And when the hour came, [Jesus] reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them,
‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer’… And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you…’ And likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’” LUKE 22:14-15, 19-20
When Jesus gathered with His disciples for the last time before He went to the cross, He said these words to them. Do you see what He was saying? “The mighty intervention of God in the exodus that we are celebrating today is only a shadow of what God is about to do: My body will be given. My blood will be shed. I will become the sacrifice by which you will be redeemed from divine wrath and set free from sin’s power.”
When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we don’t roast a lamb because the sacrifice has already been made. We take the cup and remember that the blood of Christ was shed, and that by faith His blood is applied to our lives. You are delivered from the wrath of God and brought into the freedom of a new life with God, in which He says to you, “You are mine, and I am yours.”
This is what God says to us in the cross: “You are no longer a slave. You have been set free by the blood of Christ. Sin will always be your enemy, but it is no longer your master.” Jesus Christ redeemed us. That is something to celebrate!
Has the “Lord’s Supper” become mundane for you, or are you celebrating it with this kind of joy in your heart?
Written by Colin Smith
Read by Sue McLeish
