GOD’S PLAN FOR KEEPING CHRIST IN THE FOREFRONT
A Study by
Gary Ray Branscome
This is my blood… which is shed for you for
the
forgiveness of sins.
(Matthew 26:28. Luke 22:20)
We live in an age in which the Lord’s
Supper is neglected, separated from faith in Christ, and totally
misunderstood.
Instead of being held up as a testimony to Christ’s death on the cross,
and a
way of reminding believers that they have forgiveness in Christ, it is
twisted
into work (“an act of obedience”) and treated as if it had little
importance.
In order to understand why that is wrong, and what role Christ intended
for His
Supper to play in the life of the church let us look carefully at what
Christ
said.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the
same night in which He was betrayed, took bread and when He had given
thanks,
He broke it and gave it to His disciples saying, “Take eat this is My
body
which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
After the same manner, He
took the cup when He had supped, and when He had given thanks, He gave
it to
them saying, “All of you drink of it; this cup is the New Testament in
My
blood, which was shed for you for the remission of sins. Do this
as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” [Matthew 26:26-28, Mark
As you read those words there are certain
things
Christ said that I want to call to your attention. First of all, the
words, “Do
this” are not telling us to simply pass around bread and wine. On the
contrary,
they are telling us to do exactly what Christ did. As Christ passed
around the
bread He said, “Take eat this is My
body which is given for you”. Therefore, as we pass
around the bread we should say, “Take eat this is Christ’s body which
is given
for you.”
Likewise, as He passed
around the cup He said, “All of you drink of it; this cup is the New
Testament
in My blood, which was shed for you for the remission of sins”.
Therefore, as
we pass around the cup we should say, “All of you drink of it; this cup
is the
New Testament in Christ’s blood, which was shed for you for the
remission of
sins”.
Furthermore, when Christ said, “Do this in remembrance
of Me” what He
wants us to remember is not just that He passed around bread
and wine,
but what He said when He did it. He wants all who partake to be
reminded that His
body was given for them, and that His blood was shed for them,
so that
they could have forgiveness. That is the important thing! Christ
intended
for His Supper to constantly point us to His death on the cross as the
source
of forgiveness, while assuring all who believe His words [i.e. that His
blood
was shed for them] that they have received His death on the cross as
the
atonement for their sins. Or, as the
Apostle Paul put it, “As often as you eat this bread, and drink
this
cup, you are solemnly proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes,”
(1Corinthians
Am I saying that we need to partake of the
Lord’s
Supper in order to have forgiveness? Not at all! Christ intended for
His Supper
to give us the same assurance that 1Corinthians 15:3 gives us, namely
that, “Christ
died for our sins”. Therefore, saying that we need to partake of the
Lord’s
Supper in order to have forgiveness is just as wrong as saying we need
to read
1Corinthians 15:3 in order to have forgiveness. That is nonsense!
Partaking of
the Lord’s Supper and reading 1Corinthians 15:3 are just two ways in
which God
assures those who trust in Christ that they have forgiveness through
His death
on the cross. Now I realize that all who have placed their faith in
Christ
should have that assurance. However, in real life believers are
sometimes
troubled by guilt. In such cases the Lord’s Supper assures those people
that
they have forgiveness through Christ’s death on the cross.
Furthermore, in a large congregation there
are often
some who harbor secret sins. In order to understand the place of
Christ’s
Supper in dealing with them, let us consider carefully what Paul said
about
those who partake unworthily. [1Corinthians
First of all, because works cannot
make us righteous in God’s sight, works cannot make us worthy. The only
thing
that can make us worthy is the same thing that makes us worthy of
eternal life,
and that is the forgiveness that is ours in Christ. Moreover, because
that is
what makes us worthy, every Christian should be worthy. However, the
truth is
never that simple. In real life there are often some church members who
have never
actually put their faith in Christ. There are others who harbor secret
sins of
which they are unrepentant. Whenever the Lord’s Supper is offered,
Paul’s
warning to those who partake unworthily should be used to call such
people to
repentance. They should be reminded that they will face God’s judgment,
and
that God does not accept excuses. They should be reminded that the only
way
anyone can escape damnation is through the forgiveness offered to them
in the
Lord’s Supper, the forgiveness that comes to us through believing that
Christ’s
body was truly given for them (on the cross), and that His blood was
truly shed
for them (on the cross) so that they (and all who believe) can have
forgiveness. And, that only those who are sorry for their sin and
accept His
offer of forgiveness are worthy to partake.
When we read the words, “If we would
judge ourselves, we would not be judged” (verse 31) we need to remind
those who
are about to partake that the publican (in the parable of the Pharisee
and the
publican) judged himself, condemning his own sin and seeking God’s
mercy.
When we read the words, “When we are
judged, we are chastened by the Lord, so that we will not be condemned
with the
world” (verse 32) we need to remind them that it is not sin but an
unrepentant
heart that brings God’s chastening. And, self-righteousness is just
another
form of unrepentance. Because, “all have sinned, and come short of
the glory of God,” we all
need forgiveness. And, the Lord’s Supper points us to Christ’s death on
the
cross as the source of that forgiveness.
There is only One Lord’s Supper
Because the Lord’s Supper was intended to
point people
to Christ’s death on the cross, Satan has found many ways to pervert
it. One of
those ways is by portraying every celebration of the Lord’s Supper as a
separate sacrifice. That idea undermines the very purpose of the Lord’s
Supper
by shifting attention away from what Christ did, and focusing it on
what the
priest is doing. In contrast, I believe that there is only one Lord’s
Supper,
and it has been going on constantly since Christ instituted it. In
other words,
when Christ distributed the bread and the cup it was first passed to
the
Apostles, however, they continued to pass it on to others in a long
unbroken
chain that stretches down through time to us. Viewed that way, the
Lord’s
Supper is still going on, and since we are too far from Christ to hear
what He
said, the minister repeats His words as he distributes the bread and
the cup,
saying, “Take eat this is Christ’s body
which is given for you,” and “Take drink this cup is the New Testament
in Christ’s
blood, which was shed for you for the remission of sins”.
Conclusion
Christ intended for His Supper to play
a key role in world evangelism. The purpose of His Supper is to call
those with
secret sins to repentance while pointing those who are troubled by
guilt to His
sacrifice on their behalf. For that reason, all who partake are
reminded that
His body was broken for them (on the cross), and His blood was shed for
them
(on the cross) so that they could have forgiveness. And, because that
is the
reason Christ instituted His Supper, everyone who partakes in faith,
believing
that His body was broken for them (on the cross) and that His blood was
shed
for them (on the cross), truly receives His body and blood, not as
something
physical but as the atonement for their sin.