8/3/18 – Leviticus 17, Leviticus 18 – Mark 14:17-42 – Psalm 31:9-18

Mark 14:23-25

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus instituted something extremely special at that meal. It was, for them the Passover. It was a day they looked back to the liberation of their people from slavery. It was an act of remembrance.

But it was also an act of looking forward. The entire meal, the entire feast was pointing towards the coming of the Messiah.

It was a feast that you kept, it identified you as Jewish.

What Jesus set in motion that night was something similar. The looking forward part of Passover ended that night, because Jesus was about to fulfil everything it pointed to.

For those who follow Jesus, this “communion” took the place of that passover.

First, we look back. It’s an act of remembering Jesus’ amazing sacrifice on the cross – the day we too were liberated from slavery in sin.

We also look forward, as Jesus did. He said He would not drink of the vine again until He drinks it new in the Kingdom of God. That day is coming – the great wedding feast of the Lamb, where we are reunited with Him.

It’s also a command of Jesus to keep this. It identifies us as followers of Him.

It’s too important to skip or minimise. We must not take it lightly – the church in Corinth made that mistake. We take this meal together and we do it until we take it with Him.

Also, it’s a shared communion. It’s not something we can really do alone, just as passover wasn’t. It’s something we so with our church family. To do that… you need a church family.