The words of institution

A Communion Address 

1 Corinthians 11 23-26,  John 13 21 30

Introduction

Many pictures have been painted of the Last Supper. For example: the famous one by Leonardo. These paintings are founded on the Gospel accounts of that meal, along with the imagination of the artist. We also must use our imagination, to some extent, when we think of that night when Jesus instituted of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The various branches of the Christian church have produced their own versions of the Lord’s Supper, or Eucharist, to accommodate the practicalities of church worship in different circumstances. Very often the Communion service as we celebrate it today it’s very different from that simple meal Jesus had with his disciples in the Upper Room. None the less the meaning which is conveyed in the Sacrament is the same.

The disciples never forgot that moment when Jesus took the bread and wine.It was a significant moment for them and they celebrated it every Lord’s Day.

In his first Letter to the Corinthians, Paul has to correct some wrong practices which had crept into the worship of the Christians in that town. They were coming to the Lord’s Table in the wrong spirit. Paul gives a clear account of how the Lord’s Supper was instituted and in doing so sets the pattern that we use today: the words that we know as the Words of Institution. Let us meditate now on four words suggested to us by this passage: betrayal, trust, sacrifice, proclamation.

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1) Betrayal
“On the night on which he was betrayed …”
What a start! It certainly sets the scene for us. Jesus and his disciples are gathered around the table in semi-darkness – just a few oil lamps scattered around, so they could see what they were doing. Jesus is troubled in spirit and he says with great emotion, “I tell you the truth – one of you is going to betray me.”

In his famous painting, Leonardo da Vinci depicts this moment – when Jesus tells his Disciples that one of them will betray him.

The Disciples are astonished. Staring in amazement they ask, “Is it I?”
Simon Peter signals to John, who is reclining close to Jesus, to ask Jesus who it is that will betray him. Jesus quietly answers John, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”

Now this was an ancient Middle Eastern custom – that as a sign of love and friendship you would dip a morsel of bread in the common dish you were eating from and hand it to your honoured guest. Jesus hands the bread to Judas. Perhaps this is a last appeal to him – a most personal and moving gesture, as if to say, “Judas now is your chance. Are you going to a betray me?”

Judas takes the bread, and perhaps at that moment sees most clearly that Jesus’ purposes are not of this world. He accepts the bread but he rejects all that Jesus stands for. “Satan”, we read, “entered into him” at that moment. (John 13:27)

Jesus says, “What you are about to do, do quickly”. Surely it is with breaking heart he says this.
Judas goes out, and the next time he greets Jesus it will be with the traitor’s kiss.

John records, “And it was night”. He’s not just talking about the physical gloom. No, he’s commenting on the fact that Judas was in spiritual darkness. The hour of evil had come and Judas Iscariot went on his way to betray the Son of Man.

It is not possible for us to convey adequately the sense of evil which must have oppressed Jesus at that hour. But his disciples were not aware of it.
In his musical “Jerusalem Joy”, Roger Jones aptly captures their feelings with the song in which they all sing:
“Isn’t it wonderful feasting with Jesus. Isn’t it wonderful eating with Him
Isn’t it marvellous talking to Jesus. I really want to spend all day with Him .”

Jesus is oppressed with sorrow, but at this very moment he gives hope. At the darkest hour he Institutes the Sacrament of Salvation

Life can be so dark – suffocatingly dark sometimes. We cannot see where we are going. We can’t see any solution. In this darkness we must cling to Jesus.

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2) Trust

Jesus took bread and gave thanks – in the midst of darkness and terrible foreboding he still gave thanks to God. He you recited the Hebrew benediction over bread:

“Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha’olam, hamotzi lehem min ha’aretz.”
“Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.”

He trusts God his Father and he sees beyond the present darkness and the coming suffering. I don’t suppose he felt wonderful at this time – Jesus was going to need the strengthening of angels to face the experiences set before him. Here we see courage, faith and resolve, which will not be moved, shining in the darkness.

Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame. (Hebrews 12:2)
Let us look beyond all present sufferings and trust in God’s love and faithfulness.

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3) Sacrifice

“This is my body which is broken for you…. This cup is the New Covenant in my blood … do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.”

These are very familiar words. To us they carry connotations of a very different world from ours. We’re talking about a world in which animals were brought for sacrifice to the Temple and offered up as burnt offerings. It was a world in which blood was poured out onto altars.

Jesus on another occasion said:
‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.’ (John 6: 53)

His hearers would have understood that when animals were sacrificed in religious rituals some of the meat was burnt, and some was given to the people for them to cook and eat. The pagans thought that their god had entered into the sacrifice and that by eating the sacrificial meat they were becoming filled with divine power.

Of course the Jews didn’t quite understand sacrifices in that way, but they would have understood what Jesus meant. He was going to be made a sacrifice who would bring life and divine power to the world.

Man was searching for God seeking to find union with the Divine through various religious rituals and sacrifices. Jesus is declaring that he is the one who makes that union possible. The sacrifice that unites God and Man. The people realised that he was claiming divine power, and many stopped following him because they couldn’t believe that.

When we take the bread in Holy Communion, we remember Christ’s human body broken for us on the Christ. The wine symbolises for us his life-blood shed for us on the Cross. And so, by faith, when we receive the bread and wine we share in the spiritual life of the risen Jesus.

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4) Proclamation

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” These are words of victory!

The Lord’s Supper is an act of remembrance, yes, but not like a memorial stone that we might visit in a cemetery. On Communion Sundays we don’t just keep his memory alive. We do something more than that.
The Lord’s Supper is a Sacrament: we partake in faith and share in his life. But it’s even more than that:
The Lord’s Supper is a proclamation. For if he is to come again, then he must be alive now!

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Conclusion

So we come to the Table at his invitation, and with the upward look of faith we receive the help and strength we need to face the days ahead. Jesus faced the deepest darkness, and overcame.

“On the night on which he was betrayed, he took bread.”