Luke 22:7-20 "Last Supper First Communion" | Rev Frank Hart | 10-15-23

If you've ever wondered what the big deal about Communion is... This is how Jesus saves the world with bread and wine. "The God who spoke the universe into existence is the One who said, "This bread is my body given for you. This cup poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." Is my body, is my blood. Is means is. We take Jesus at His word. It's a miracle. It's a mystery." The blood of the Passover Lamb has to be applied if the person is going to be saved—this is how Jesus makes His body and blood present to save His people.  When you eat the bread and drink the wine, Jesus has made this miracle so you also receive His body and blood. It's how grace is given to you. It's how forgiveness of sin is applied to you.  'Not symbolically. It happens miraculously. It happens for real. We call it "Real Presence." Because Jesus has spoken, it's as real as the blood that was on the door frames of those houses in the first Passover. We make no attempt to explain how it happens. It's not transubstantiation, it's not consubstantiation, it's not symbolic, not a memorial. It just is. We take Jesus at His word. Would you rather it was actual cannibalism? Of course not. Embrace the mystery.' "The Last Supper is really four meals layered on top of each other. It's the last Old Testament Passover meal. It's the first New Testament Lord's Supper. It's what every Holy Communion celebrated throughout the church looks back to in remembrance. And it's a glimpse of the future heavenly feast at the end of time when Christ returns in glory and we all sit down to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb." "The gift of His body and blood—given for us on the cross, and given to us in the bread and wine." "To partake in this meal, to accept the cup and drink it is to accept Jesus' suffering and death as the atoning sacrifice for your sins. Not automatically, there has to be faith, has to be trust—you have to believe the promise Jesus made to you, that it's for you. But it doesn't take much faith—just enough to lift that bread to your mouth and the wine to your lips—the smallest amount will do."