Flippant and Disinterested

 

One of the reforms that Hezekiah enacted during his reign was the reinstitution of the Passover….but there was a problem. Some of the people who participated had not properly prepared themselves. We read about it in 2Ch 30:18-20,

 

“For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the good LORD provide atonement for everyone 19 who prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary." 20 And the LORD listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.

This was a serious offense and required the forgiveness of the Lord. So Hezekiah prayed for them, the Lord heard his prayer and healed them.

 

In the New Testament, we no longer observe the Passover, rather we observe what is called the Lord’s Supper. This Sacrament was instituted by Jesus on the night in which He was betrayed, and the Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul gave us these instructions concerning this Sacrament.

 

1Co 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

Somehow the Lord’s Supper had morphed into a mere pot luck at the church in Corinth and the people needed to be corrected. Isn’t it interesting that when the Passover meal instructions were misapplied in Hezekiah’s day, he prayed and the Lord HEALED them? Here in Corinth, people were, physically, weak, sick, and some were even dying. They too were need in need of HEALING!

 

Paul gives us the remedy for proper preparation of the Lord’s Supper and the remedy boiled down to simplicity is this: Don’t be flippant or disinterested in what is taking place at the Lord’s Table. Rightly discern the Lord’s Body. He is present in a very real way during this meal.

In the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim the Lord’s death. We remember His pain, His suffering, His shed blood for the forgiveness of our sins.

In a miraculous fashion, this meal is not mere physical sustenance, but rather the body and blood of our Lord. Of the bread, Jesus said, “ This is My body,” and of the wine He said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood.”

 

To be flippant or disinterested in this Holy Meal is to take it in an unworthy manner, and note such sin does not make one guilty of bread and wine, but of the body and blood of our Lord.

 

I’ll be honest, for years I struggled with the possibility that the bread and the wine were the body and blood of Christ. It seemed “unreasonable” to me. Surely He meant it represents His body and blood right? But then one day, I read an account in Scripture which the Holy Spirit used to help me understand. I’ll share that with you next time on Today’s Living Word.