Introduction

I want to reflect on the meaning of communion today under this title: "Remembering with a Broad Brush." Sometimes in this service I spend time on a particular passage with exclusive attention there. Other times I try to review an entire Gospel or all the Gospels in general. Today we on the general side of things. I believe that there is a great deal of value in considering the big picture. Now here is how I want to break it down, we will consider the focus, the framework, and the standpoint of communion remembering.

1A. The focus of communion remembering

Let’s begin with Luke 22:19. "Remember me" gives us a precise focus to communion. Even with a broad brush there is still a focal point. This focus leads to two interesting questions about communion observance.

1) What place do we give to self-examination?

Let me begin by saying that it is not the focus. Self-examination is not central. If anything, it is a by-product. Looking here in Luke 22, where is self-examination accented (cf. 22:14-23)? Is it stressed in Matthew 26:26-30? Is it the focus in Mark 14:22-26? There is no reference to this duty in any of the passages that record the institution of the Lord’s Table. The Gospel of John has no record of institution. Where then do we get the idea of self-examination? It is from 1 Corinthians 11:28, "A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup." Of course, this verse must be read in light of its context. The institution is reiterated (11:23-25, with no attention to self-examination). But the concern is with "unworthy" participation (11:27). And it is important to define unworthy participation to get the point of examining oneself. Unworthy participation is the result of divisions within the church that manifested themselves at the table (11:17-22). Also, after the examination verse Paul makes this controlling point again (11:33-34). Therefore, we must conclude that self-examination is not an absolute essential of communion; it is only necessary where there is serious abuse of the table.

To be sure, we come to the Lord acknowledging our sin and self-examination may very well occur. It is not forbidden. To say that would go too far in the opposite direction. All I am saying is that self-examination is not the focus of communion. The focus is on our Lord. He said "do this in remembrance of me."

2) Do we need to be told about this focus? Do we forget Him? Yes is the answer to both questions. It may be somewhat surprising or even startling. It is an astounding fact that we desperately need to be brought back to what is central in Christian faith, to Christ. We are sinners indeed. We do in fact lose our way. We often have blurred vision. This is a corrective: focus on the Lord Jesus, not on yourself even your sinful self, but on Him.

2A. The framework of communion remembering

I want to set this out by using the where, how, and when questions. 1) Where are we told to remember? Matthew and Mark do not mention the call to remember, which is only recorded in Luke (22:19). Why do you suppose that we place such accent on remembering? It is probably because Paul’s perspective distills what we have in all the Gospels: "this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me" (1 Cor. 11:24). Paul’s letters help us understand the gospel of the Gospels; thus remembering is accented.

2) How are we to remember? "Remember" takes us back in time. It is historically oriented. This is the picture frame of communion. We must look back to the Gospels to the presentation there of the Lord Jesus. We remember along the lines of God’s reminding.

3) When are we to remember? This ordinance is given to the church until Christ comes again (until He drinks again of the cup in the Father’s kingdom, Matt. 26:29). It is a post-resurrection sacrament. Thus, the proclamation of His death is from the perspective of His resurrection. The death that is proclaimed is the death of the risen Savior.

He instituted this ritual before He suffered as something that we would continue to do long after the events recorded in the Gospels. Thus communion remembrance looks across the entire history recorded in the Gospels (not just to what transpired up to the time of institution, which is before the arrest, trials, death, and resurrection).

Now we have the framework: we are to remember the risen Lord Jesus as He is presented to us in Scripture, especially as He is presented in the Gospels.

3A. The standpoint of communion remembering

As we focus on Christ through this framework, we are to do so with the special tint of the glass that is given by the nourishing ritual of bread and wine. To say that another way, the place from where we see determines what we see (cf. the valley, trees, and river; the river may or may not be seen depending on where you are standing). I want now to give attention to the standpoint of communion remembering.

Here is a key point: we will see the gospel of Christ presented in the Gospels correctly and beneficially when we view it through the prism of communion nourishment. We must view the gospel story from beginning to end in this way. We are to be repeatedly brought back to this essential perspective as often as we do this.

Therefore, our Lord gives us a very important lesson here in keeping our priorities straight, that is, our thinking priorities in their bearing on our living. He tells us how to view the gospel like He tells us how to view the law (Matt. 5:17). He tells us to look through the prism and standpoint set forth by the table.

When we approach remembering this way, what tints the glass and specifically makes up the standpoint? The standpoint is His love, which is personal, sacrificial, and saving.

1) His personal love

The bread and cup are for you (Lk 22:19-20, with both elements, 1 Cor. 11:24) That is love, personal love. We are reminded of Him to thereby see His love for us. Both are highly personal. We look to Him and see His love for us. It’s "my body" that is "for you." It’s my blood for your sins. Think about Him as a loving Savior. Think about His love for you as you remember Him.

2) His sacrificial love

"Blood for sin" expresses the core objective of His coming. His story, the history, is designed to hit this precise target: to grant forgiveness. All He endured is for this precise end. The wine is poured out for the forgiveness of sin (Matt. 26:28). The cup contains the blood of the new covenant (cf. the Passover lamb and betrayal, Lk. 22).

To deal with violated and outraged justice, Jesus had to prepare Himself as a sacrifice. He had to become a man since being God He could not die. He had to become a man in order that as the eternal Son of God He could die in terms of His real human nature.

This is the astounding magnificence of the incarnation. It is a profound mystery. As the catechism puts it: He is both God and man in such a way that we must neither divide the person nor confound the natures. Although Jesus never ceased to be divine, He did add to His deity true humanity. He entered an experience, a true and real experience of utter humiliation and non-glory. Hence the remarkable words: "glorify me with the glory I had (Jn. 17:5). But Jesus did this in order to give eternal life to those given to Him by the Father (Jn. 17:2).

He left glory (glory I had-marvelous mystery!). He became poor. He suffered at the hands of sinners. He was humiliated on the way. He experienced the apex of humiliation on the cross. He was the lamb promised for centuries. He died in your place as your substitute if you trust in Him alone. Consider how these points are brought out in the hymn Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted (if you think of sin but lightly here you may see its guilt rightly: it was the Son of man and Son of God who bore the awful load).

3) His saving love

The breaking and pouring picture the nourishing benefits of the gospel of Christ (cf. Matt. 26:26, "take and eat, this is my body" with no mention of "for you"; this accents the symbolism as does "drink from it, all of you.").

The nourishing quality points to the life that results. It is eternal life. In love for you, He gives heaven and glory. "I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom" (Matt. 26:29; cf. Lk. 22:17, "until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God").

Applying the Broad Brush

The gospel story can be summed up in broad brush fashion as consisting of His birth, baptism, temptation, proclamation (by word and deed, by preaching/teaching and by performing miracles), death, and resurrection. Although communion was instituted in the middle of these events, after some and before others, nevertheless, the entire gospel story is to be viewed in light of communion nourishment.

Thus we can summarize the whole history in a six-fold sketch that outlines the Gospels in very brief form: birth, baptism, temptation, proclamation, death, and resurrection.

We are to look to His birth, baptism, temptation, proclamation, death, and resurrection to see Him in His work for us. We cannot separate His person and His work. We remember Him in terms of His work. And we are to do so with the special tint of the glass that is given by the nourishing ritual of bread and wine. Again, the place from where we see determines what we see.

In a word, we are to see all the events in the light of the personal, sacrificial, and saving love of Christ as presented and symbolized in the elements and actions of the Lord’s Table.

So here is the marvelous gospel cluster that is called to mind when we remember our Lord. His birth, baptism, temptation, proclamation, death, and resurrection are His love acts for you, to give you forgiveness of your sins, and thus to give you the glories of heaven forever.

Thus, consider how our ears are called to attentiveness and our voices to praise by these marvels as reflected in the hymn "Hark, the voice of love and mercy." He finished the work, so all praise and glory belongs to Him.

Summary

As you recall the history of Christ note that His birth was for you, His baptism was for you, His temptation was for you, His proclamation was for you, His death was for you, and His resurrection was for you. He personally came and experienced these things, did these things, said these things for you personally who trust in Him. He did so with love expressed in great sacrifice. These thoughts overwhelm the soul with a sublime sense of peace and safety under the care of our risen Savior.