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Reading Luke 22:19-23 where Jesus passes the bread and the cup to the disciples and says to them, "Do this in remembrance of me," in memory of the sacrifice He gave. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
Jesus, when he was with his disciples in the upper room, took bread and broke it and passed it among them. He passed the cup. He told them to eat and drink and do this in remembrance of me, as we do today when we understand the text.
This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible study in the word of Christ. For he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .wutt .com.
Here once again is Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. In our study of the gospel of Luke, we come back to chapter 22, where we've been reading about the institution of the Lord's Supper. I'm gonna read once again, verses 14 to 23. Hear the word of the Lord.
And when the hour came, he reclined at table and the apostles with him. And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
And he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.
And he took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise, the cup after they had eaten saying, this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the son of man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.
Now there in verse 22, where Jesus says, for the son of man goes as it has been determined. On Monday, when we were looking at kind of the introduction to eating the Passover meal and the institution of the Lord's supper, I had mentioned all of these things by God's sovereign hand were taking place.
And God had predetermined that Jesus would be betrayed, that he would be crucified. But even though these things had been planned and predetermined by God, that does not mean Judas is innocent in any way because he had no control over it.
He had no, or could not make any other decision but the one that God had predetermined. Therefore he should be let off the hook. For as Jesus says here, the son of man goes, as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed.
We'll come back to that thought in a moment. But first we need to talk about these different elements that Jesus and his disciples partake in as he is instituting with them the Lord's supper. We left off at verse 19 yesterday, where it says, and he took bread.
And when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Now that phrase, do this in remembrance of me, actually does not appear in Matthew's account, nor does it appear in Mark's.
It appears only in Luke's. And then the apostle Paul repeats it in 1 Corinthians 11. In verse 23, for I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me. So that's Paul's teaching on the Lord's table. Do this in remembrance of me. That does not mean that Jesus didn't say it according to Matthew or according to Mark. They just don't include that detail and Luke finds it necessary to have to include it.
The apostle Paul, of course, was not there. He was not in the upper room for the institution of the Lord's supper. He did not become an apostle until later as one untimely born, the way that he describes himself in 1 Corinthians 15.
This was revealed to him by the Lord. Now, it's not that Paul didn't confer with the other apostles. He does talk about in Galatians 1, meeting the other apostles. We read that also in Acts, but the understanding of the Lord's table and the way that it is supposed to be practiced in the church is given to Paul by God.
Jesus actually reveals to the apostle the way that this was done among the other apostles. And so when Paul gives it to the church and even reminds the Corinthians about how this was to be practiced, how this was to be done, he is telling them what the Lord has specifically told him.
And Jesus would have said this with the others as well. So where you have Luke's account, Luke is going off of what Paul has told him. Luke is also putting together an orderly account that has come from other eyewitnesses.
He said that at the very beginning of the book in Luke 1. So as I've said before about the gospel of Luke, this gospel, as we're studying it, as we're going through it, this is the gospel the way that Paul preached it.
Matthew is Matthew's gospel. Mark is the gospel the way that Peter preached it. Luke is the way that Paul preached it. But that does not mean that everything that we have in Luke is only from Paul as if he's the only witness that Luke was therefore writing down.
Luke was referring to many other witnesses and likely included the apostles in some of the things that he was writing down. This orderly account that he was giving to Theophilus as we read in the introduction.
So here in this included detail, we don't have it in Matthew and Mark, but we do understand this to be what Jesus said to his disciples, that it would therefore become the practice for the church and would continue on until Christ comes.
We have those details in Luke's account of this table also. Remember that there's a lot more going on in the Upper Room Discourse than even what we read in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. That conversation was way longer.
The things that Jesus talked about with his disciples was chapters and chapters longer than just this short little paragraph that we have in the Synoptic Gospels. John expounds on that. So when you get to John 13 through 17, you read of more of the teaching that Jesus gave to his disciples in that Upper Room Discourse.
We're just getting a small glimpse here. But just because Matthew and Mark don't include do this in remembrance of me, that shouldn't lead us to believe that Jesus did not say that. He did say that according to Luke's interview with eyewitnesses and because it had been revealed by Christ to the Apostle Paul, which he also gave to the Corinthians.
So again, he took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying. Now, coming back to 1 Corinthians 11, there was another point that I wanted to make about this. I have attended a lot of churches in my life, a lot, because I, well, first of all, I was an itinerant preacher for a while.
So I had mentioned that in those years of itinerant preaching, I probably preached in over a hundred different churches. And even growing up, my parents moved around a lot. I grew up in a Bible church.
It was just called a Bible church. I think the name of it was Calvary Run Bible Church in Columbia, South Carolina, when I was a wee lad, when I was just a kid. And then moved to Pennsylvania. My dad started another Christian radio station there and we attended a Mennonite church that still exists, but not under this name.
It was called Beaver Run Mennonite Church. And that was the first Mennonite church I attended. I attended a Mennonite church for a lot of years, but it wasn't like I grew up Mennonite. My dad always looked for the Baptist church in town.
But if he did not think the Baptist church was sound, then he went to the church that was preaching the gospel and calling out sin, was preaching the word and would tell about heaven and hell, would preach about eternal reward and eternal damnation.
And so we ended up in a Mennonite church. Then when we moved to Kansas, there was a Mennonite church we became a part of that was really the most Bible teaching church in town. It would turn out to be the church that I would be baptized in.
It had a sister church, another Mennonite church just outside of town. And I'm still friends with that pastor to this day. We chat every once in a while, even online or we'll talk by phone. And so anyway, I've had a long history with those churches.
But then after that, when I went to college, I was jumping around all over the place, all different kinds of churches, especially charismatic churches. That's where I ended up the most from about 18 to age 29.
And then when I moved again, I'm looking around at all these other kinds of churches. It's kind of irrelevant to the Bible lesson, but all I'm saying is that I've been in a lot of churches. If you are privileged to have just been in one or two or three in your life, that's a blessing.
It really is a blessing to be able to be a part of a church family you've been in many, many years. That was not the case with me. I think the church that I pastored in Kansas for 10 years, that's the longest I've ever been in one church, was pastoring that church for 10 years, which was a joy and I loved it.
And I hope I'm going to be at Providence for even longer. But anyway, yeah, that's the one church that I've been in the longest amount of time. So I've seen the Lord's Table practiced in many different ways, but always from that Protestant standpoint.
And in a church where baptism was most likely practiced by immersion. That's one thing I can say is consistent in all the different churches that I've been in. The mode of baptism is consistent. It was always baptism by immersion, whether that was a Mennonite or Baptist or the charismatic churches I attended or anything else.
Some of the churches that I preached in included Methodist churches, that was sprinkling, but anyway, of those churches that I attended, it was baptism by immersion. But the Lord's Table practiced in many different ways.
One thing that I can remember being said a lot when I was younger, and I'm not going to name a pastor because I won't be able to say for sure who I remember saying this. But anyway, I heard this a lot when I was a kid growing up.
It would be said, when the bread was presented, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Have you heard that before? In fact, there was one time that I said it. I grew up hearing this.
So it wasn't just one time I said it. I've actually said it several times. It's so, it's like second nature to me to say, this is my body, which is broken for you, that every time I do the Lord's Table, I have to remind myself not to say that because it's actually not in the text.
If you read the King James or the New King James, those two translations in particular, in 1 Corinthians 11, 24, it said in those translations, this is my body, which is broken for you. But the earliest manuscripts don't have that.
It's not in the original Greek. It's more accurately translated, this is my body, which is for you. Some translations will say, this is my body, which is given for you, but even the word given isn't there.
So it's, this is my body, which is for you. Now, the reason the King James puts the word broken in there is probably because of the breaking of the bread. He breaks bread, even in verse 24 of 1 Corinthians 11, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is broken for you.
And that could be in reference to the bread, not his body being broken. Because on occasion when I've said that, okay, I remember the story I was going to tell now. One time when I said that, there was an occasion when I said, this is my body, which is broken for you.
And someone came up to me afterward, after communion, after church was over and said, is it right for us to say that? I know that there are translations that say that, but is it right for us to say, this is my body, which is broken for you, when we know from the scripture that Christ's body wasn't broken, it was prophesied, not one of his bones will be broken.
So is it okay for us to say broken? I guess you could say, you could understand the piercing of the nails or the spear in the side, the body is being broken open, if we're going to think of it that way.
But it was a good question. It was worthy of consideration and pause. But that's not the reason why I don't say broken, when I say this is my body given for you. The reason why I don't say broken is because it's not in the text.
So I try to be as faithful to the text as I can be, whenever we do the Lord's table. Maybe you've had that question before and you've wondered that. Why do we say broken? Should we say broken? But here, according to Luke, it's Jesus saying, this is my body, which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me. There's another question that I hear asked of me often, little more often than that one, regarding the Lord's table. And I'm going to answer that one here in just a moment.
Verse 20,. And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Now there, you don't have do this in remembrance of me, not according to Luke's account.
But when you come back to 1 Corinthians 11, it is said in verse 25, in the same way he took also the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
So the way that the apostle Paul instructs the church to follow the order of communion, it's both in the bread and in the cup that it is said, do this in remembrance of me. Only Paul says that in 1 Corinthians 11.
That's not in any of the gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, where that phrase is attributed to both the bread and the cup. But again, that doesn't mean Jesus didn't say it. This is the practice concerning the table, that we would do this in remembrance.
This is why he gave these things to his disciples, that we would have these sacred things. Sacraments is why they are given that name, because they are sacred. We would have tangible things that we may taste.
We may hold in our hands and taste with our mouths, just as the scriptures say, taste and see that the Lord is good. These are blessed things that the Lord has given to his church to continue to practice.
And so Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11 .26, as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Now then, we get to the betrayal portion, verse 21. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.
What's that other question that I get regarding the Lord's table? I'm often asked this. I get this every once in a while, but it comes up quite a bit. Was Judas present during communion? Now, if you go by what's said in Matthew and Mark, it would be difficult to discern whether or not he was there.
You could probably make the argument from Matthew or Mark, but it's not clear. John, it's also not clear. Why is it not clear in the gospel of John? Because we don't have the Lord's supper narrative in the gospel of John.
We do have Jesus eating Passover with his disciples, but the institution of the Lord's supper itself doesn't appear in the gospel of John. The reason being because John's gospel was the latest to be written, and this practice was already going on in the church.
It was already well-known, the practice of the Lord's table, that institution wasn't necessary for John to have to repeat. That's my theory on it anyway. But because John doesn't include the institution of the supper itself, then we don't see where in proximity Judas is in relation to that supper.
Did he leave before or did he leave after? But according to this, according to Luke, that question is answered. In Luke 22, with Jesus saying, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. So Judas was there when the bread was divided, when the cup was passed around.
Judas partook of the bread and the cup. So when the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11 .27, whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.
Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself, just like Judas did. Now that's never explicitly said.
It's never said, if you're going to eat and drink of the Lord's table in an unworthy manner, you would become like Judas. But Judas certainly ate and drank in an unworthy manner. And this just compounded the judgment that would be upon him when he betrays the son of man.
For the son of man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he has betrayed. And we come back to that thought that I shared at the very beginning. All of these things have been predetermined by God.
Even this very time and this very hour that Jesus and his disciples are meeting in the upper room. Back to verse 14 again, when the hour came, and that's in reference to the fact that this is it. This is the time that had been determined that Jesus would eat this meal, go to the garden, be arrested, be put on trial, come before Pilate, be sentenced to death, go to the cross, die for our sins.
All of these things had been structured down to the minute, down to the millisecond by God himself from before time began. There were other times that we read about in Luke's gospel where Jesus wasn't ready to reveal himself yet because his hour had not yet come.
But here in the way that the Lord's Supper narrative has been laid out for us, it begins with that phrase, when the hour came. And so even Christ's death is predetermined, but that doesn't let anybody off the hook.
Peter's gonna say that in his sermon at Pentecost. This Jesus who was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified him and he was killed by the hands of lawless men.
So even though this was the definite plan of God, that doesn't mean anybody who puts Jesus to death is therefore off the hook. But even those people who put Jesus to death could be forgiven their sins.
And cut to the heart, they even ask the apostles there at Pentecost, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter says, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. Christ's death was predetermined.
Those who would come to believe in Jesus through that death was predetermined as well. But no one will be able to stand before God on that day and say, hey, it was your fault that I did not believe. No one will be able to say that.
For even as Jesus sovereignly declares here, woe to that man, woe to that man who did not turn from his sin to the Lord Jesus Christ. No one will be able to blame God for that day. We all have to stand before him and answer for what we have done.
But those who believe in Jesus Christ, our deeds have been washed by the blood of the lamb. We've been clothed in his righteousness so that the good works that we do will be unto the praise of his great name.
But then after Jesus had said this to his disciples, verse 23, they began to question to one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. And then a dispute arises among the disciples.
That's where we'll pick up the narrative next time. When we come back to this upper room narrative in our study of the gospel of Luke. Know that we worship a sovereign God, he who had determined all of these things for your benefit and for your salvation.
So turn from your sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and live. Heavenly father, we thank you again for what we've read concerning the Lord's table. I pray that this is a sacred and precious thing to us. You had ordained this for us, that we would eat of this bread and drink of this cup and remember the Lord's death until he comes.
This sacrifice that was needed for us to be forgiven our sins and be made right with God. And all of the grace of God that is in that merciful act, that beautiful gift, it is given to us simply by faith.
By faith in Jesus Christ, all of God's graces and mercies cover us. And so Lord help us to be encouraged today, our heads uplifted, our hopes set high because of what is accomplished for us in Christ that we may have eternal life with God.
It's in Jesus name we pray, amen.
You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.
On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow we'll pick up on an Old Testament study, When We Understand the Text.