he Days and Nights of His Passion, vol. 1
DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME
Luke 22:14-20
Intro: This text is Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper/Table at the final Passover meal He would eat with His apostles. This Last Supper is loaded with imagery from Israel’s sacrificial system which they employed to make atonement for their sins. But isn’t that Old Testament? Given that animal sacrifices are foreign and even repulsive to us, how do we begin to understand God’s divine message? The first step is finding out how rituals work. A ritual is a system of activities. The meaning of a ritual is found in its unusual goal. The overall goal of the burnt offering is to provide a gift of pleasing aroma to the Lord (1:9). Through rituals, Israel could enjoy limited interaction with God. They could come to the Sanctuary and give something tangible to Him to express their devotion, thanks, or desire to receive forgiveness. At the Tabernacle, God came as close to His people as possible. Rituals happened there. A ritual bridges a gap between persons or things that cannot ordinarily interact with each other.
Israelite sacrifices:
Burnt offering
Grain offering
Fellowship offering
Purification offering
Reparation offering
Why was there a variety a sacrifices?
In the NT, the one sacrifice of Christ fulfills all the OT sacrifices (Heb 9:25-26).
So why was it necessary for the Israelites to offer several different kinds of sacrifices? Because no single animal nor singular motive could express how alienated mankind is from God by his sin.
The gap is so wide it took many kinds of sacrifices just to begin to illustrate the break in fellowship. It required violent acts of death to living creatures to show the hostility between man and God.
illus: By looking at what Christ has done in light of the various OT sacrifices, we begin to understand the richness of His sacrifice on the Cross, which is so radiant in splendor that its full glory must be appreciated from different angles. Compare the Hope diamond [photo] in the Museum of Natural History in D.C. It is in a display case that rotates every few seconds to unleash a dazzling, constantly changing rainbow of light. Unlike the attractiveness of this 45.55 carat gem, the beauty of Christ’s sacrifice is not on the surface. The prophet Isaiah foresaw that the suffering of God’s servant would be hideous and gruesome. “His appearance was marred more than any man…He has no stately form or splendor, and when we see Him there is no beauty that we should desire Him…and we hid our faces from Him.” He was more likely to repel than attract. It is only when we recognize His self-sacrificing love that we see the glory of it all.
Roy Gane – Christ on the cross is the ultimate paradox: horrifying in ugliness, supreme in beauty. We gaze at the grotesque form of the carpenter from Nazareth, lifted up between heaven and earth, cursed by both. There we see a mirror of ourselves, of the fate we deserve, but for the grace of God.
Luke 22:14-18…JESUS: “I will not eat or drink the Passover until the kingdom comes.”
Luke 22:19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
Fellowship offering…
The root word for fellowship offering is the same as “shalom” meaning it can also be called “peace offering.” Appropriate since our fellowship with God and His people must be characterized by peace.
The essence of the root word for “peace offering” is the feeling of being “sound/whole.” The worshiper is in a good place in life.
Therefore, the sacrifice is offered for happy circumstances. It’s an offering to God from a grateful for heart because the worshiper is enjoying many graces from the Lord. He/she is living out blessing. They are recognizing the benefits of walking by faith.
Of the five different sacrifices in Leviticus, the fellowship offering is the only one in which the worshiper eats from the roasted meat of the sacrifice. The priest eats from 3/5. The other two belong exclusively to the Lord.
Lev 7:15 The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day it is offered. He shall not leave any of it until morning.
“My body is given for you”
Christ institutes the Lord’s Table by having believers eat from the bread that corresponds to His own physical body. Because the worshipers also eat, this ceremony is like a fellowship offering.
Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
Jesus’ violent death for sinners brings us peace with God as we trust in Him by faith.
Fellowship offerings expressed the benefit of taking the sacrificial victim into your own life by eating a portion of it.
In the very same way, eating the bread at the Lord’s Table declares: “I have received Jesus, the sacrificial victim on the Cross, into my life, and I keep coming to the table because the benefits never run out.”
Another way the Lord’s Supper is like the fellowship offering is that not everyone could share in it.
This is God’s ritual. It carries eternal significance. He has specified who may participate.
Lev 7:20 But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, while he is unclean, that person shall be cut off from his people.
The Lord’s Table is only for members of the New Covenant that God has made with His people. To gain membership into the New Covenant, a sinner must be converted by faith and repentance. Only then is he holy.
Also, fellowship offerings are not for the removal of sins. Removal of sin is not mentioned in Lev. 3.
Lev.7 outlines three subcategories of fellowship offerings: (a) thanksgiving (b) votive (c) freewill/voluntary. (nearly self-explanatory)
A thanksgiving offering expressed gratitude to God for all kinds of blessings like good crops, increase in flocks/heards, protection from danger, or deliverance from trouble.
Psalm 107:19 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.
Psalm 107:20 He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from thei destructions.
Psalm 107:21 Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
Psalm 107:22 Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing.
A votive offering paid a vow by which an Israelite had promised to offer such a sacrifice to the Lord.
1 Sam 1:10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish.
1 Sam 1:11 Then she made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”
1 Sam 1:24 Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh. And the child was young.
1 Sam 1:25 Then they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli.
A freewill offering was available and appropriate at any time, especially when the other kinds of sacrifices did not apply. God is always worthy to be worshiped. And we always need to remember that we have fellowship/peace with Him.
Christians tend to think that the Israelite sacrifices are primarily about getting rid of sin. But Leviticus 7 teaches us that sacrifices could be performed for a variety of happy occasions.
In fact, the Jewish festival that corresponds to our Thanksgiving holiday in principle is called the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths.
In Numbers 29 God requires that a remarkable 189 animals sacrifices be made during the Feast – more than all the other festivals combined!
God set aside an entire week for His people to cease from their work and make more sacrifices to Him than any other time in the year for the purpose of showing their gratitude to Him.
What is the point? The sacrificial system was solemn/serious but not always morbid/gloomy. It was dynamic and it could even be joyful!
Luke 22:20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
Purification offering…
The purification offering (sin offering) was a mandatory sacrifice required for certain kinds of sins and ritual defilements.
This offering was a bloody mess. Once the animal was killed, its blood was collected and taken into the Sanctuary (Holy Place).
The animal’s blood would be applied to the horns of the altar of incense extending up to God (vertically toward heaven). Then, seven times the priest would sprinkle blood in front of the veil casting it before the Lord (horizontally toward His presence).
illus: Imagine how blood-soaked the veil became after literally thousands of offerings. The veil was large, heavy, and provided the most important barrier in all of Israel – dividing the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place where Yahweh’s presence abided. How was the veil ever laundered? Some rabbis insist that God’s holiness vaporized every drop of blood that was sprinkled, thereby keeping the veil in pristine condition. Nothing in Scripture teaches this. Instead, we know the Gospel of grace. Like Jesus’s nail scars were visible on His Resurrection body, God had no trouble maintaining the holiness of His Sanctuary through a blood-soaked veil!
“My blood is shed for you”
The blood of a purification offering, which represented the life of the worshiper, was applied to the horns of the altar highlighting the need to have their lives ransomed.
WHY COME TO THE LORD’S TABLE?
To discharge my duty as a member of Christ’s priesthood
I entered Bible college in January 1994. I quickly had a favorite professor, Dr. Jim Allman. I had never heard the Bible taught in context and with precision before. Two things he said early on I have never forgotten: “The church does not understand the Lord’s Supper because Christians do not know/understand the OT.” AND “1 Peter 2:9 is probably the most important verse in the NT.”
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light
The priest never eats for himself. He always eats for someone else.
When a priest made an offering for his own sins, God was his mediator, so all of the flesh was taken outside the camp and burned (Lev 4:3, 11-12).
When a priest is offering a sacrifice for the worshiper, he must eat part of the flesh on the worshiper’s behalf (Lev 6:25-26).
In the same way, when we come to the Lord’s Table, we come as a priesthood in that moment. We are not eating for ourselves. We are eating for our brothers and sisters, recognizing their faith and their confession of Christ. It is a corporate offering.
1 Cor 11:29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
“without recognizing the Lord’s body” or “without careful regard for the Lord’s body”
It is expected of me since I am a member of the New Covenant,
The purification offering was mandatory. It was not a voluntary gift because it was a mandatory token payment of a “debt” to God, whose order had been violated.
Unintentional sins required a sacrifice and a mediator and the proper applying of the blood to the places that the sin defiled.
“This cup is the new covenant in my My blood”
Jesus shows clearly that the Lord’s Supper is also rooted in the purification offering. The sprinkling of His blood removes the defilement of our sin and places us in a new relationship/covenant with God.
Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
A new heart and a new spirit do not recoil at the commands of God. Neither do they grumble or resent spiritual responsibilities.
A heart of flesh welcomes God’s “have-to’s.”
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
The Lord’s Supper does not belong to my free will. It belongs to the gathered church. When the congregation observes the Lord’s Table, God expects all the baptized to participate. How we feel or how well we have performed does not factor in.
1 Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
To rejoice in the Lord for my cleansed conscience,
Hebrews 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The fellowship offering reminds us that healthy interaction with God does not always focus on problems, including the need to get rid of sins.
How do we like it when every exchange with another person revolves around that person’s troubles?
Leslie Weatherhead – The opposite of joy is not sorrow; the opposite of joy is unbelief.
No matter how rich or poor our outward circumstances, there is always a reason to rejoice. We are the possessors of eternal life!
