SermonStudio

The Sacrament Of The Altar -- What The Lord's Supper Is
[The Sacrament of the Altar] is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, for us Christians to eat and to drink, instituted by Christ Himself ... The holy Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul [the Apostle] write thus: Our Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He brake it and gave it to His disciples, saying, Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also He took the cup when He had supped, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the remission of sins. This do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.

"Sacrament of the Altar" is one of the names we have for the Lord's Supper, also known as Holy Communion, and the Lord's Table. In our day, the only place we hear of a sacrament is in church. We talk about two sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper. A sacrament is a sacred oath, a religious oath. For example, in the days of Jesus, a Roman soldier joined the army by promising his life to serve God and the emperor. The soldier called God as his witness and the soldier pledged his own life to keep the oath. In our day, the closest thing we have to this idea of a "sacrament" in public life is the oath people take in a courtroom, when people lay their hand on a Bible and swear "to tell the truth, the whole truth É so help me God."

Christians borrowed the word "sacrament" to describe the sacred oath God takes promising His own life that He would forgive our sins. In the sacrament of baptism, the promise of God is acted out by the washing away of sins. In the Lord's Supper, the Sacrament of the Altar, the promise is joined to the death of Jesus.

The letter written to the Hebrews which we have in our Bible helps us understand this. "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new testament, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance -- now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first testament." The Lord's Supper tells us about an inheritance that God promises us.

"In the case of a testament, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a testament is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living." How much proof do we need that Jesus died? Two separate governments were involved in it. In addition, each time we come to the Sacrament of the Altar, we come to hear the reading of the last will and testament of Jesus, something that normally happens only after a person dies. We do not normally bring in the body of "Uncle Joe" to prove that he is really dead. But something like that happens when we go to the Lord's Supper. When we hear the words "My body broken for you" and eat the bread, we take into our mouths the body of Jesus as a reminder that He died. When we drink the wine and hear the words, "My blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins," we swallow our inheritance, forgiveness, that went into effect after Jesus died.

And 1500 years of priestly activity had predicted all this: "This is why even the first testament was not put into effect without blood. When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool, and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, 'This is the blood of the testament, which God has commanded you to keep.' In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." All those calves which were sacrificed stood in for Jesus until He could die the real death of the testament. For centuries, the people saw the death of Jesus acted out in the sacramental death of animals. How blessed we are today to be able to attend the real thing!

Prayer: We thank You, Lord Jesus, for remembering us in Your last will and testament. We also thank You that You have given us a way that the reading of that testament will always be found in the church. When we celebrate Holy Communion, help us believe that we receive what You have promised us in a sacred oath, namely, the forgiveness of sins. Forgive us when we doubt that bread and wine are visible containers of the invisible promise of forgiveness and containers of the supernatural pledge of Your body and blood given as proof that the testament is in effect. Bless those who attend Your sacramental meal with forgiveness and with faith to trust that forgiveness. Amen.
Object lesson: "Given for you." Take three children. Give one an envelope with play money in it. Make one to be a judge. Have him read some court charges out loud to the third child. "By order of this court you have been found guilty of not cleaning your room as you should. Your sentence is that you either pay the court thirty play dollars or spend thirty days cleaning the whole school." Ask him what he plans to do -- pay the fine or clean the school. Then whisper to the child with money that he could offer to pay the fine. Tell him to hand the money to the judge and say, "This money is given for (name of person)." Does the person have to pay the fine or clean the schoolhouse now? No. What does "given for you" mean? Given by someone else as though you gave it, in your place, to your credit. How does Jesus give Himself for us to forgive our sins? We owe our lives to pay for our sins; Jesus paid for us.