Luke 22:14-20, New Life in Christ, 6 The Lord’s Supper: Remembering Christ

·         In the 1989 blockbuster film, Batman, a scene unfolds in which the ruthless criminal sociopath Jack Napier, the soon to be Joker, raises his pistol, aims it at a double crossing crooked cop and exclaims, “Hey Eckhart! Think about the future!” and immediately guns him down.

·        I raise that violently poignant example to bring the future to our attention.

·        Someone said, “We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there.”

·        How often do we think about the future?  Is the future frequently in our thoughts or in the high pace of daily life do we give the future any thought at all?  Where would I find you on that continuum? Where might you find me?

·        Why are our thoughts about the future so important? The future holds what awaits us.

·        The future holds the mysterious unknown and unknowable hour of each of our demise, our death.

·        The future also holds something the Bible reveals we can know: our eternal destiny.

·        Death is not something about which most of us typically plan.  We don’t plan to die.  We plan to live. But that is a denial of reality.

·        Hebrews 9:27 tells us, “Each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgement.”

·        If we are thinking about the future, then we’ll be thinking about our death and the coming judgement.

·        The future weighed heavily on the mind of Jesus on the night he was betrayed while he ate the Passover meal with his disciples.

·        Jesus knew what we cannot know, the means and the hour of his death.  Jesus knew that night he would be betrayed, falsely and illegally tried, humiliated, handed over to Roman authorities, severely beaten, rejected by his people, and crucified.

·        He knew the manner of his death and he knew it conformed to His Father’s salvation plan.

·        He also knew his eternal destiny; that he would rise from grave, defeat death, prove his resurrection to his disciples, ascend, and one day return.

·        Jesus reclined with his apostles for the feast of Passover, and all these things were in the forefront of his mind as he began to speak, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (v. 15)

·        His death is on his mind, but he is focused on his apostles, on eating the Passover meal with them.

·        Jesus was about to share a significant meal that is the turning point of his life and ministry, a meal that told his disciples, “It all comes down to this.”

·        Then he said, “For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” (v. 16) Shortly afterward, he said to them, “For I tell you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” (V. 18)

·        Jesus is still thinking about the future.

·        The future in the kingdom of heaven, when the church’s role is complete and people of every family and nation of the earth are gathered at that great table for the greatest celebration feast ever. 

·        He told them, “I’m not going to eat a Passover lamb or drink Passover wine again until that day comes.”

·        Jesus was looking to that future and he was clueing his disciples into that future as the foundation of all their hopes.

·        Just as Jesus wanted his apostles to be future thinking, he wants the same to be true of us.

·        Jesus wants us to remember that in the future everything will be fulfilled because God’s kingdom will come and we will sit at the great banqueting table of heaven with everlasting joy.

·        Jesus also wants us to remember his sacrifice.

·        Luke tells us, ‘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. Do this in remembrance of me."  And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”’ (vv. 19-20)

·        Only Luke uses the words, “given for you” and “poured out for you” highlighting the personal nature of Jesus sacrifice for each one of us.

·        Jesus wants all of his disciples to remember, both personally and as a community of believers, the full cost of our freedom from sin and death was paid by his humiliation, suffering, crucifixion and death that he bore in his body and shed in his blood.

·        Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”  He wants us to think not merely about what we get out of it, how his death benefits us.

·        No, Jesus wants us to think especially about him, the man, the person, Jesus.

·        Jesus is a human being unlike any other.  He is, “one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15, ESV).

·        Peter wrote about Jesus, “He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone” (1 Pet. 2:22, NLT).

·        No one else I know has ever done anything like that.

·        Jesus is human in all the right ways God intended human beings to be.

·        He is the best friend you could ever ask for.  He is the closest confidant. 

·        He was always getting invited to parties. Why? Because he was never fake.  Jesus is always genuinely interested in what’s going on in your life. 

·        Jesus is the perfect king, a man who willingly spends time among his people, whose hands are healing hands, whose words carry plain authority without being domineering, who sees through the hypocrisy of those who are merely selfishly manoeuvring for power and position.

·        Jesus is always connected to his Father and so does whatever is on God the Father’s agenda for him to do.

·        He is the one who is ready to suffer and die for you in order to save you and he did.

·        He asks us to remember him, to remember his future coming again, and to remember his sacrifice.

·        When we gather and the bread and cup are given out, we are gathering to remember.

·        Do we believe we are actually eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus?

·        No, the bread and the cup represent the body and blood of Jesus given and poured out for us and remind us to look to the future when he will come again to judge the world.

·        The Lord’s Supper is all about remembering Jesus.

·        Henri Nouwen relates the following story. “Bob, the husband of a friend of mine, died of a heart attack.  My friend decided to keep her two young children away from the funeral.  She thought it would be too hard for them to see their father put in the ground.  For years after Bob’s death, the cemetery remained a fearful and dangerous place for them.

·        One day, my friend asked me to visit the grave with her, and invited the children to come along.  The elder one was too afraid to go, but the younger one decided to come with us.  When we came to the place where Bob was buried, the three of us sat down on the grass around the stone engraved with the words, A KIND AND GENTLE MAN.

·        I said: “Maybe one day we should have a picnic here. This is not only a place to think about death, but also a place to rejoice in our life.  Bob will be most honoured when we find new strength, here, to live.”

·        At first it seemed a strange idea; having a meal on top of a tombstone. But isn’t that similar to what Jesus told his disciples to do when he asked them to share bread and wine in his memory?

·        A few days later my friend took her elder child to the grave, the younger one having convinced his sister that there was nothing to fear.  Now they often go to the cemetery and tell each other stories about Bob. (Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching)

·        We gather around the Lord’s Table to remember Jesus, his life, his teachings, his body given for you, his blood poured out for you, and his future coming again.

·        At the Lord’s Table, remember Christ’s sacrifice for you and remember he’s coming for you.