Note: This blog post is a portion of the words that I said at our "Communion Sunday" on April 12, 2015
For good hygienic reasons we drink from individual cups. But I like that even our individual cups are served together and we take it together. Again in Come To The Table, John Mark Hicks has something to say about our communal participation,
“Table,” moreover is not simply about vertical communion with God. On the contrary, to sit at the table is to commit to serving those who sit at the table with you. It is to participate in the community of faith. It is a moment of mutual commitment mutual service. The table involves communion between God and his people and among the people of God. God in Jesus serves the table and at the table we serve each other.”
Just like the bread, the cup has meaning given it by Jesus.
Luke 22:20 –“In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
Paul follows suit:
1 Corinthians 11:25 “In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
The phrase of focus on this part is “new covenant in my blood”
What does that mean?
Jesus is bringing the meaning of Passover into the present and launching a new covenant for the future that we are still within today.
It comes from Exodus 24:8 “Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
And Leviticus 17:11 “ For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”
The new covenant is that instead of sacrificial animals, Jesus now becomes the one sacrifice and his blood makes us pure. His blood gives us life.
Blood gives us all life in our physical life. Jesus’ blood gives us life in our spiritual life. When we drink the cup we are unified in a blood that was not wasted; a blood that continues to give us life.
For good hygienic reasons we drink from individual cups. But I like that even our individual cups are served together and we take it together. Again in Come To The Table, John Mark Hicks has something to say about our communal participation,
“Table,” moreover is not simply about vertical communion with God. On the contrary, to sit at the table is to commit to serving those who sit at the table with you. It is to participate in the community of faith. It is a moment of mutual commitment mutual service. The table involves communion between God and his people and among the people of God. God in Jesus serves the table and at the table we serve each other.”
Just like the bread, the cup has meaning given it by Jesus.
Luke 22:20 –“In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
Paul follows suit:
1 Corinthians 11:25 “In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
The phrase of focus on this part is “new covenant in my blood”
What does that mean?
Jesus is bringing the meaning of Passover into the present and launching a new covenant for the future that we are still within today.
It comes from Exodus 24:8 “Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
And Leviticus 17:11 “ For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”
The new covenant is that instead of sacrificial animals, Jesus now becomes the one sacrifice and his blood makes us pure. His blood gives us life.
Blood gives us all life in our physical life. Jesus’ blood gives us life in our spiritual life. When we drink the cup we are unified in a blood that was not wasted; a blood that continues to give us life.
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