Matthew 26:26-29 (KJV) And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

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The Lord’s Table has confused many people. The Catholics have been taught that when the priest blesses the Table that the “Cup” literally becomes the Blood of Christ and the Bread becomes His Body. We know this is not true because Jesus – whose Body had not yet been broken – took the Bread and said:

“Take, Eat, This is My Body”

The Bread was clearly symbolic of His Body being broken for us. His Blood would be shed for us. Who would benefit from His Broken Body and His Shed Blood.

The Lord’s Table Is NOT For UNREPENTANT Sinners

To whom did Jesus say “Take, Eat” and “Take, Drink”?
To those who sinners who intimately received Him.

Judas Iscariot did not sit at this Lord’s Table. He has gone to betray the Master for thirty pieces of silver. The eleven that remain will also betray Him in various ways, but not for profit. His followers are all sinners. His followers have always been sinners. But Christ is:

Revelation 13:8 (KJV) … the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Jesus shed His Blood for His people, for those who receive Him as He is.

John 1:29 (KJV) … Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

There is no other Savior, no other way unto God. Men have tried to work their way unto God. From the beginning man has tried to work to secure favor in God’s eyes. When Adam sinned what did our forefather do?

Adam made clothing of fig leaves, trying to cover his sin.
Adam his himself in the Garden.
Adam his himself by blaming his wife, and his wife the serpent.
The works of our hands do not cover our sins.

After God uncovered Adam’s sin He made Adam and Eve clothing. The Bible says:

Genesis 3:21 (KJV)  Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

To cover their sins the innocent animal would die. What skins did God use? Though the Scripture does not say, I believe it was the skins of the Lamb or the Sheep. The Old Covenant sacrifices focused on taking the lamb without spot or blemish (Exodus 12:5). It was the Blood of the Lamb, the innocent Lamb, that covered the sin of man.

The Lord’s Table Illustrates The Work That Pleases God

Sin brought suffering. Paradise was lost because of sin. The Lamb had to die to cover Adam and Eve’s sin. The Old Testament is filled with blood sacrifices. The Temple was entered through a place of sacrifice. But year after year sacrifice was made because God decreed it, but also because the works of our hands could provide no permanent offering for sin.

There is nothing that I can do to make myself right with God.
There is nothing you can do to make yourself right with God.
There is but one work that I can do to please God.

Jesus said in John 6:29 (KJV) … THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD, that ye BELIEVE ON HIM WHOM HE HATH SENT.

The lambs slain in the Old Testament and under the Old Covenant were but a shadow of the Coming Christ. God sent Christ for us who are broken. To offend God by sin is to incur His wrath. To do that which God forbids is to place yourself under judgment, His judgment. That is the bad news. But the Good News is that Jesus gave Himself for us.

John 15:13-15 (KJV)   Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.   [14]   Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.   [15]   Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Jesus laid down His life for us. Here is the proof of God’s love, that Jesus …

Galatians 2:20 (KJV) … loved me, and gave Himself for me.

He loved you more than He loved Himself. Knowing that He was going to be betrayed, Jesus offered the Cup.

Matthew 26:27 (KJV) … He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

Drink ye ALL of it.

Do not mix anything with it. The Blood of Christ is not a fruit cocktail, nor is it blended with any human works. Drink it pure. Drink it knowing there is no other cure for sin. Drink it knowing that His Blood is all of Grace, that:

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (KJV) … be ye reconciled to God.  [21]  For {God the Father} hath made {Christ} to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

His Blood was poured out to satisfy the justice of God. We are right with God because of Christ. Jesus said:

Matthew 26:28 (KJV) … For this is MY BLOOD of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Jesus gave vup what was His so that we can have Heaven. Jesus said “this is MY BLOOD”. No one took His life from Him. He laid down His life. In the Old Covenant the lamb was led by a rope, picked up, and placed on the altar. The lamb was forced to die, tied to the four horns of the altar. Jesus was not forced.

John 10:17-18 (KJV)   Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.   [18]   No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

We were separated from God because of our sin, but through Christ we have the atonement. Think of the word “atone”. You can break the word into two words, “at one”. We are “at one” with God because we have received what Christ did for us.

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
He loved me, and gave Himself for me.

The Blood Of Christ Moves Us To A New Covenant

Matthew 26:28 (KJV) … For this is My blood OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, …

Before Jesus died the Old Covenant bled animals. Animals were killed, and their blood provided a temporary atonement for sin. After our Lord died we came from under the Old Covenant to a New Covenant. The blood of the Grape symbolically reminds us of Christ. Blood is no more shed on an altar to cover sins, but the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins.

The Old Covenant gave man a knife and demanded a lamb, but did nothing to change the person making the offering. The New Covenant wrought by God brings a change to the worshiper. God told His people:

Jeremiah 31:33-34 (KJV)  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.  [34]  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

And again:

Jeremiah 32:40 (KJV)  And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

And again:

Ezekiel 11:19-20 (KJV)  And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:  [20]  That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

The Old Covenant said “keep the Law and live”. The New Covenant says “receive Christ – His Body and His Blood – and I will make you live”.

The Old Covenant declared “make a sacrifice, a covering of Blood”. The New Covenant says “I lay down My life. Receive My Blood and you will be covered.”

I heard the story of a hardened criminal, a man who was imprisoned for multiple murders. The chaplain told him that Christ died for him, and that it was written of in the Book. The criminal said “What have I to do with that Book? I am past all feeling.” Striking the iron door of his cell with his fist he said “my heart is as hard at this door. There is nothing in any Book that will touch me.” The Chaplain read him these words:

Ezekiel 36:26-28 (KJV) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

The criminal said “I never dreamed of such a promise! I never believed it possible that God would speak to me in such a way as that to men. If He gives me a new heart it will be a miracle of mercy..”

God offers a new start, a new life, a new heart through Christ to whosoever will receive Him. Jesus used the illustration of eating to describe saving faith. To receive Him is to eat Him. To believe in Him is to intimately take Him into your life. What you eat becomes part of your life force. Being saved by faith in Christ is more than just lip service – it is absorption of the Divine, ingestion of His promise.

His Body was broken for you.
Eat this.

His Blood was shed for you.
Drink this.

There is no merit in eating or drinking. There is no price in eating. The precious Blood of Christ cleanses you from all sins. Cleansed, you are now free to live your lives for God. C.H. Spurgeon wrote:

“He forgives our sins with the design of curing our sinfulness. We are pardoned that we might become holy. God forgives the sin that He may purify the sinner. ”

Christ died for our sins, so we know sin is no trifle.

The wages of sin is death – so Christ died for us.

His Blood Is Shed For MANY

The Bible says that:

2 Corinthians 5:15 (ESV) Christ died for ALL ….

and

Hebrews 2:9 (KJV)  But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

Jesus Christ died for ALL. He gave Himself for the “sin of the world”. Yet Christ says in His Table that

Matthew 26:28 (KJV) … For this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for MANY for the remission of sins.

His Blood was shed for MANY. Not for ALL, but MANY. Why the difference? Because you must RECEIVE Him as He is. What does the Scripture say?

John 1:12-13 (KJV) …. as many as RECEIVED HIM, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:  [13]  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The ritual of the Lord’s Table will not save you. Christ saves you. Receive Him as your Lord and Savior. Believe He died for your sins. Believe that He finished your salvation on the Cross. Call on Him, receiving Him as your only Hope, your only Savior. He that believes on Him has everlasting life.

Acts 13:38 (KJV)… through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

Through which man? Me. No. Not through me, but through Him. I cannot wish you into Heaven, but He can. I cannot cover your sins, but He can. I cannot give you a new heart nor a new covenant, but He can. Receive Him. Believe Him. Follow Him. May God make your hearts sure in Him, for in Him and Him alone is the blessedness of life.

May God touch your hearts with His Word.