The New Covenant in My Blood (Luke 22:14-23; LD 28)
Introduction: Is the Lord’s Supper more than a memorial?
Christ says that we are to do this in remembrance of him. We might think that the Lord’s Supper is merely a sentimental reflection of him. When Christ tells us to do this in remembrance of him, his intention is more than just thinking about Christ in a sentimental way.
In the Reformed understanding, we believe that Christ feeds us in the sacrament by his Spirit. The bread and wine are visible signs and seals that God’s promise is certain. When Christ says, “This is my body” and “This is my blood,” he points us to his once-for-all sacrifice on the cross, and is not being re-sacrificed. The sacrament points back to that one event. Christ continues to nourish us in his completed work while he is seated in heaven.
The sacrament communicates to us the certainty of Christ’s work. Scripture communicates that the Lord has established his promise in Christ. The sacrament also confronts us with the seriousness of our sin.
So, what is happening in this sacrament? Is Christ being sacrificed? Do we just reflect on Christ? We consider this using the language of the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 28.
This Is My Body
When Christ breaks the bread and says, “This is my body,” he is directing us to the reality of his sacrifice. The bread does not literally become Christ’s physical body. The Lord’s Supper does not sacrifice Christ again. If Christ had to be sacrificed continually, then the sacrament would testify that God’s promise is not established. Scripture testifies that Christ’s sacrifice was once for all.
When Christ says, “This is my body,” he is using metonymy. This is a fancy way of saying that Christ uses one thing in the place of another. For instance, Paul says, “that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). Is Paul saying that the rock literally became Christ? No. He means that the rock is used in the place of Christ. The rock is not literally Christ, just as the body and blood are not literally the bread and the wine.
Jesus also says, “I am the door” (John 10:7). When Christ uses this language, does it mean that he becomes a literal door for the sheep? No. The point is that a door is the way one enters a closed-off room. In the same way, entering the sheepfold is exclusively in Christ. Christ uses the door to paint the picture of how one enters the kingdom. The door is used in the place of Christ. This is just like the bread and the wine being used in the place of the body and blood.
When Christ says, “This is my body,” it does not mean that the bread literally becomes Christ’s body. The point is that the bread represents Christ’s body. As we consume the bread, we receive true life as we take hold of Christ by faith. The broken bread also communicates a violent death. The sacrament is assuring us that Christ is really sacrificed on our behalf.
Christ commands us to do this in remembrance of him. Biblical remembrance is more than simply thinking fondly about something that happened in the past. When Jacob has his vision, he sets up a stone. The stone that Jacob sets up is a memorial stone. It is a stone where Jacob remembers the Lord’s promise. This is not something that is merely sentimental, but something where Jacob meditates on the Lord’s promise that was made to him. When Jacob returns past this stone, he will continue to contemplate the Lord’s faithfulness to his promise.
When Israel enters the Promised Land, they set up memorial stones. These stones remind God’s people that what God has done in the past, he continues to do. He is faithful to his promises throughout covenant history. He never promises something he cannot fulfill, and he always fulfills his promises. The memorial stones set up in Canaan and Jacob’s stone in Bethel invite people to reflect on the Lord’s faithfulness. So we need to see that remembrance is not merely a reminder like a to-do list.
In fact, when the Lord establishes Passover, Israel is to rehearse their history of slavery to deliverance. In these events, Israel could think that all was lost. However, Israel rehearsing history testifies that God has been faithful. These stones call the Lord’s faithfulness to the people’s attention. The Lord brought them into the Promised Land because he is faithful. The monuments stand as testimony to the Lord’s faithfulness.
When Christ tells us to do this in remembrance of him, we need to see that we are not worshiping the elements, and we are not just thinking about Christ. We remember that God promised that the triumphant seed of the woman would die. The promise is that the seed of the woman would triumph over death by crushing the serpent’s head. As Christ breaks the bread, we realize that Christ is going to die a violent death as promised.
This Is My Blood
When Christ takes the cup and says, “This is my blood,” he is communicating the significance of wine. We need to think about blood in the Old Testament. The blood of animals was never something God’s people were to consume as though it could give them supernatural strength or life. The blood was given to God in sacrifice because the life of the creature was being offered in the place of the sinner. The blood is the life of the animal (Deuteronomy 12:23). Israel was not to consume the blood at all because their life came from God.
Christ does something remarkable. He takes the cup and tells his disciples to drink his blood. The wine that represents his blood is to be consumed. They are to partake and receive life from Christ.
Blood is also connected to sacrifice. When blood is shed, the life of the animal is given. The blood of the bull is placed on the horns of the altar, and the priest is never to consume it. So Christ is communicating that he will die a definitive death, giving his blood in the place of his people.
The Lord’s Supper is also a covenantal meal. Christ says that the cup is the new covenant in his blood. This does not mean that God’s covenant promises suddenly appeared for the first time in the New Testament. Rather, what God had promised throughout Scripture is now confirmed and brought to fruition in Christ. The promises made to Abraham, the sacrifices, the blood sprinkled upon the people, and the entire history of redemption were pointing toward this fulfillment.
Christ has established the covenant through his own blood. The wine represents the once-for-all shedding of blood that establishes the Lord’s covenant.
The Lord’s Supper, therefore, reminds us both of the seriousness of sin and the certainty of redemption. There was no other way to take away our sin. Christ himself prayed that, if there were another way, the cup might be taken from him. The Father did not remove the cup. Christ went to the cross, willingly laying down his life for his people.
His sacrifice secures our place. We receive his work. We drink his life as symbolized in the sacrament. Genesis 3:15 does not just talk about Christ’s death, but also Christ’s victory. We will live in our Redeemer. He will conquer death, triumph in life, and secure his people.
Conclusion: Christ's Sacrifice Never Needs Repeating
When we come to the Lord’s Supper, we are not simply taking a moment to remember that Jesus died. We see the Lord’s faithfulness. We look back through the history of redemption and see that what God promised, he has accomplished. What seemed impossible has come to fruition. The Redeemer has come. The sacrifice has been made. God’s covenant, made to Abraham, is confirmed.
The bread and wine, therefore, testify to us that our salvation does not rest upon our ability to fix ourselves, follow the right program, or somehow work our way out of sin. Our sin is far more serious than that. Christ had to die so that sin could be dealt with in him. His body was given for us. His blood was poured out for us. Through the sacrament, Christ spiritually nourishes us and strengthens us in our union with him.
So, when we come to the Lord’s Supper, let us not minimize what is happening. Let us remember that our God has always been faithful. The Lord has always kept his promises despite what our eyes see. And now, in Christ, the promise has been fulfilled, and the covenant has been confirmed.
Our identity and security are found in Christ. His life is our life. He invites us to be nourished in his life.
His communion meal is our Lord nourishing the mouths of our souls through faith. The sacrament communicates to us that we receive our life in Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice. The problem is that we downplay sin’s depth. We fail to see how much we need redemption. We can also doubt the certainty of Christ’s work. Christ assures us in this sign and seal that his work truly is finished. Let us live in his power and assurance that his work is complete.