The Communion Cup

(To download an MP3 file of this sermon, click on the title above. To listen online, click on the play button of the audio player here.)

This sermon was given for a worship service that included the sacrament of communion. It compares the words of Jesus, "This is my blood of the new covenant that is shed for many for the remission of sins," to the events connected with the sealing of the Old Covenant as recorded in Exodus 24.

Written Excerpts:

1 Cor. 10:16 ^(NKJV) The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Introduction:

What is your favorite cup? I suppose this question applies only to the coffee or tea drinkers in the congregation. I also imagine that for some of us it doesn’t really matter what cup we drink from. However, there may be some people here today who have a favorite cup that you like to use. If you have the option, you want to savor your coffee or tea from your favorite cup.

I have a cup that I really like, but I wouldn’t say it is my favorite. I guess I haven’t gotten that “attached” to any of my cups that I use. The one that I think I might like the most is a mug with the Penn State logo Nittany Lion on it. But then, there is another mug that I like a lot because of what it represents. It has the name of the seminary I graduated from. After several years of studies and lots of money, I received my diploma and a mug! Regardless of the kind of cup you or I might prefer, many of them have special meaning and significance for us. 

When Jesus shared the last supper with His disciples, He shared a special cup with them, which He said represented something very significant to Him and to them. He called it the “cup of the new covenant in my blood.” Today, as we prepare to share the sacrament of communion, we want to talk about the cup of communion that Jesus shared with His disciples at the last Supper.

I recently was reviewing a communion sermon included in a book by Dr. Stephen Olford. I had intended to borrow his outline and a few of his points but felt led to go in a little different direction after reading some additional sources in my studies.

Dr. Olford wrote that Jesus may have been thinking about a passage in Exodus 24:8 when He made the comment in Matthew 26:28, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” In the Exodus passage Moses sprinkles blood on the people to seal the covenant with the Lord on Mount Sinai. After reading that comment, I began to explore the Exodus passage more thoroughly as well as the comments offered in a commentary by Dr. John Oswalt, whom I have quoted many times before.

I discovered that there are some interesting parallels between what Jesus was saying to the disciples and what God was saying to the people of Israel. Today I want to share some of the interesting comparisons between the events of Sinai and the “communion cup” of Jesus Christ.

I.             Elements of the Covenant

Exodus 24:1-8 ^(NKJV) Now He said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. ² And Moses alone shall come near the LORD, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him." ³ So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words which the LORD has said we will do." ⁴ And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. ⁶ And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷ Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient." ⁸ And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words." 

These verses appear in the overall context of the giving of the Ten Commandments. (Ex. 19-24)

I want to repeat some comments I shared a few years ago about the use of covenants in the OT. These points are based on material presented by Dr. John Oswalt in his book, Called to Be Holy.

The people who had been chosen by God had been surrounded by and immersed in a pagan religion that was utterly wrong on every important point. (i.e., the nature of God [the gods], the origin and purpose of the world, the origin and purpose of humanity, etc., etc.) If God was going to succeed in teaching His chosen people the truth about Himself, He would need to go outside of the well-known religious forms and use something that the people would still be familiar with but would be separated from the religious corruption and misconceptions that existed. 

The covenant was ideal for this purpose. It was primarily legal rather than religious in nature, but it would serve as a vehicle to teach important truths about this God who had called them to be exclusively His. The ancient covenants contained several aspects that closely corresponded with the truths the people needed to understand about God, such as:

·         The concept of monotheism over polytheism could be easily explained through the common knowledge that any emperor who entered into a covenant demanded that the subjects recognize no other king than himself. (Religious culture knew nothing of monotheism.)

·         A covenant between a great king and the people began with a brief historical prologue that reviewed the historical circumstances that led up to the covenant. This feature aligned with the history of the patriarchs and God’s involvement with them. (I am the God who brought you up out of Egypt…)

·         After the stipulations had been enumerated and other details finished, there commonly were a list of gods called upon to witness the agreement, but in Israel’s case this was substituted by the erection of stone pillars or memorials as a witness and to remind the people of the covenant.

·         In an ancient covenant the bulk of the content had to do with the stipulations the people agreed to follow, but there was also a designated part where the king made promises or commitments to do certain things for the people. This also was parallel to the fact that the Creator God was obligating Himself to His people – something that was totally unheard of in those times.

·         Finally, the additional benefit of a covenant was the part where the king could stipulate absolute ethics, (i.e. require certain kinds of behavior and prohibit other behavior) as long as they were in covenant with him. (This would be totally impossible in a polytheistic “world” because the gods have too many competing desires.) But, since God is the only God, then He can require ethical behavior from his subjects. (Ten Commandments)

Having reviewed the concepts involved in the covenant, let’s look at what is taking place in Exodus 24.

In the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary Dr. Oswalt points out that this section describes the “sealing of the covenant” which included three things: a ceremonial meal between the covenant parties (introduced in 24:1-2 and described in 24:9-11), the taking of the oath before witnesses (24:3-8), and the provision for receiving the official text of the covenant (24:12-18).

(Oswalt, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary) - This is very clearly a covenant ceremony, and covenant ceremonies close with a blood oath…. When the blood is divided into halves, with one half being thrown on God (the altar) and the other half being thrown on the people, the two parties to the covenant are swearing in blood that they will keep the covenant and are calling down death on themselves if they default. That, in my judgment, is the obvious significance of the statement, "this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you [lit., "according to"] these instructions" (24:8).

In the NT setting, Jesus is not sprinkling blood on the people, but He is sharing a cup of wine with them that He declares to be a representation of His blood. It represents His blood that was soon to be shed as God’s commitment to the covenant, and His followers were to drink as their commitment to the covenant. It all takes place during a meal, which we learned in Exodus is also a common part of the ceremony used to seal the covenant.

II.           The Covenant Goal

(Oswalt, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary) – …the covenant and obedience to it was not an end in itself. God wants us to know about him in order that we may know him. Thus, the covenant sealing ceremony here ended with a covenant meal in God's presence (24:9-11). 

Here in Exodus 24, we read about God bringing Moses and selected leaders of Israel up on the mountain to commune with Him. Then, Moses is called up to a higher level for a greater intimacy with God. God desires to teach us more and more about Himself with the goal that we truly come to intimately know Him. In the OT covenant, the meal is a time for the participants of the covenant to enjoy fellowship and getting closer together.

A similar parallel can be drawn with the communion cup. Each time we share the sacrament, we are eating this bread and drinking this juice in fellowship with the Lord and in celebration of the New Covenant Christ has enacted for us. Jesus has paid the price in blood so that we can have an intimate relationship with the Father and live according to His desires for us.

Conclusion:

When I look at my Ashland Theological Seminary cup, it reminds me of the years of studying, juggling family, church and schoolwork, and the insights and lessons gained in the classroom. Some of us at the graduation reception joked about how “expensive the mug was!”

When we take the cup of communion, it reminds us of the blood that Jesus shed to seal the New Covenant between God and all believers. It reminds us that God desires to celebrate that covenant by intimate fellowship with Him. This cup of communion was far more expensive and costly than my seminary mug!

Let us share the communion emblems again today in gratitude for an everlasting covenant.

Before we share the emblems, let us sing

Blest Feast of Love Divine