesus says in verse 29, I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father's kingdom. Now, our Lord's words here were the saddest words His disciples could ever hear on the one hand. But on the other hand, They were words that gave the greatest reason that anyone could ever have to rejoice. The fact that He would not drink with them again meant that His death was near. It was nearer than they could ever have imagined. Because the day of Christ's earthly life and work and ministry was almost over, and we could say night had come. But there was no need to despair because tomorrow morning was coming. The psalmist says weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Congregation, the Lord's Supper, also points to Christ's triumph. He rose again on the third day. He secured God's kingdom for His people. He successfully accomplished that which He came to do. His work on the cross was perfect and complete, and He indeed brought His people salvation. For those who belong to Jesus, who have been cleansed by His blood, the Lord's Supper is but a small foretaste of the great wedding banquet of the bridegroom and his bride. Revelation 21, verse 5 speaks of the day when all things will be made new. And on that day, Jesus Christ will gather around Himself all who belong to Him for that feast of eternal joy. And as He commanded His church to eat and drink of Him, He confidently prophesied of that glorious future. You see, this is the secret of His unfailing obedience unto death. that He was indeed leading His people onward to eternal joy. Beloved, tonight the table of the Lord is for those who by the grace of God are recipients of Christ's saving sacrifice. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and have professed your faith before God and His people, the table awaits you in Christ. The communion host has your place prepared. And as we come together around the table, We must understand that eating the bread and drinking the juice is a symbol of partaking of life through the body and blood of Christ. And for us here tonight as well, this involves, first of all, a look to the past. We look to the past and we see the cross. And we are called to remember and believe that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was broken and His precious blood was shed unto a complete remission of all of our sins. His sacrifice is the only ground and foundation of our salvation. And as Israel was delivered from the angel of death and from servitude to Pharaoh, so Jesus Christ, as the author of the new Exodus and as the Redeemer of an enslaved people, has delivered us from eternal death and slavery to sin. His people are transformed from sinful death to that life of righteousness. And today we are called to partake of life also with an eye on the present. Just as the bread and the cup nourish and strengthen our physical bodies, the Holy Spirit lifts our souls on high to be nourished by the body and blood of Christ. We partake of Jesus Christ and His life by faith. We enjoy that life of fellowship with Him today. And only those who truly believe in Jesus and have been cleansed by His blood will receive that spiritual nourishment and strength from Him. If you don't believe in Him, there is no place set for you. And if you come anyway, the bread and the wine, the bread and the juice will have no value for you. You will not be spiritually satisfied. You will remain hungry and thirsty as your life wastes away. And you are called to heed the words of Paul when he says, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. But also the Lord's Supper includes for us a view to the future. As we partake, we look forward expectantly to that perfect life with Him. You see, the Lord's Supper is a symbol and a pledge of the future eternal meal in glory where Jesus Christ will nourish His people from everlasting to everlasting. And beloved, that we might look back to the cross and that we might enjoy His fellowship in the present and that we might look to the future glory, Jesus said, This do in remembrance of Me. As we said this morning, the Lord's table is not an option for those who find their only comfort in body and soul, in life and in death, in their faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. If you think you come to the Lord's table because you have earned the right or because you deserve it, you are sadly mistaken. The whole Old Testament sacrificial system was instituted by God precisely because of the filthiness and the imperfectness and the sinfulness of man. The Lord's table is a gift, God's gift to those who believe in order to remember, in order to reflect, and in order to look forward. To those who believe, the Lord's table is a picture of life in Christ. It is a panoramic view of that life of fellowship with God through Christ. The Lord's table, we could say, is a panoramic view of grace. Of God's grace. Past, present, and future. This is for believers. If you do not believe, then the Lord's table will be a witness against you. It testifies that the one you reject is indeed true and is indeed alive. The Lamb of the Lord's Supper invites you who believe in Him to come for the feast is spread. Hark to the call. Come to the living bread offered to all. Come to His house of wine. Low on His breast recline. All that He has is Thine. Come, sinner, come.