The Breaking of Bread
Phil Schaefer
9/21/08
Key Scripture: Luke 22:14-20
Introduction:
We have been teaching on our Vision statement from Acts 2:42 “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship and the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
What is the greatest event of all eternity?
- On the eve of the greatest event in all eternity
- On the eve of the greatest event that will ever occur in all eternity
- On the eve of the greatest act of God in all eternity
- On the eve of an event that was greater than creation
- Of an event that was greater than the resurrection
- Of an event that is greater than the second coming of Christ
- Of an event that no angel of God, nor devil from hell could have foreseen or known
- Of an event that was determined before the creation of the world, before the entrance of angels, before the act of sin
- On the eve of the death of Jesus Christ, His death being the greatest act of God for all eternity
1. Why do I speak of His death as the greatest event?
- Because it is the act of God taking on all the guilt of the sin of mankind upon Himself:
- All the cruelty
- All the hate
- All the ugliness
- All the deception
- All the lies
- All the abuse
- All the tragedy and horror and pain of sin
- Of all that mankind has done wrong in creation
- He placed the punishment of that sin upon Himself, but not just upon Himself. Rather, He placed it upon the object of all His love, the object of all His affection. Jesus, the Son of God, the one who dwells in the very heart of the Father willingly offered Himself to pay the penalty, to take upon Himself all the pain, and guilt and shame of sin. Of sin that He did not create, nor did He ever commit, of punishment for which He never, nor ever could be guilty.
- He took upon Himself the judgement of God against sin, and the wrath of God for His hatred of what sin does.
- God hates sin because it is separation from Him
- God, who is righteous and holy and just
- God who also is love, is merciful, is compassionate
- God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become something.
- What is that something?
God made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.
“ For seldom would a righteous man be willing to die for another…But God demonstrated His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
2. Jesus death is the ultimate act of judgement. Do we understand that there is no greater act of judgement or of love that God could perform than this act upon His Son? No act in history can reach the pinnacle of what Christ did on the cross.
- God worked it all:
- While His followers abandoned Him
- And Judas betrayed Him
- And soldiers mocked and abused Him
- And people cried out “crucify Him”
- God was in the act of salvation for all mankind
- Paying the penalty for all our sin
- And so Jesus, know that this was the moment, on the eve of His death, had the Passover meal with the twelve disciples.
Luke 22: 14-20: “ When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; For I say to you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying “This is My body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Likewise, He also took the cup after supper, saying “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”
- The thing I love about Christianity is this. Jesus is saying “I am doing all of this, now this is what I want you to do…eat and drink in remembrance.”
- If Jesus did all that, shouldn’t we do more than this? All other religions say you work your way to heaven. Christianity says, God does it all. All you need to do is receive what He has done!
3. Meditate upon this act of God for fallen mankind. Think about it!
- As you meditate upon it, reflect upon your own sin, and recognize that by examining yourself, your sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. “ Romans 3:23
- As you meditate upon it, examine yourself and see that there is no unforgiveness in your heart. If there is, then by faith forgive.
4. The great distinctive of the Christian message is that the followers of Christ are called into ongoing remembrance of the fact that what we deserved, He took upon Himself. He worked it all out, and handed us the free gift of eternal life. That’s Christianity, God did it all and then said, “Here it is, take of what Christ has done for you.” For 200 thousand years the church has been doing this. Communion is a frequent, ongoing, constant remembrance of what He has done for us. We are saying, “This is the essence of all He has done. This is my faith..” If you think about it, it is crazy. Our religion rests on this: Who He is and what He has done. Our part is to say, God. I put my trust in you, in what you have done.
Discussion questions:
Why is the crucifixion of Christ the greatest event in all of eternity?
Why was it necessary for Jesus Christ to suffer and die on the cross, and how was it an act of both love and judgement?
What is the Biblical meaning of sin and why does God hate it so much?
What does it mean that we have become the righteousness of God in Christ?
See 2 Cor. 5:21 and Romans 5:19
Why was it so important to Jesus to share the wine and the bread with his disciples on the evening of Passover? See Luke 22:14-15
In what way is Christianity different from all other religions in our concept of salvation?
What should be our proper response to all that Christ has done for us?
