REMEMBRANCE

                                                                     REMEMBRANCE

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, 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.” 25 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.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

Introduction

In the army, every couple of years or more, each unit does a handover takeover, a.k.a. a HOTO. Sometimes there’s a parade-ground ceremony, with everyone dressed in their finest formal uniform, witnessing the outgoing Commanding Officer handover authority to the incoming Commanding Officer or CO.

I was involved in one of these regarding a large infantry regiment. I was the drummer in an ad hoc bagpipe band. I got to do some solo rhythmic rat-a-tat drumbeats, keeping in time with a high-ranking individual as he marched across the parade ground to face another high-ranker, stop, and then salute. I was supposed to keep in perfect time with all their actions. I drummed in time with his footfalls and hit my last beat when he saluted!

We have a handover takeover, a HOTO, going on in our Scripture passage. In fact, there are a few handovers taking place. In 1 Corinthians 11:23, Paul received something. The Lord Jesus had handed over to him, what Paul in turn was handing over to the Corinthians. And Paul reminds the Corinthians that what was handed over to him, and that he is now handing over to them, took place on the night that Jesus was handed over to the authorities.

And what is the Lord’s Supper if it is not Jesus handing over Himself to all who partake? That’s why we need to be careful with the Lord’s Supper. Partakers need to know what they are doing. We need to march to the rhythm of the Scriptures. Otherwise, like the Corinthians, we will make a mess of it. That is why the Apostle Paul was handing over clear instructions.

Remembering the Christ

The instructions come from Jesus, via His Apostle Paul. Twice Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Once with the bread. Then with the cup. Why are Christians on earth to do this? Remembrance! But notice who and what it is in remembrance of. “In remembrance of Me.”

So, the Lord’s Supper is a memorial service, to remember Jesus. And, to jog our memory, we are to eat the bread and drink of the cup. Therefore, the bread and the cup are prompts, memory prompts to remember Jesus. Who is Jesus and what is He famous for? Ah, see the bread and the cup. His body was broken for us. And His blood was shed to bring in the new covenant.

The NIV omits the word broken in the following, “This is My body which is broken for you.” It renders it, “This is my body, which is for you.” Whether the word broken should be in the verse, or omitted, we’ll let the Bible scholars argue about. However, it seems to me that the word broken is at least implied. Surely Jesus breaking bread in front of His Disciples, which bread represents His flesh, suggests that Jesus’s body was broken.

Sure, not one of His bones was broken. That’s what Scripture says. However, His flesh was torn beyond recognition through the beatings, the crown of thorns, the nail prints in His hands and His feet, and the spear thrust that cut open His side. Christ on the cross in Psalm 22 says, “All My bones are out of joint … They pierced My hands and My feet.”

And Isaiah 52:14 says of Him, “His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.” And Isaiah 53:5 says, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

That all sounds like a broken body to me, even though none of His bones were broken. Therefore, the breaking of the bread in the Lord’s Supper illustrates who Christ is. He is the Man whose flesh was torn open, just like the bread He lifted from His Table and shared with His Disciples.

Also, apparently, the unleavened bread used at the Passover had scorch-marks on it and holes in it from baking, perhaps resembling stripes, you know, whip-lashes and pierce marks. Be that as it may, we do know that Jesus knew exactly what lay ahead of Him.

Remembering the Covenant

  The Lord’s Supper is the New Covenant Meal. The Old Covenant Meal was the Passover Meal, which consisted of roast lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs, all washed down with wine. In short, this meal and everything in it, all pointed to the Promised Messiah.

The Old Covenant Meal remembered the past. However, there was also a present and future aspects. It’s just as you would expect from the eternal God, who always was, always is, and always will be. The Old Testament Meal pointed to God, the God who set Israel free from captivity, who provides for His people’s present needs, and who will provide in the future.

The Old Covenant promises were to do with an uncountable number of God’s people living in their own land, the Promised Land. This people and the land were brought about by the sovereign guiding hand of God, who promised Abraham, a people and a land. But first, the people went into captivity. God set them free at the first Passover.

God killed the firstborn of the Egyptians in the first Passover. But keep in mind that Jesus is the firstborn of God. More on this later. However, here’s a little of what the Old Testament has to say about the Old Covenant Meal, the Passover Feast. Exodus 12:24-29:

“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony.

And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians’ … At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well” Exodus 12:24-29. The firstborn son ordinarily inherited his father’s estate.

The Israelites were to put the sacrificed lamb’s blood on the sides and crossbeam of the doorframes wherever they were to eat the Passover Meal. For their own safety, they had been given the following command, “Not one of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning” Exodus 12:22b.

But what happened the night when Jesus was transitioning the Old Covenant Meal into the New Covenant Meal? “As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night” John 13:30. We don’t know if Judas Iscariot was a firstborn. We are only told that he was the son of Simon Iscariot, John 6:71 and John 13:26.

However, we do know the Judas Iscariot was what Jesus called “the son of perdition”, “the son of destruction”, “the one doomed to destruction” in John 17:12. Therefore, Judas was not covered by the blood sprinkled on the posts of the door or by the blood that was sprinkled on the posts of the cross.

To be without the blood of the Covenant is to be open to the LORD’s destruction. For, “By faith he [Moses] kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, lest He who destroyed the firstborn should touch them” Hebrews 11:28. As Jesus says, “If you do not remain in Me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” John 15:6.

Judas trampled the blood of the covenant by handing over the Christ, the Lord of Glory, to the powers of darkness. Then Judas went to his own place. He “left to go where he belongs” Acts 1:25, which means being thrown into the fire and burned! Yes, Judas went out, and it was night indeed! But so did Jesus!

Jesus, God’s Son, is “the firstborn over all creation” Colossians 1:13. After celebrating the Last Passover, which became the First Lord’s Supper, He then went out of the house. He took His Apostles to the Mount of Olives, to the place where Judas was going to hand Him over. 

Remembering the Cross

God killed the firstborn at the first Passover. And it was God who killed His own firstborn at the last Passover. God the Father, not Satan, poured out His wrath on Jesus as He hung on that cross.

What happened when Christ was hanging on the cross? Amos 8:9, “And it shall come to pass in that day,’ says the LORD God, ‘That I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight … I will make it like mourning for an only son.’” And Zechariah 12:10b, “They will look at Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” Yes, the death of God’s firstborn Son echoes very loudly the first Passover night!

God’s justice was propitiated, His righteous anger at our sin was assuaged, as our sin was expiated. All our transgressions of God’s Law were blotted out by the shed blood of Jesus, the blood represented by the cup, i.e., the new covenant in His blood.

We must march only to the clear drumbeat of Scripture. Keep in step only with God speaking in His Word.

If the unleavened bread represented bread without the leaven of sin, then Christ was without any sin. He died for our sins, which sins God imputed (handed over) to Him before He holocausted His Son on the cross. Yes, He was THE “Branch” that was thrown into the fire and burned!

And it was the righteousness of Christ’s perfect Commandment keeping that the Father imputed (handed over) to us. Therefore, the bread represents the Lamb of God’s roasted and now broken body. And the cup represents His shed blood, the blood sprinkled on the doorposts that became the blood sprinkled on the cross posts.

The “Last Supper” is a bit of a misnomer, because the last official Passover became the first Supper. And the Old Covenant became the New Covenant with the death and resurrection of Christ.

Notice that Jesus says, “This cup is the new covenant”. It’s a new covenant. But notice that He doesn’t leave it at that, but adds “in my blood.” The Old Covenant was in the blood of bulls and goats etc., but the New Covenant is in Christ’s blood. That’s what’s new about it! Moses, as it were, held the fort until One greater than him arrived.

Here at the first Lord’s Supper is the great handover takeover, the HOTO, from the Old Testament to the New Testament. (More on the word Testament in a moment), but Hebrews 8:13 says, “By calling this covenant ‘new’, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear” Hebrews 8:13.

Right, to translate the Old Testament Hebrew word for covenant, i.e., berith, the writers in the New Testament opted for the Koine Greek word, diatheke, over suntheke.

You’ve heard of a “last will and testament”? It means that a person has to die before his or her estate is divided, handed over, to those who were listed in the will. Well that’s what diatheke has to do with. Whereas the word suntheke speaks more of a bilateral agreement, the word diatheke is more unilateral.

It’s kind of like the covenant God cut with Abraham. Only God marched through the valley of the shadow of death, i.e., between the divided pieces of animals and birds. It all makes better sense to you if you keep in mind that all earthly administrations of God’s covenant have their source in the heavenly administration of the eternal covenant, i.e., the covenant between the Father and the Son.

The eternal or everlasting Covenant is that the Son take on flesh and lay down His perfect life as our representative. Thus, the Son is referred to as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” Revelation 13:8b. And the blood of that slain Lamb is “the blood of the everlasting covenant” Hebrews 13:20. “For the joy set before Him He endured the cross” Hebrews 12:2. What joy is that? The joy is His Father’s promised reward for His perfectly keeping the Covenant unto death, death by hanging on a cross!  

When kids play the blindfold game of piñata at a birthday party, the piñata needs to be whacked and broken open by a stick before its contents will pour out. God whacked His Son on the cross and all the covenant blessings came pouring out along with His blood. I merely seek to illustrate, not mutilate, a point, but Jesus said, “This is My body which is broken for you.” All the benefits contained in the everlasting covenant could not be handed over until Christ had shed His blood. But moreover, not until He had been raised again.

As we march across the Lord’s parade ground, and approach that final salute where the handover takeover, the HOTO, will be complete, let’s recap and apply what we’ve learned. What are we doing when we partake of the Lord’s Supper? “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” 1 Corinthians 11:26.

Now, what about this wonderful piece of Scripture? Hebrews 9:16-18, “In the case of a will [will here is the same Greek word for covenant], it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will [same word] is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood” Hebrews 9:16-18.

Whether made with the pre-Fall Adam, or Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, all God’s covenants throughout the Bible from beginning to end are ultimately made with Christ! How so? 2 Corinthians 1:20a, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.”

Let me beat the drum to drive home the point! The Presbyterian theologian Charles Hodge says, “A covenant is a promise suspended upon a condition.” Thus “a covenant is a conditional promise.” The words covenant and testament, as in last will and testament in Hebrews 9:16-17 are interchangeable. How so? Well, again, “A will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.”

Everything the Father bequeathed His firstborn is now ours! How so? Well, it’s because He died, that’s how! But, I hear you say, He is risen! He’s alive! Yes, but He definitely died, didn’t He? But because He was crucified, died, and was buried, but rose again from the dead, does this mean that we have to hand back whatever was handed over to us? God forbid!

As the firstborn Son, Jesus has received the Father’s promised inheritance. Jesus perfectly kept the conditions of the Old Covenant by His works, and we perfectly keep the conditions of the New Covenant by God’s gift of faith. Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant by keeping all of its conditions, which was to live a perfect life as our Husband or Representative, and then to die as the Testator, i.e., the One who had signed the will, the One who had covenanted with God on our behalf.

Reading Hebrews 9:16-18 once more, this time from the New King James Version, will drive home what we’re on about: “For where there is a testament [same word as covenant], there must also of necessity be the death of the testator [or covenanter]. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives” Hebrews 9:16-17.

Would it surprise you to know that a lot of theologians get themselves into a flap over whether the word diatheke in Hebrews 9:16-17 should be translated as covenant or will or testament? However, you won’t get into a flap if you remember the three Cs whenever you see a Biblical covenant, i.e., Christ, Covenant, and Cross. If people would just look at Christ who is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (see Revelation 13:8), then they would realise that every Biblical covenant, all the way from Adam to Noah to Abraham to Moses to David, were simply administrations of the everlasting covenant which is another name for Christ’s last will and testament!

The Rainbow Covenant? A last will and testament! The Circumcision Covenant? A last will and testament! The Passover Covenant? A last will and testament! How so? Because every Biblical covenant points to Christ, that’s how! 

And all Christians, including those Apostles who left the house with Him on the night He was betrayed, are crucified with Him, just as we are raised with Him. Therefore, all the contents, i.e., all the promises of the covenant, will, or testament are ours in Him and with Him.  

Christ now has a people (His Church), and a place for them to live in, (the new heavens and new earth), just as His Father promised Him. 

Conclusion

The HOTO has been completed. The broken bread represents His torn and pierced flesh, and the cup His shed blood, i.e., His death. God struck down His firstborn on the cross. Christ is our Passover. The cup represents the shed blood of the Lamb who takes away our sins. We eat and drink at His Table in remembrance of Him, proclaiming His death till He comes.

We are so quick to forget. Remembrance Day is when we remember the death and mayhem of WWII and its toll on humanity. Like ANZAC Day, it’s “Lest we forget.”

The Lord’s Supper is the remembrance of the One who died to save us from death and hellfire.