The Lord’s Supper as a Table of Mercy
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. -Matthew 26:26-28
So far in this study we have looked at the terms that describe the Lord’s Supper, some attitudes we should have while partaking of it, and the themes of remembrance and fellowship. This week we will emphasize the Lord’s Supper as a time of recognizing forgiveness and mercy.
Previous Studies:
1. Is the Lord’s Supper a Table of Judgment?
It is common for people not to partake because they feel that there is unresolved sin in their lives. Smith: “In my own upbringing, we were taught to examine ourselves lest we partake unworthily. Naturally, we never felt worthy!” Self-examination is appropriate, but this cannot be all that is highlighted at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Smith: “The consequence is that all too easily the table is viewed as a place of judgment rather than as a table of mercy.”
A few thoughts:
We always come to this table as sinners in need of grace.
Each celebration of the Lord’s Supper is a fresh experience of the gospel.
At this table, our host, the Lord Jesus Christ, meets us with compassion and open arms.
This is a table for sinners; this is a table of mercy.
At this table, we both proclaim and actually experience the gospel.
2. Jesus, One Who Ate With Sinners
Jesus consciously and intentionally chose to eat with sinners. Peter denied Jesus in the moments leading up to the crucifixion. Yet after the resurrection, we find Jesus making breakfast for this sinner in need of grace (John 21). Jesus’ contemporaries recognized that he was accepting sinners and granting them forgiveness. Jesus did not take sin lightly. But he did have the conviction that healing and restoration are possible when we live our lives out of the empowering grace of his forgiveness.
Jesus ate with sinners as an act of compassion. Not that he tolerated sin, but he desired to empower them to move from sin to salvation, from sin to righteousness. The Table is an occasion to show that we come as sinners to the table of mercy and are received in compassion. This anticipates the marriage supper of the Lamb at the consummation of the kingdom. We will be received at this meal and the basis of admission is nothing but the mercy of Christ.
At the Table we have an opportunity to appropriate afresh the forgiveness of God. This will allow us to live in the world free from guilt and condemnation. Here we appropriate the forgiveness of of God, which frees us from guilt and empowers us to live in the light.
This is the table at which forgiveness is both celebrated and experienced. We lift our hearts to the Lamb of God, who was slain for the sins of the world, particularly for our sins.
4. At the table of mercy we recognize the Faithfulness of Christ.
It was the faithfulness of Christ that took him to the cross. Keener: “Salvation is free to us, but it was never cheap; nothing in all human history has ever been so costly.” Many of Jesus’ words (body, blood, poured out) suggest sacrificial terminology, particularly since crucifixion itself required no blood. (Romans sometimes fixed criminals to crosses with rope.)
The focus here is not our faithfulness or unfaithfulness. We cannot let the Table become self-centered instead of Christ-centered!
Christ…
Acted on our behalf at the cross.
We depend on His faithfulness now today.
We look to Jesus who is the author of our faith and through whom salvation is made known.
The Lord’s Supper is not celebrated as an event of the gospel unless we remember that Jesus hosts this event and welcomes us into fellowship with him and one another. The blood of Jesus was shed so we can experience forgiveness of sins. The meal is first about Jesus, then about us.
If we are saved, it is on account of the faithfulness of Jesus. We respond - we repent and receive from Christ. Smith: “We come as repentant sinners eager to know that we are forgiven, but we know this, in the end, not by the exercise of our will or our faithfulness but because of the faithfulness of the living Christ.”
When we come to the holy meal, we entrust ourselves to Christ.
5. Forgiving Others as We Have Been Forgiven
When we eat and drink, in faith trusting in the work of Christ, who is present in our midst, through God’s mercy we experience the grace of forgiveness. We do not simply choose to believe that we are forgiven; rather we experience the forgiveness of God. As we do, we are then empowered to forgive others, beginning with those with whom we are celebrating this meal. The table is never merely about our forgiveness. It is also about the forgiveness we offer to others.
The Lord’s Supper enables us to live the gospel, to embody what it means to be a people who are transformed by the good news. Smith: “We thus gather at this event as forgiven sinners alongside other forgiven sinners who are learning the grace of mutual forgiveness.”
Fey: We should do this because we declare, as we partake of the communion, that we who were estranged from our heavenly Father and aliens to the Christian community are now united by the bonds of love with Christ and his church. \
6. Ordinances, Sacraments, or Both?(Hicks).
The term “ordinance” pertains to what the believers do, “sacrament” emphasizes what God does. Sacrament stresses the mysterious work of God through baptism, assembly, and Lord’s Supper. Through these practices God encounters us for the sake of our transformation into the image of God.”
Because of the work of Christ and by the power of the Sprit, God graces and blesses us through material symbols of water, gathering, and bread and the fruit of the vine, when by faith we participate in the past, present and future story of God through baptism, assembly, and Lord’s Supper.
Material Creation - we are baptized in water; people gather as living, breathing creatures; we eat bread and drink fruit of the vine at the table. God graces these good gifts and gives them new meaning in the community of Christ-followers.
Symbol - These symbols point beyond themselves to the reality of God’s salvation and participate in the reality itself.
Means of Grace - these symbols are instruments of God’s grace. God graces and blesses the people of God through these practices. They are appointed means and connected to explicit divine promises.
Eschatalogical (pertaining to God’s goal in the present and in the future).
Baptism is no mere bath; it is a participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus as well as a promise of our own future resurrection.
Assembly is no mere social gathering; it is an encounter with the God who sits on the heavenly throne with all the saints in glory.
The Lord’s Supper is no mere meal; it is eating with the living Christ who hosts the Messianic banquet.
Through Faith: We receive Gods’ work through trusting in what God has done in Christ. We do not earn God’s grace in these practices; we receive what God gives.
By the Power of the Spirit: God acts through the Spirit to work God’s gracious intent. The practices do not, in and of themselves, have any power but are only efficacious by the Spirit’s work.
Christ-Centered: These practices are grounded in the work of God in Christ rather than in any work we do. They are directed by Christ, rooted in Christ, and serve the purpose to form us into the image of Christ.
They are ordinances - God has commanded the use of these practices for our own good, both individually and communally. They are sacraments or mysteries. They are means by which God, in part, effects our transformation through our participation in the gospel as a community.
Disciples follow Jesus. We follow him into the water, we follow him into the assemblies of God’s people, and we follow him by sitting at table with his disciples.
Conclusion
The Lord’s Supper as a time of recognizing forgiveness and mercy.
Francis de Sales “Your great intention in receiving Communion should be to advance, strengthen, and comfort yourself in the love of God.”
This is an experience of the gospel that, in turn, enables us to grow in faith, hope and love.
To receive emails from John Dobbs on topics of faith, books, photography, and miscellany:
To receive a daily picture, passage, prayer, subscribe here:
To watch videos of sermons from Forsythe Church of Christ:
https://www.youtube.com/c/ForsytheChurchofChrist
Our church website is http://facoc.org
Resources
Hicks, John Mark. Transforming Encounters: Baptism, Assembly, and the Lord’s Supper. Regnum Media, 2023.
Keener, Craig S. IVP New testament Commentary Series: Matthew. IVP, 1997.
Fey, Harold. The Lord’s Supper: Seven Meanings. Harper & Row,
Smith, Gordon T. A Holy Meal: The Lord’s Supper in the Life of the Church. Baker, 2005.