LIVING BREAD

APRIL 1, 2010
MAUNDY THURSDAY
1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26

Focus: Paul reports what he has received. That Christ gave us himself in the meal.

Introductory Comments

Why do we do this? Why do we share this meal? For what purpose do we re-enact a Passover
supper from over 2,000 years ago? What are the reasons, or what is the primary reason, our Lord
gave us this sacrament commonly called, “The Lord’s Supper,” or “Communion,” or “the
Eucharist?”

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 gives us some important answers to these questions.

Exposition

This passage, in which our Lord institutes his Supper, immediately follows Paul’s correction of
the Corinthian people for abuses that were occurring during their common meals together. He
documents the problems in chapter 11:17-22:

[17] But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come
together it is not for the better but for the worse. [18] For, in the first place, when you
come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in
part, [19] for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine
among you may be recognized. [20] When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper
that you eat. [21] For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes
hungry, another gets drunk. [22] What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or
do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I
say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

So the people of God, in gathering around what was meant to be a table of Christian unity, ended
up becoming a source of division emphasizing the social distinctions between rich and poor.
Those who were at ease would show up earlier to the meal, take their fill, even to excess (they
got drunk), leaving nothing for those who had to work and who could not arrive until later with
nothing. Loved ones, think about the life of the contemporary church. Do we have, among
ourselves, anything that would suggest we are behaving like the Corinthians were? Is there
anything in our life together that would suggest we draw distinctions between rich and poor?

Because this was a source of division among Christians, the situation cried out for correction.
And Paul does so by calling on the Corinthians to restore the meal as it was originally given to
them.

Verses 23 and 24

Copyright © 2010 by Christopher Donald Drew

 [23] For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the
night when he was betrayed took bread, [24] 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 these two verses, Paul acknowledges that the structure and form of the meal comes directly
from the only authority in the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ. This wasn’t something Paul cooked
up on his own (if you will pardon the pun).

Right after this, Paul relates the time the meal took place. It happened on the night Jesus was
betrayed. Why is this important? This wasn’t a meal instituted at any number of earlier
Passover celebrations, but at the one which occurred immediately before his death. From this we
can draw the conclusion that Jesus was keen on demonstrating in the meal the reality of what
would happen on Good Friday or, as good Father Calvin writes, that “Apostles might see soon
after accomplished in reality in his body, what he had represented to them in the bread and the
wine.”1 And I believe tonight we are receiving, in this commemoration of the institution of the
Lord’s Supper, the same reminder of the total sufficiency of Christ’s brokenness on our behalf
for our sin. Do you receive it as such? Do you receive the bread and the wine as a sign of the
supreme act of God’s love for you? Or is it simply going through the motions? I invite you to
ponder this in your heart as you receive the meal tonight.

Our Lord then gave thanks. All good things we receive from God are sanctified to us and for us
by the word and by prayer (1 Timothy 4:5). Here, Jesus is thanking God to the Father for his
love and mercy toward us. And we are called, by his example, to be thankful in acknowledging
the total love of God towards us, so that we may feel the joy of true gratitude.

The Lord then broke the bread. He broke it and then gave it to all of the Apostles present, so that
each received a portion, meaning that there was equal participation by all those present. This
means that for the Christian, any social distinction from which exists in the world and which
serves to divide us will not be present in this meal. This was a huge issue for the Corinthians,
and we are to this day plagued by the same worldly distinctions. This was such a big deal for
Paul that he makes it clear that whenever such distinctions exists, the meal as Christ instituted it
isn’t in actuality being celebrated. This also means there is tremendous significance in how the
meal is prepared. Is there enough for everyone? Are we skimping in any way? The next time
you’re asked to prepare the table for worship, these are helpful questions to keep in mind.

The act of breaking the bread reminds us clearly of the breaking of his body for our sake, out of
his amazing love for us. And in seeing the bread physically broken, we see both the broken body
of our Lord, and the blessings we receive for his body having been so broken. Calvin writes,
“Hence the Supper is a mirror which represents to us Christ crucified, so that no one can
profitably and advantageously receive the supper, but the man who embraces Christ crucified.”2
Do you see Christ crucified in the meal?

Jesus tells us that this is His very body being presented to us. That is, he is our spiritual food for
eternal life. In taking the bread an eating it, we are penetrated by his presence, made
participants, by his grace, in His glorious body. Physically, we receive bread to sustain our
1
Calvin, John. Commentary on 1 Corinthians.
2
Ibid.

Copyright © 2010 by Christopher Donald Drew

bodies with essential calories and nutrients. But in the supper, by the Holy Spirit, the body of
Christ Himself is mystically and powerfully received in the meal. That is why regular
participating in the Supper is so crucial to our lives of faith – it seals within us the reality of the
sacrificial gift of Christ’s body on our behalf. By it we receive spiritual food as creatures who
have been reborn into eternally-living beings. Such persons can only be sustained by the
spiritual food of Christ, which is given to us in the meal. Do you receive it as such? Do you
receive it as food that sustains a person who has an eternal destiny to glorify and enjoy God?

Verse 25

[25] In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new
covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

While the bread represents Christ’s body given for us, the cup is a sign of a new covenant of his
body, sealed by his very blood. Christ’s body was broken and bled. His blood poured out for
our sake gave us the gift of reconciliation with God. And it’s all of Jesus Christ, not us. Which
means this new covenant for the forgiveness of our sins is a once-and-for-all deal. It is not re-
enacted each time we have the meal. What happened this one time, however, has permanent,
eternal ramifications, which means our spiritual hunger can only be sated Christ. It gives us
assurance that the sacrifice of Christ is as binding on us as it has been throughout the ages for all
those who have also shared the meal.

Verse 26

[26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death
until he comes.

By observing and enacting this meal, we are making a proclamation. Just as the preached Word
is a proclamation of the saving perfect live, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection, the
Sacrament is also a proclamation of the same Gospel. In the Word the gospel is read and
proclaimed. In the Lord’s Supper, the gospel is proclaimed by being enacted.

And we are to do these things in remembrance of Him. This is essential, and yet another reason
why we should observe the sacrament with regularity, because we are a people prone to
forgetfulness. We forget, during our day to day living, what Christ has done for us. In the meal,
his gives us a divine reminder of God’s amazing grace.

Doctrine

This brings us back to the first set of questions I asked at the beginning of the sermon. Why do
we do this?

First, we do this because the Lord commands it. Why does he command it? Because he loves
us, and because, in so doing, he gives to us himself – the grace of his glorious body and blood,
broken for our sake, for the forgiveness of sins, the most beautiful act of love that could ever be
given to us from Almighty God.

Copyright © 2010 by Christopher Donald Drew

We do this because we are nourished by it. We receive this food as spiritual food for a people
who have an eternal calling. When someone is baptized, and we say that the old life is gone, and
a new life has begun, we’re talking about a new, eternal life for which it is necessary to receive
appropriate sustenance. The Word and Sacrament are both means by which our spiritual life is
sustained and nourished.

We do this because we are loved in the meal. The meal itself is an expression of God’s love for
us in that he provides us with a Savior who is also our sustenance and strength. In the meal, we
come near to Christ, near to the radiant fire of his lovingkindness and peace.

And finally, we do this because it is a proclamation of the Gospel. Those in Christ who
participate in the meal demonstrate a beautiful unity, bound by the love of God in Jesus Christ.
When the meal is so received, others who have not yet trusted Christ visibly see this love of
Christ enacted. In the world, everyone is ranked and ordered and sorted and judged and then
either made famous or shunned. At the Lord’s Table everyone who comes is a poor sinner who
has nothing except the grace of Christ and Him crucified. When someone sees the love of God
enacted in this way, the Holy Spirit uses that to draw unbelievers to Christ, so that they can see,
for the first time, the love the Father has for them, a love so profound that it destroys sin and
gives birth to a new, eternal creature who lives by Faith in the One who gave himself for us.

The table, then, is not small matter. It is Jesus Christ himself. Are you ready to receive him,
either at the table again, or for the first time in your heart? My prayer is that the answer to both
of these questions is Yes. Amen.

Copyright © 2010 by Christopher Donald Drew