#35. The Lord's Supper Proclaims a Very Full Message!

John 21:25 — And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written

in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.

Over the last several devotionals (about 27 of them!) we have attempted to listen to some of the

messages that are proclaimed each time the Lord's Supper is celebrated. There is no doubt that

more could be said on this subject than has been presented here. John points out in our text that

the life of Christ was full of incidents that would fill the world with books if they were all written

down in detail, so it should not surprise us to find that the Table is packed with useful and

edifying instruction. However, there are other aspects of the Supper that we want to cover in this

series, so we are going to move on. Before we do so, though, we want to look back briefly, and

revisit what we have seen concerning the proclamation of the Table. Hopefully seeing all these

things together in one place may serve as a reminder to help us when we come to take the meal.

The Lord's Supper proclaims the following (and probably more):

the Lord's death: the broken body and the poured-out blood are indicative of a life

forfeited.

our access to God: the veil in the temple is a picture of the body of Christ. When it was

torn (at the same moment His body was broken) it showed that the way into the presence

of God had now been revealed)

Christ as the source of our life: at the Table, we symbolically eat Christ's flesh and

drink His blood. Just as the bread and wine nourish and sustain our physical bodies, we

are to understand that we need to feed spiritually on Christ, through the means of grace,

to nourish and sustain our souls.

our union with all the members of the Body, since all the members of the congregation

eat from one loaf of bread, symbolizing that we all participate as members in the body of

Christ and are therefore members one of another.

the sinlessness of Christ, in that the bread used to celebrate the Supper is unleavened.

The yeast that leavens bread was identified with sin in the Old Testament.

the sinfulness of sin, which inflicted such suffering and grief on a perfect, sinless Savior.

that we are at war with God by nature, since there would have been no need for the

cross, no need even for a Savior, unless mankind had fallen so completely away from

God, and unless God had planned from eternity to send Jesus to the cross to remove the

root cause of the hostility from His people - their sin.

the justice of God, because the death of the sinless Christ for the sins of His people

shows that God cannot overlook sin - it must be justly punished.

that we have peace with God through the blood of the cross. Jesus paid for the sins of

His people and satisfied the justice of God in His death in their place. Thus, the cause of

the hostility between man and God is removed at the cross for those who trust in Jesus

and turn from their sins.

the Love of Jesus for us: given the sinfulness of sin and all that Christ, the sinless One,

endured to save His people from their sins, His love for them is clear.

the love of Jesus for the Father, since He came to suffer and to save His people in

obedience to the command of His Father and out of love for Him.

the humility and obedience of Christ:, considering the infinite stoop of Christ, Who

emptied Himself by taking human flesh to be the sin-bearer for His people in obedience

to the command of His Father.

the priesthood of Christ in the order of Melchizedek, who was a priest of God, not in

the priestly order of Aaron. His name means "King of Peace" and he has a perpetual

priesthood. He came bearing bread and wine to meet Abraham.

the Love of God the Father, Who sent the Son of His love into a sinful world and to a

cruel death on the cross so that His people may not perish, but have eternal life.

the grace of God the Father, Who blesses His children with eternal life and many other

good things which they could never deserve.

the mercy of God the Father, Who (because of the finished work of Christ) does not

deal with His children as their sins deserve.

the patience of God the Father, Who had "passed over" the sins of His true children in

Old Testament times, until they could be atoned for by Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

the faithfulness of God the Father: because it points to the coming of the Savior God

promised almost as soon as man fell, and to His fulfillment of all the types and shadows

in the Old Testament Scriptures.

the one way of salvation - there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood - no

ordinary blood would do - it had to be God's blood - if there had been any other way,

would God still have done this to His Son?

we do not belong to ourselves: Christ set His people free from slavery to sin to become

slaves to righteousness and to God, which is the essence of true freedom.

a message of foolishness to the world but power to those being saved: our reaction to

the message of the cross will tell us if we are true Christians or not. Since that message is

proclaimed at the Table, our reaction to the Table can serve the same purpose. Is this

foolishness for you, or the power of God to save?

What a message is declared to us at the Table! The sheer number of edifying themes and topics it

proclaims might provide a supplementary reason for frequent observance of the meal - for how

will we take it all in and profit as fully from it as we might if we only celebrate the Supper once a

month, or perhaps as little as once a year?

Next time we come to the Table, let's commit to reflect beforehand on this list and to meditate on

as many of these messages as we can while the meal is being served and taken. This must

increase our appreciation for our God, our Savior and for His saving work, and that must be a

blessing and a means of grace to our souls!

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