1 of 1

Key Bible Verse: "This wine is the token of God's new covenant to save you—an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you" (Luke 22:20). Bonus Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34

Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper as a significant drama. During the upper room meal, he broke bread and gave it to his disciples saying, "This is my body, given for you" (Luke 22:19). After the meal he passed a cup to them [saying today's Key Bible Verse]. Jesus' instructions for his memorial service tell us how he viewed his own death:

• Its centrality. The bread would stand not for his living body but for his body given for them and the wine for his blood shed for them. It was by his death he wished to be remembered.
  
  
• Its purpose. The cup stood for "my blood … poured out to forgive the sins of many" (Matthew 26:28). Shedding his blood in death would establish the new covenant, as promised through Jeremiah, including the forgiving of sins.
  
  
• The need to appropriate its benefits personally. Jesus not only broke the bread but gave it to the disciples to eat. He not only poured out the wine but gave it to them to drink. We have to make the blessings of his death our own. Our eating and drinking is an acted parable of receiving Christ as our crucified Savior and feeding on him by faith.
  
  

—John Stott in Through the Bible Through the Year

My Response: I'll thank God that my sins have been forgiven under the new covenant.

Adapted from Through the Bible Though the Year (Baker, 2006) by permission.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

 1 of 1

share this page

Prayer for the Week

Lord Jesus, as I take communion, help me to experience the full benefits of your sacrificial death.

				Try an Issue of Men of Integrity Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Men of Integrity coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Men of Integrity as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Sign up for the Men of Integrity Newsletter (All fields required)    RSS Feed   RSS Help