Introduction

1) Some remarks to introduce communion in general

Communion is not primarily a time for self-examination. It is not designed to be an excruciating time of self-analysis, confession, and repentance; that it not the design for preparation before coming to communion either. These are daily matters of the Christian life and of course may emerge in communion as a by-product of what is primary.

Regarding self-examination in 1 Corinthians 11, we must stress the fact that abuse of the table, radical abuse, necessitated this exhortation. Therefore, the Gospels, which do not mention self-examination, give us the tone and tenor of communion. The emphasis in the Gospels is on remembering: "this do in remembrance of me."

We are to remember the Lord Jesus. We are to do so from the perspective of His resurrection and ascension. In other words, we are to remember the risen Lord Jesus. This, of course, means that we remember His supreme sacrifice of Himself on the cross (He is risen from the dead). But it also means that we remember the One who died, we remember the life He lived in the flesh leading up to His death. And we remember how it began, by a coming into the world of One who existed before He was born. We remember the Son of man and Son of God.

Thus, communion is primarily a time for remembering our living Lord Jesus. To do this takes thoughtful mediation. It takes some forgetting—that is, forgetting of ourselves. And it takes attention to God's reminding (we do not try to excogitate remembrances). We are to look at the events in the work of Christ from humiliation to exaltation though "the eyes of God." How we do this is to view the events of the work of Christ according to the words of the Holy Spirit given in the Gospels and through them in all sixty-six books of Scripture. Our task is to absorb that perspective.

2) Some remarks to introduce our remembering this morning. What happened the night that Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper memorial?

Here is an overview: Jesus left the upper room, prayed in the garden, healed a soldier's ear, was arrested, was denied by Peter, forsaken by all His disciples, and was brought before Caiaphas and the elders and teachers of the law (the Sanhedrin). By morning they had decided to turn Him over to Pilate counting Him worthy of death.

What happened that night? What happened that is so remarkable that it stands out above all else? I left a significant thing out. Paul's description in 1 Corinthians 11:23 characterizes the night by centering on one thing that umbrella's over all these other things. It puts it all in a distinct light and gives this night a particularly biting sting.

What happened that night? It was the night "he was betrayed." Paul puts these two things together: communion and betrayal. It was on the night he was betrayed that Jesus took bread and instituted the new covenant Passover meal.

I want to consider the implications of this detail that lets us see a little more of the fullness, depth and glory of the Lord's table. This convergence shows us that communion is a triumphal feast. Let's consider the facts of this triumph and the way of this triumph.

1A. The facts of this triumph

We are directed to the facts by the context of betrayal,an undercurrent that is conquered (cf. Jn. 13:18-31: Anticipating the betrayal, Jesus prepared the disciples for it, 18-19; He was troubled by it, 21-betrayal is deeply troubling; He identified His betrayer though no one understood at the time, 22-30; then when Judas left He spoke of His glorification, 31: "now the son of man is glorified!").

We should not miss the connection of betrayal and the Lord's table. Men have plans against the Lord and His anointed but He frustrates the plans of men, His counsel stands from generation to generation and forever. He does so right here at the table (despite appearances). So, consider some of the facts of this triumph.

1) Judas intended the ruin, the destruction, of Christ. But instituting the communion meal, Jesus announced our redemption. My body is broken for you; my blood is poured out for you. The breaking and pouring refer to the action of the ritual in which the bread is broken and the wine is poured. This is to teach us that He gave Himself as High Priest through troubling betrayal in order to become our nourishing bread and life sustaining drink.

2) Judas betrayed the Lord for temporary gain, for the fleeting gain of thirty pieces of silver (about $10.00 according to Lenski; the price of a slave, Ex. 21:32). But through this event where He is considered to have no family and to be nothing more than a mere slave, Jesus nourishes His brothers and sisters for permanent and abiding spiritual gain in the meal of mercy and protection from the wrath of God forever. "O Lord, this is truly a feast of triumph through greed and dishonor."

3) The religious disciple, Judas, added salt to the wounds betraying the Son of man with a kiss. Thus Jesus asked him: "Are you using the sign of friendship, love and loyalty as the means of doing exactly the opposite?" In our day, it might be said, "do you shake hands, simile, commend as the means of betrayal." This is like coals on the fire. To betray is bad enough in the disloyalty it manifests and the pain it inflicts. But to betray by means of the symbol of love and loyalty, this is surely loathsome and maximally biting. Remarkable words: His own received Him not.

Though the Lord knew what was going to happen, He was not impervious to the sting inflicted by this cruel deception. But in the very night of this humiliation and the flood of suffering that overwhelmed and troubled the Lord Jesus (Jn. 13:21), He instituted the nourishing meal for our comfort. Paul looks back and says "remember the night of the betrayal that issued in the arrest and death of Christ, it was in that night that He gave us this comforting sign and seal of nourishment, sustenance, and life."

4) His betrayers knocked Him down and cast Him away like a bricklayer casts away a rejected stone. I took some film to be developed and said to the clerk, "can you throw the package away?" As I went to the car, I thought: "this was how Jesus was treated-like garbage to be thrown away." I had to pause there in the parking lot and utter the prayer, "Lord, this is what you endured-how contrary to your matchless glory-still this is what you endured for me.!"

He was despised and rejected of men. He was the rejected stone. But God made the rejected stone the head of the corner. Through the cross and resurrection, God made Him a stumbling stone, a rock of offense. Yes, God made Him a foundation stone in the temple of God that is destined to become a city that will encompass the earth. He was marked out as the Son of God by His resurrection. He was thrown away in order to gather us together as His brothers and sisters (preeminent among many brethren, Rom. 8:29).

In the night of betrayal Jesus said, "I am instituting the Christian Passover as a triumphal new covenant feast. Judas is out to get but I am out to give. I give myself. I present myself as a sacrifice for sin in order to secure the salvation of my covenant family.

To hear of betrayal as characterizing the night the Supper was instituted brings all of these things before us: the pain inflicted, the deceit, false accusations, and shame that led to the cross. It brings them into view as undercurrents of the promise of Christ that He will be our nourishment that gives not just the physical life that comes from bread and wine but eternal life by being our rock and shield in the face of betrayal, both His and ours.

2A. The way of this triumph

The triumph comes in a way unexpected through the appearance of defeat, through the outward signs that the enemy has won the day. There is a marked contrast here of appearance and reality. The feast of triumph stands in bold contrast to the apparent but superficial success of the non-Christian world.

Consider the secrecy (no one knows, no one will know), the money exchanged (ah, yes, money, money), the kiss (how slick), the arrest, the conviction and the very death of Christ that followed upon this betrayal by Judas (how easy, how successful!).

But each aspect of this "success" is defeated. Regarding the secrecy, Jesus anticipated the event by saying, "one of you will betray me" and "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread" and He gave it to Judas but no one understood (Jn. 13:26-28). To be sure, Judas actually cashed in on his scheme (gaining 30 pieces of silver) but the money ended up strewn in the dirt. Jesus was arrested but only after asking His captors a question and having them all fall backwards to the ground. Through embarrassment the solder's are allowed to fulfill the goal of betrayal. But it is allowed by the Lord Jesus, no one took Him. Instead, He gave Himself an offering to God and Judas committed suicide by hanging.

True, Jesus died on the Roman cross through the deceit of Judas, the religious leaders and the fickle cries of the multitudes, "let Him be crucified." Thus many hands were raised to wound Him and none would interpose to save, but those afflictions were minor because the deepest stroke that pierced Him was the stroke that God in justice gave. In the night in which He was betrayed Jesus instituted a meal that shows us that in all the evils of this world and in all the deceit and betrayal, God is working out His purposes of salvation in Christ. Jesus gave Himself into the hands of His betrayers in order to secure all things for a multitude no man can number (Rom. 8:32; Rev. 7:9). His betrayal endured is our redemption secured!

Conclusion

The way of His triumph, the way of godly success, is not the way men see it. It is in the conquest over sin and death in the vindication of justice. Victory is found in the flowing of love and mercy from the cross. This is a meal of triumph because it reminds us that Jesus offered Himself up to God through the hands of sinners in order to give us a nourishing feast of eternal life-the reality signified by the triumphal feast.

Communion triumph comes in terms of the hidden man of the heart. It is a matter of the rule of God over the life deep within. His kingdom comes in a way unexpected. Christ is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks but to His people He represents the power of God.

You are blessed if you do not stumble at Christ, if you do not stumble at how He brings in the kingdom. It is through the rejected stone that is made the head of the corner. Men view Him with contempt and God views Him with honor. God's way is the way of the humble heart. It is the way of the acknowledgment of sin, of owning up to it.

Betrayal is cited and it is painful. But the stinger is removed because betrayal is a defeated undercurrent in the outworking of the purposes of Christ our Savior.

For us here this morning it can be said, "today you are a little flock, tomorrow you will be the world" (Warfield). This triumph is for you who trust in the Lord Jesus, who believe in your hearts and confess with your mouths that Jesus is the risen Lord of glory. We can say again, "Here we have a firm foundation, here the refuge of the lost; Christ is the rock of our salvation, His the name of which we boast, Lamb of God for sinners wounded, sacrifice to cancel guilt, none shall ever be confounded who on Him their hope have built."

This simple ritual meal is a triumphal feast. Glory to the Lamb that was slain, the One who through betrayal purchased us for God. Amen.

Hearing the voice of God, we are reminded of our conquering Lord who has won the victory for us. It's settled in heaven forever. He will nourish us all the way to glory.

We must therefore respond. We do so in heart and mind and we picture our response in the taking of the bread and wine. We say three basic things in symbol and ought to be saying them from deep within our hearts. 1) First, I need the body and blood of Christ; I need the Lord Jesus (I am unworthy but worthy is the Lamb that was slain). It's a prayer: "O Lord Jesus, I need you." 2) Second, I own Him as my very own as I take this bread and wine to my lips and pallet (He is mine, loving me, seeking me, finding me, keeping me, He is mine). I own Him as my prophet, priest and king; I thus dedicate myself to serve Him in everything I do, to learn from Him under His law and authority, and to cling to Him as my mediator. This is also ultimately a prayer: "O Lord Jesus, I cling to you, I own you as my very own. 3) Third, I own His people as my people, His family as my family. There is only one loaf so we being many are one body. We must ask, "how can I serve your lambs and sheep?" "How can I promote their good?" "How can I promote their spiritual well-being?" Owning Christ and His people means we ask these questions and continually work at answering them. This is because of our respect for Christ. In devotion to Him we must love one another. It is a prayer too: "O Lord Jesus, I own your people as my family."

Let us so take and eat. Acknowledge your need as you take the bread. Thank Him for His abundant provision as you take the wine. Pour out your soul to Him as an offering in remembrance that He offered Himself up to bitter betrayal for you.