Till He Comes

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This is a sermon that was given during a Palm Sunday service in which the sacrament of communion was celebrated. It focuses on the words found in 1 Cor. 15:26 where the Apostle states that we proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. The message speaks about how this phrase relates to the actual words of Jesus, which not only imply His return but also His resurrection.

Written Excerpts:

1 Corinthians 11:26 ^(NKJV) For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.

Introduction:

On the first Sunday of March, when we last celebrated the Lord’s Supper, I spoke to you about this same verse in First Corinthians. If you were here, you might recall that we emphasized the phrase, “You proclaim the Lord’s death.” We talked about how communion can be a perpetual proclamation of our redemption through the blood of Christ.

Today we are revisiting this same verse, but I want to examine a different phrase than we did before. I want to speak to you about the phrase “till He comes.” The Apostle is saying we are to keep on proclaiming the suffering and death of the Lord through participation in communion until the time when He comes again. 

I think it is especially fitting for us to focus on this phrase at this particular time of the year because there truly is a resurrection theme in these words of the Apostle Paul.

I.      This phrase announces a return.

(Expositor's Bible Commentary, Revised) – There is also an eschatological [i.e. end times] element in this supper, for by it we testify to the truth that Jesus will return. This element is apparent in the original Last Supper, since Jesus said to his disciples: “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God. . . . I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes” (Lk 22:15-18).

The author of this commentary is reminding us that Paul’s statement is based upon the words uttered by Jesus when He celebrated the Passover and Last Supper with His disciples. In the comments of Jesus recorded in Luke 22:15-18, He explains that there will be no more occasions when they share the Passover celebration meal nor drink the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.

We have spoken in the past how that the gospels portray the kingdom of God as something that had already arrived, but was not yet fully here or completely here. Jesus spoke in some places as though the kingdom had come, but in other places He speaks about it still coming in the future. Knowing that Jesus was very near death, we can assume that He was simply telling them He would not eat or drink the Passover meal in this earthly life again. However, He states that He will share it again with them in the kingdom of God.

Many commentary authors believe that the Apostle Paul was thinking about these words of Jesus when he says we must keep on proclaiming the death of Jesus by partaking of the communion emblems, and we must do it until the Lord comes again.

(Lenski New Testament Commentary) – From the night in which Jesus was betrayed onward until his return in glory at the last day this proclamation is to be made. The aorist subjunctive ἔλθῃ [he comes] denotes a single future act and an actual coming.

This author (Lenski), confirms that the sentence and word usage of the Apostle Paul clearly requires a future return of the Lord. So Paul’s emphasis, based on the words of Jesus, is that communion is not only a remembrance of Jesus’ suffering, but it is also a reminder of His future coming.

II.    This phrase assumes a resurrection.

Not only did Jesus imply that He was going to return, so that he could drink it anew with them, but His words also imply a resurrection. A “dead man” cannot return unless there is a resurrection first! He wasn’t talking about His Spirit drinking wine in the kingdom of God, because spirits can’t eat and drink. That is why it is a significant point that Jesus asked the disciples for something to eat after His resurrection. They may have imagined that they were just seeing a spirit, but when He asked for food, it was to show that He really was “flesh and blood.”)

On the night when Jesus instituted the communion, He states that He will someday drink anew with them in the kingdom of God, which could not be possible if He is still dead. Jesus’ promise to drink the fruit of the vine with them again in the kingdom of God presumes that there will be a resurrection, which He had already told the disciples many times.

He had repeatedly told them that He was going to be put to death but would rise again. Luke records one such occasion at the beginning of chapter 22. Then during the supper (v. 21) He told them that one of them would betray Him. In spite of the fact He is going to be betrayed, and in spite of the fact He had predicted His own crucifixion, Jesus still talks about drinking the wine with them in the kingdom of God. This could not be possible without His resurrection from the dead.

So, it seems that the Apostle Paul states his words on the basis of these very same conclusions. We keep on proclaiming the death of the Lord through sharing of communion until He comes back again, which He is sure to do because He is alive and well! On this Palm Sunday as we share the elements of communion, let us do so with the renewed understanding that Jesus is alive and coming again!

Conclusion:

(The IVP Bible Background Commentary) – [Old Testament] Passover celebrations looked forward to the future redemption of Israel as well as backward to how God had redeemed them in the exodus of Moses’ day.

The original Passover event was looking forward to the coming deliverance or redemption of Israel from bondage. Each subsequent Passover celebration would look back on the miraculous deliverance God has provided. In a similar way the elements of the Lord’s Supper remind us to look back at Calvary and the deliverance Christ provided from sin, but to also look forward to the future and final deliverance from this sin-cursed world and our entrance into the eternal kingdom of God.

Before we share the communion sacrament together, let us sing this great hymn, Wounded for Me.