Lord's Supper - John Stott

Thoughts from John Stott:

During the meal in the upper room Jesus took bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19).

These are immensely significant words and actions, for they tell us Jesus's own view of his death.

Three truths stand out:

1. The first is the centrality of his death. Jesus was giving his own instructions for his memorial service. They were to eat bread and drink wine in memory of him. Moreover, the bread would stand not for his living body but for his body given for them and the wine for his blood shed for them. In other words, death would speak from both the elements.
 So it was by his death that he wished to be remembered.

2. The second truth we learn from the Lord's supper concerns the purpose of Jesus's death. According to Matthew, the cup stood for "my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matt 26:28).

This is the truly fantastic claim that through the shedding of his blood in death God would establish the new covenant promised through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31), one of whose greatest promises was the forgiveness of sins.

3. The third truth taught by the Lord's Supper concerns the need for us to appropriate personally the benefits of Jesus's death.

For in the drama of the upper room the disciples were not spectators only but participants. Jesus not only broke the bread but gave it to them to eat. Similarly, he not only poured the wine, but gave it to them to drink.

Just so, it was not enough for Christ to die; we have to make the blessings of his death our own. The eating and the drinking were, and still are, a vividly acted parable of receiving Christ as our crucified Savior and of feeding on him in our hearts by faith.

The Lord's Supper, as instituted by Jesus, was evidently not meant to be a slightly sentimental "forget me not" service; it was rather a drama rich in spiritual significance.