The Eucharist (Matthew 26:26-29)
Tammy and I received multiple gifts for our wedding, and I’ll never forget the gift from Lena and Titus Black. Titus was one of the elders at the church in Richmond, Kentucky, and I had interned there a couple summers before Tammy and I married. I stayed with Lena and Titus that summer, and I grew to love them very much.
For our wedding, Lena and Titus sent a beautiful desk lamp. I wrote them a really nice thank-you note and told them how nice that lamp was going to look on my desk. A few weeks later, I finally opened the box and inside was a beautiful water pitcher. They had merely used a desk lamp box to wrap the pitcher.
How good are you with thank-you notes? Perhaps you write a note as soon as someone does something for you. Maybe you always intend to write a thank-you note, but you tend to forget. You might prefer to thank someone face-to-face rather than send a card. On the other hand, maybe you got your feelings hurt because you didn’t get a thank-you note.
The Lord’s Supper or Eucharist serves as a thank-you to our Father. You may have never heard communion called the Eucharist, but the word comes straight from Scripture. “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you’” (Matt 26:27); the Greek word for “give thanks” is eucharisteo, from which comes the English word Eucharist.
Understand this about the Eucharist: “The Lord’s Supper gives thanks.”
Body
All three Synoptic Gospels connect the Lord’s Supper with giving thanks:
- Jesus “took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them” (Matt 26:27).
- Jesus “took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it” (Mk 14:23).
- Jesus “took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them” (Lk 22:19).
Why did Jesus connect his Supper with thanksgiving?
One: His Body
Luke recorded that Jesus gave thanks for the bread which represents his Body. Why should the Christian give thanks for Jesus’s Body?
Tempted
In his Body, Jesus was Tempted for you. In his deity, Jesus couldn’t face temptation: “God cannot be tempted with evil” (Js 1:13). Yet, Jesus gave up that divine prerogative and faced temptation: “He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan” (Mk 1:13). Because Jesus faced that temptation without sin, he serves as a sympathetic high priest: “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15).
While he was in the flesh, Jesus experienced the temptations you face; he, therefore, stands ready to help when you are tempted. Is that not a marvelous reason to give thanks?
Tasted
In his Body, Jesus Tasted death for you: “By the grace of God [Jesus tasted] death for everyone” (Heb 2:9). God cannot die; he is eternal. He revealed himself to Moses as the “I AM” (Ex 3:14). Around the throne are four living creatures praising God by saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev 4:8).
In his Body, Jesus took the punishment that that was yours and died for your sins.
Two: Blood
Jesus “took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘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’” (Matt 26:27-28). Because Jesus shed his Blood, your sins are forgiven: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb 9:22). With his Blood, Jesus “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev 5:9).
Application
“The Lord’s Supper gives thanks.” Jesus gave thanks when he instituted the Lord’s Supper; how can you give thanks when you take the Lord’s Supper?
One: Prayer
Jesus offered thanks through Prayer for the bread and the cup. When we come to the Lord’s Supper, the brother leading us offers a thanksgiving Prayer for the bread and the cup.
It’s always right to give thanks: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess 5:18). If it’s right to “give thanks in all circumstances,” it’s surely right to give thanks in the greatest of circumstances: the divine sacrifice which forgives my sin. How much do you offer a Prayer of thanksgiving at the Lord’s Supper? Do you pray with the man leading us in prayer? Do you give thanks throughout the week for God’s marvelous gift?
Two: Partake
Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, and invited the disciples to Partake. Jesus took the cup, gave thanks, and invited the disciples to Partake. And Jesus invites you to Partake.
You must Partake of the Lord’s Supper. You don’t need to beg a Christian to participate in the Lord’s Supper any more than you need to beg a teenage boy to eat. A Christian will Partake of the Lord’s Supper: “On the first day of the week, . . . we were gathered together to break bread” (Acts 20:7).
Do you make it a habit to assemble on the first day of the week to give thanks by breaking bread? Is the breaking of bread a priority? Do you do whatever you need to do so that you’re ready to come to the table? Just how important is the Supper to you?
Are you giving thanks by the way you live?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.