For I received from the Lord that which I also
delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and
when He had given thanks, He broke it and
said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do
this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper,
saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as
you drink it, in
remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat
this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.-1 Corinthians 11:23-26
(NKJV)
In 1 Corinthians 11, the
Apostle Paul is writing to the Church at Corinth. He is explaining to them the Lord's Supper
and addressing some different issues they were having when coming together to
participate in the Lord's Supper together. I want to just focus on verses
23-26.
Paul tells the Church in
this city that "he received from the Lord." That means that Jesus told Paul what He said
to the disciples that night he shared the Lord's supper with them. Jesus told Him. I find that really cool that the Lord would
illuminate Paul on His exact words.
So, Jesus tells Him that
He prays, takes bread and breaks and gives it to them. He tells them that this is His body which is
broken for them. Why would His body be
broken for them? I go into detail about
that in Part 1 of the Lord's Supper. You can read that here. But, to be brief, it
was for the physical healing of our bodies.
Next, Jesus takes the
cup, and tells them, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood." The new covenant means they are no longer
under the old. His death and the shedding of His blood would move them into the
new. His blood was shed much from the time the rulers and authorities took Him,
until His death on that cross. Blood
rolled out of His hands and feet. He was the lamb of God, put to death for our
forgiveness.
Then He tells them and
later relays to Paul that they are to do eat the same kind of meal "in
remembrance of Him." They are to
eat the bread and drink the cup.
They are to eat the bread and drink the cup to remember Him, to remember
the broken body for their healing, and the shed blood for the forgiveness of
their sins.
Nowhere in this passage
of scripture does Jesus or Paul tell us to confess our sins. Nowhere in this
passage of scripture does Jesus or Paul tell us to ask for forgiveness for our
sins. It has already been given.
The Lord's Supper is a
reminder of what He did.
He finishes the
explanation with,
For as often as you eat this bread and drink
this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
These words give us
insight into the Lord and what this is all about. For as often...He wants us to do this regularly. Eat the bread and drink the cup.
You remember the broken body and the blood. In doing this, you are proclaiming His death,
His broken body, and His shed blood for you.
You are not proclaiming
your sin. You are proclaiming your freedom
from it! You are proclaiming your
forgiveness! You are proclaiming your
healing!
I pray that the next
time you go to this you will experience more freedom and healing than you ever
have before.
Many blessings in Him,
Beth
To read more in the series go here:
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