Mark's Gospel, chapter 14, Mark 14, verses 22 through 25. If you're using the Bible provided for you in your seat, you'll find this on page 851. Mark 14, verse 22. Hear now the word of the living God. And as they were eating, He took bread, and after blessing it, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, This is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. This is the word of the Lord, and we say, Thanks be to God. Please be seated. Let's ask the Lord's blessing upon our time. Lord, now in this time of your word proclaimed, we ask that you would give us ears to hear. We pray for divine aid, both in the preaching and in the hearing of the word of Christ. And Lord, we pray that the supper of the Lord would grow in our hearts to be loved and cherished more and more as the meal which you have given your people. We pray this all in Jesus name. Amen. We gather tonight perhaps a mixed group. For some of you who've been journeying here at Grace for several years, the topic of the Lord's Supper might seem like, well, very common, because you know that we have dealt with the Lord's Supper many times. First in our series several years ago on the ordinary means of grace, and then as we've walked through the book of Corinthians, we've dealt with it several times as it's shown up in the text. Because in our evening services, we go through the confession or a catechism, the Lord's Supper regularly shows up. And so some of you might be thinking, I love the Lord's Supper, but do we need another sermon on it? And yet, because we're following the Heidelberg Catechism each week, this is where we are in our study of doctrine. However, others of you might just be joining us for the first time. And you might be thinking to yourself, I'm curious, because as I've visited this church, they seem to place a value on the Lord's table that perhaps my other churches haven't, or they've had a different view, and this is new to you. And so, my desire tonight is from this text and others from the Word of God for us to all glean truth regarding what the Scripture says about the Lord's Supper. As we've journeyed in our morning services through the book of 1 Corinthians, there are two texts that we've just recently talked about. And so I want to review those very briefly and then camp out tonight and mark chapter 14. If you notice in the catechism on the back page of your bulletin, you will see this question and answer. How is it signified and sealed unto thee in the Holy Supper that thou dost partake of the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross and all His benefits?" There are three questions here, but Heidelberg question number 75 is likely one of the most pastoral questions and answers in the Catechism. It says this, Thus, that Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and to drink of this cup, and has joined therewith these promises. First, that His body was offered and broken on the cross for me, and His blood shed for me, as certainly as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me, and the cup communicated to me, and further, that with His crucified body and shed blood, He Himself feeds and nourishes my soul to everlasting life. And then notice this last phrase. I don't know if you saw what that language was saying. but just as certain as you are that you are tasting bread and that you are drinking wine. When you come in faith to the Lord's table, that is how certain that you can be, the catechism says, that Christ's promises, what are signified here in this table, are true. It's not speculative. It's very real. And so when you come to the Lord's supper and you put bread into your mouth, and you take wine or grape juice and you ingest that, as certain as you are that that is what you're doing physically, the believer can be just as certain that Christ's promises are true. Now, in reviewing of 1 Corinthians, very recently we've seen two texts by way of background for you. Let me just give them to you and then let's look at Mark tonight. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 16. A very important verse for how we think about what happens when we take the Lord's Supper, as we did this morning in worship. The scriptures read this way, 1 Corinthians 10, 16, the cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? This text, among others, but primarily this text, is a strong reminder to us that when we take the bread of the Lord's Supper, when we take the cup of the Lord's Supper, there is a spiritual participation in the body and blood of Christ. We have koinonia, the Scripture says, fellowship, communion with the body and blood of Christ. Now this has been debated down through the ages because what does that mean? Well, if you remember from a few months ago when we were in 1 Corinthians 10, we said there are some things that it cannot mean. It cannot mean that Christ's physical body is literally here and eaten by us. That would be a Christological problem, a doctrine of Christ problem. Why is that? Well, boys and girls, where is Christ, Jesus' physical body? Well, it's at the right hand of the Father. And because Jesus is fully God and yet fully man, completely, fully human, His body cannot be in every place at every moment. Or else He would be superhuman. So it cannot mean that Jesus' body and blood are literally here on this table. It also can't mean that when we eat the bread and drink the wine that they magically turn into Jesus's body and blood. Because nowhere in the scripture are we given the indication that what we are eating is anything but real bread and real wine. But as we'll see in just a moment, when Jesus instituted the first Lord's Supper with His body physically present, what did He do? He handed bread to the disciples. So if the bread is magically turned into His literal body, then what happened shortly before the cross when He instituted the Lord's Supper? Did His body, as He was handing the bread to the disciples, kind of morph into the bread? Well, of course not. So that leaves us with two options. When the scripture says in 1 Corinthians 10 that we have communion with, fellowship with, koinonia with, and participate in the body and blood of Christ, if those options aren't available to us, then we've got two more. Number one, all we do when we come to the table is remember Jesus. It's a memorial. It's just kind of like a tombstone in a cemetery, just reminding us of the life and death of someone that we love. But the other option is that while we indeed remember Christ when we come to this table, when we come to the Lord's Supper, we have a type of communion with the Body and Blood of Christ, but spiritually. Now, those of you that have been journeying here for any length of time know that that's the view that we proclaim. That Christ is spiritually present with His church in a unique way when we come to the Lord's Supper. It is a memorial, but it's not only a memorial. And for that, I would encourage you to read, if you want to really dig into the text on that, a good short work by Richard Barcelos entitled, More Than a Memory. So 1 Corinthians 10 is in the background for our discussion tonight as a reminder that there is actual fellowship with the Lord here, but it's not that we're eating His literal flesh, but that spiritually our souls are being fed and nourished in His body and blood. But then there's one other Corinthian text that we've seen of late, and that is 1 Corinthians 11. We read it this morning. Paul is giving instruction, and here, In 1 Corinthians 11 verses 23 and following, he tells people what the Lord had delivered to him, that on the night when he was betrayed, Jesus took bread and broke it and gave thanks and said, this is my body, which is for you. This is my blood, which is for you, that you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. And then notice in 1 Corinthians 11, Verse 28 and 29. The Scripture says, Let a person examine himself, and then so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Verse 29, For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. And we spoke just a few weeks ago when we were in that section of 1 Corinthians about the fact that discerning the body is not simply thinking about others when you come to the Lord's table. It does involve that. But discerning the body is that when we come to the Lord's table, when we hold bread in our hands, when we hold the cup of communion in our hands and partake of it, we are to discern the Lord's body. That the things that we hold are just bread and wine, but they are signs which point us to the body and blood of Christ. And so those are some Corinthian corrections that we've been dealing with of late. But let's end our time focusing on Mark's Gospel account of the institution of the Lord's Supper. And there are just two things that I want us to see in addition to these Corinthian instructions. Look there, Mark 14, verse 22. As they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to them and said, This is my body." All throughout the Bible, the Lord has given what we'll call sacramental signs. Visible words of His promises and arrangements. Now here again, some of you might be thinking, Pastor Ryan uses that phrase, visible word, a whole lot. And I wish that I was the one that came up with that, but that actually has a long history in the church, going all the way back to Augustine, if not further. that baptism and the Lord's Supper are visible things of the Word proclaimed. So the first thing that we're going to see tonight in Mark is that the Lord's Supper is the Word in visible form. The Word in visible form. Now you may be thinking, It sounds nice, it helps me when I take the Lord's Supper to think about the fact that God is the one preaching a sermon, just like we talked about in baptism several weeks ago. That when someone is baptized, it's the Lord that is proclaiming His word to the congregation. It's not something that we do, we're involved, but it's the Lord that is proclaiming a sermon, but in visible form. But is that just something that we see in the New Covenant? But if we were to skip through the pages of Scripture, we would see that in God's covenants, He's always had visible representations of His promise. Let's go back to the covenant of works. You remember that arrangement with Adam in the garden, obey me and live, disobey me and die. Did the Lord give any visible signs, any physical objects, any tangible reminders of His covenant promise? Well, yes. He gave two. Two trees. The tree of life, which was a visible reminder of obedience leading to life. and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." It was a constant reminder that when you eat of this, you defy God. It was a sign, a visible sign of disobedience. You see in the covenant of works, God is giving a sign. The Lord gives His word audibly to His people, but He also gives signs. And of course, we know which sign. Adam partook of in the garden. Well, what about other covenants? Was there any kind of visible sign that God gave Noah? We see that's the next covenant in the scripture. Was there any kind of physical, tangible, with my eyes I can see it kind of sign? Boys and girls, what sign did God give Noah signifying that he would never destroy the earth again by floodwaters? Well, a rainbow. The Lord gave the promise, but He also gave a visible sign. Well, what about the next covenant that God made with Abraham? Signifying that I'm going to bless the nations through you, but specifically, I'm going to give you a people and a land. You are going to possess the land of Canaan. And you are going to have many, many people who come from you. Ultimately, a spiritual seed, but more specifically, A physical seed, which the scriptures in the Old Testament actually say that the Lord fulfilled. Because by the time we get to Joshua, what does the scripture say? God had fulfilled his promise and that the people of Abraham were as many as the stars of the sky. But when God made this promise of a people and a land to Abraham, did he give them a physical sign? He did give them a physical sign. Not only did they remember His words, but He gave them a physical sign of circumcision. This very physical sign is a reminder to you of My promise. Trees in a garden, a bow in the sky, circumcision in the flesh. What about God freeing the people from Egypt and taking them into the promised land? Did He give them anything that they were to regularly practice as a reminder of freeing them from slavery? Yes. A meal. Boys and girls, do you remember that meal? Passover. Put the blood on the doorpost and the angel of the Lord will pass you by. And then of that blood you are to eat of the animal. And do it quickly. Do it with your shoes on. Why? Because I am going to free you. And every time you partake of this meal, you will be reminded. And so, it shouldn't surprise us then, when we get to the ultimate covenant, the covenant of grace, or the new covenant, that the Lord gives His people visible signs of His promise. That's what we mean when we say that the Lord's Supper is the Word in visible form. Just like trees. constantly pointed to God's covenantal arrangement, just like a bow in the sky constantly pointed to God's promised arrangement, just like circumcision in the flesh, or Passover as a yearly meal pointed very physically and tangibly to God's work and God's promise, so too for the Christian baptism, and specifically tonight, the Lord's Supper. are physical signs that the Lord has given. So we read then, Jesus saying, take, this is my body. In verse 22, we see that the scripture says that after blessing it, he gave it to them and said, take, this is my body. The word blessing it, Those two words there come from a Greek word which means giving thanks. It's where we get the word Eucharist from. Many brothers and sisters around the world call this meal the Eucharist and that's where they get it from. In the early church and many still today call this the Eucharist. We call it Lord's Supper or Communion but there's really a reference to Christ giving thanks for this bread and this wine. And then he says what? Take, this is my body. What is he saying here? Well, in Aramaic, which is what Jesus would have been speaking, there is no verb for is. Literally, Jesus would have said, this, my body. Jesus is giving a symbol versus speaking about his literal flesh. We talked about that a moment ago. Of course, he's handing it with his hands. So he's not saying magically right now, this becomes my body. But he is saying more than, hey, every time you look at this bread, just think about something. Because of the teaching we see in 1 Corinthians. So Jesus is giving a meal that is a word in the visible form. Look at verse 23, And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. This cup was likely the third of the four cups used at Passover to signify God's promise to redeem with an outstretched arm. Now this is likely lost on most of us. But if you are a devout Jew practicing the Passover, year after year after year, and you remember, every year, if you are one of Abraham's spiritual seed within Israel, You remember as you're partaking, the Lord freed my people. He got us out of slavery. He had us put blood on the doorpost. And the animal of that sacrifice was literally what we consumed over this meal. And year after year after year, the Lord wants us to remember that in our darkest hour of slavery, He freed us. And then to see your Master, Jesus, who perhaps at this point you're beginning to think He's the One. And in this very meal, He takes a cup and He says, this is My blood of The Covenant. What do you think a Passover practicing Jew would think? You and I of course have greater revelation than they had at that moment. And we know the ultimate answer. But there's more here than simply, hey, remember me. There is that. But there is the constant visible sign that Christ's blood is over the doorpost of the heart of the believer. That we have been freed from our deepest and darkest slavery. And that when we come to the Lord's table, it is as if the triune God is proclaiming to you and proclaiming to me, the blood of the Lamb is eternally over your heart. Because I have freed you from the Egypt of your sin. And when destruction and wrath comes upon your city and your land in that great day, you will be passed over. When we hold the bread and wine in our hands before our eyes, the promise of God It's preached. It's proclaimed. 1 Corinthians 11, 26. So Jesus is giving them a meal, which is the Word of God in visible form. But secondly, and finally, the Lord's Supper is a meal of covenant reaffirmation. We've already talked about the various covenantal signs, haven't we? But what do I mean here? All throughout the Bible, meals were often signs of covenants or agreements that were being ratified. So you think of Abraham and Melchizedek in Genesis 14. There's a meal, there's an eating there as they have an arrangement. Genesis 18 verse 1 and verse 13, Abraham and the Lord. There's a discussion and what happens? There's a meal. Of course, Exodus 12 verse 24 at the Passover, there's a promise, a plan, and a meal. So when we get to Mark 14 24, this is not the first time that we've seen a meal where something is to be reaffirmed as a covenant promise. Jesus says in verse 24, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Now do you think that the disciples were sitting there thinking, Covenant? What's that? Blood of the Covenant? What's that? Well certainly they again did not have the full knowledge that we have today for revelation would continue to be given through them. But if we were to walk through the pages of Scripture, we would see this phrase over and over and over again. Blood of the covenant. Blood of the covenant. Blood of the covenant. Just quickly with me, turn to Exodus 24. Exodus 24, verse 8. Exodus 24, verse 8. You remember that the covenant was confirmed. The law had been given. And in Exodus 24, verse 3. Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, all the words of the Lord have spoken, we will do. Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel who burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, All that the Lord has spoken, all that Yahweh has spoken, we will do, and we will be obedient. Then Exodus 24 verse 8, And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, Behold, the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. God's Word is thus. We are now in need of continual sacrifice for disobedience. An animal has been slain. We are promising obedience, heeding the Word of the Lord, and the blood of this sacrifice is thrown out on God's people. We've said this before, but can you imagine that day as men and women, old and young, boys and girls are standing there, perhaps in their Saturday best. and the blood of the sacrifice is thrown out. And for some of them, it gets in their eyes. For some of them, it's on their face. For some of them, it's on their clothes. Perhaps for a few of them who are attuned to the spiritual things of God, there are tears in their eyes mixed with the blood of the sacrifice streaming down their face. Yes, friends, the disciples would not have for the first time thought, blood of the covenant, we've never heard this before. They would have thought, there's something happening here. Our teacher is saying that this cup is the blood of the covenant. So the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 9 verse 20 picks up on this story and speaks to the blood of the covenant. Or how about Zechariah? Zechariah 9 verse 11 Speaking of the coming King of Zion, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you! Righteous and having salvation is He, Humble and mounted on a donkey. Have we ever seen this fulfilled? Yes, friends, we have. For the coming King of Zion came riding a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem and the battle bow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace to the nations. His rule shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. It's a beautiful communion text that when we come to the table, It's as if the blood of the covenant is pointed and signed for us. And it's as if we can say, our King has come. And what has He done? He has, quote, set us as prisoners free from the waterless pit of sin and shame and death and condemnation. We don't have the blood of the sacrifice dripping on our skin. for that is external. We have the blood of Christ covering our souls. And every time we partake, we drink and we eat physical elements, but spiritually, we are fed as those who have been freed. Hebrews 13 verse 20, the great benediction speaks to the blood of the eternal covenant. Isaiah 53 verse 12 says, that the sacrifice would come and that there would be a pouring out. Turn there with me, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 53 verse 12. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many. And he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors. Matthew 20 verse 28 speaks to the Son of God being a ransom for many. Matthew 26, 28 adds in the discussion of the Lord's Supper that His blood was poured out, quote, for the forgiveness of sins. This is too great to rush. See this, friend. Matthew's account in Matthew 26, 28 adds a line that marks gospel. does not have. It doesn't mean that there's a contradiction. It means that one gospel writer is giving us another piece of the description that another gospel writer didn't. And the whole is brought together in a beautiful mosaic of God's Word. But Matthew 26, 28, Jesus says, Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. So you come into the worship service gathering after a week of sin and shame. And you gather at the Lord's table. We've confessed our sins publicly. We've heard the Word proclaimed. You gather on this side, as we often do, and you walk past the table. And the thought comes to your mind, I don't belong here. I'm a sinner. All of these other people seem to have their lives together and the one thing that I need is perfection to stand in God's presence. I don't belong here at this table. And then, what do you hear? You see with your eyes and you hear the reading of the minister with his voice, these words of your Savior. This is the blood of what? The covenant. The covenant of grace. The new covenant whereby God says to you, nothing that you do, will earn or merit salvation. You have no righteousness of your own, but My Son has done it all. He has kept My law in your stead. He spread His arms wide, His body was broken, His blood was shed. And now, to your very sin, guilt, shame, stained soul, you hear and you see these words, For the forgiveness of sins. For the forgiveness of sins. This is why this meal need not be only a time to think about Jesus alone. We should do that. But this meal is a very tangible reaffirmation of the covenant. Every time you partake of this meal, it is as if God says to you, My covenant still stands. My covenant still stands. My covenant still stands. and you will either die in your old or your young age, hearing the words of the table, my covenant still stands, or the Christ of the covenant will return and take you home." The Lord's Supper is a meal of covenant reaffirmation. So, when we come to the table, the Lord is giving us His Word in visible form. I hope you see what we mean by that. But when we come to the table, the Lord is reaffirming His covenant to us. Many of us have sort of thought for years that we're reaffirming our covenant with God. And there is a sense in which we do that. We confess our sins. We come to the table rightly. But friends, this is not our table. We don't bring terms to the Lord and say, here Lord, we're going to reaffirm our covenant with You. No, this is our covenant-keeping God who says, I, and I alone define the terms of the covenant. And it is I today who tell you, sinner, that I am reaffirming My covenant promise to you. So Walter Marshall, in one of my favorite books of all time, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, wrote these words. The purpose of the Lord's Supper is to remind you that Christ's body and blood are bread and drink, a totally sufficient food to nourish your soul to everlasting life. Take, eat, and drink of Him by faith. This will assure you that when you truly believe in Him, He is as closely united to you by His Spirit as the food you eat and the drink is united to you and your body. That's just Heidelberg catechism question 75. Yes, church, we may labor long on the Lord's Supper, but it's not because we take it too seriously. It's because if we don't take time, we'll forget that God actually comes to us in the supper. and gives us a visible word of His promise, and He reaffirms His covenant. We simply eat and listen. Let's pray. Almighty God, help us as we think about both baptism and the Lord's Supper, that we don't make them into something that they're not, but that we don't miss the blessing that they are. Lord, every time each of us here in this room comes to this table, would you give us the reminder that you are reaffirming your covenant to us? It is Christ in his word who says, when we come to this table, this is my body broken for you. This is my blood of the covenant. shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. So Lord, when we are needy and full of shame and guilt and despair of a week or a month or a year lived in sin, when we come with faith and repentance, help us to see the precious remedy for sin eternally is the blood of Christ. We thank You that You don't just give us Your Word proclaimed for our ears, but You give us signs for our eyes and our lips and our tongues that signify to us Your promises until Christ returns. We pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.