Christ, the Cross, and Communion

The Celebration of Repentance
Luke 24:44-48; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
2009.01.29
09SR Session Six

Somehow, our Christian conversation has continued to speak of Christ, the cross, and communion without also including sin and repentance in the discussion. But we must grasp that unless we see sin for what it is, Christ is little more than a good example, the cross is an unnecessary tragedy, and communion is a nice time to drink juice and eat tiny crackers. In addition, apart from repentance, we cannot have any relationship with Christ, we have no participation in the benefits of the cross, and we eat and drink judgment on ourselves by taking communion.

We have largely removed the focus of our lives, and the life of the church, from the ugliness of our disobedience. We have largely replaced concern for sin with therapy for the miserable, medicine for the really miserable, skits for the bored, self-help books for the stressed out, positive reinforcement for the burdened, and so forth. In the process, we’ve lost the peace of forgiveness, the joy of a intimate relationship with our Creator, and the message of hope for our neighbors. We have dimmed our own light. We have made our salty selves tasteless. We stand on no solid beliefs. We share no story. We need to repent.

The Bible reveals God’s story. It communicates His character and His care for His creation. It reveals His plan to save a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. The story centers on the Christ, put to death on a cross, and celebrated by us in communion until He comes again. This is a story of repentance.

The Christ

The name “Christ” refers to the second Person of the Trinity more than any other name than Jesus. It is used 350 times in the New Testament, many times along with Jesus, such as “Jesus Christ” or “Christ Jesus,” and other times by itself. It is not a personal name, as if it were His first or last name. Instead, it is an office or title given to a person holding that distinct responsibility.

The English word “Christ” derives from the Latin Christus, which transliterates the Greek word Christos. It referred to an “anointed” person, and as such, was used by the Jews in reference to the Messiah. Andrew said as much to Peter, “We have found the Messiah (which means Christ)” (John 1:41).

The entire Old Testament tells the story of the promised, coming Christ. As Jesus walked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, He said that exact thing.

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:44-48)

All three main divisions of the OT are included. The OT looks forward to the Christ, beginning at the start of the book.

I’ve recently reflected on the theological progression in Genesis 1-3, namely, that the sequence of events was not Creation -> Fall -> Repentance -> Redemption. Shouldn’t Adam and Eve immediately responded by repenting, desperate to receive God’s mercy and fix the broken relationship? Yet the first couple hid themselves; their natural instinct was covering their sin, not confessing it. Adam shifted the blame for his sin rather than shoulder it. Sin became the master immediately. So the theological progression moves from Creation -> Fall -> Redemption -> that includes the gift of Repentance. Adam and Eve would have died hiding behind a tree in Eden unless God initiated and brought them back to Himself.

Of course, during their first days in the garden, Adam and Eve had no reason to repent because there was no sin. But after the fall, God reveals the good news of a coming redeemer. He promised to send one who would crush the serpent, one who we progressively learn would also crush sin and death (Genesis 3:15), later referred to as the Messiah. The Law of Moses relates the first chapters in the story of the Christ.

The Prophets continue the story. Perhaps the most well known passage is Isaiah 53, foretelling the coming Suffering Servant.

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53:4-6)

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
(verses 10-12)

Christ, the Suffering Servant, would bear the iniquities of His people and be crushed for them. He wasn’t coming to make life easy or provide more fun. He came to suffer and die in order that we might be saved from the penalty and power of sin.

The Psalms also tell the same story.

Jesus summarizes the OT for the two disciples, “It is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead” (v. 46). The Messiah was given to save His people from their sins (cf. Matthew 1:21). No sin, no need for the Christ.

Note what Jesus states next, part of the same sentence, “and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations” (v. 47). Forgiveness is needed, and forgiveness comes through repentance. Talking about a Messiah is superfluous with seeing sin for what it is and repenting.

The Cross

As I’ve said, it is biblically impossible to disconnect the Christ from the cross. Jesus said, “The Christ should suffer and on the third day rise again.” But I want us to think through the question, Why the cross? For some this may be the first time they’ve thought about the Why. Others, by meditating on the Why again, should be moved to worship.

How could the Father send His only Son and allow Him to be mocked, beaten, and crucified? Wasn’t there another way? Was it really that bad? The cross does not make sense apart from the heinous, infinite offense of sin.

The cross proves that God is serious about sin. He cannot, and won’t, let it go. He doesn’t always judge immediately, but He will judge inevitably. His holiness requires punishment of unholiness. Christ took His punishment on the cross. According to Romans 3:24-26, the cross demonstrates God’s longstanding righteousness. He does not forget about sin. His forgiveness, available to those who repent, cannot be granted justly unless payment for sin is made. God is “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” Christ.

God has the power and right to judge sin.

“Jesus Christ and Him crucified” was the apostle Paul’s theme (1 Corinthians 2:2). He “delivered…as of first importance…that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

This is the gospel, and the first step of receiving the gospel is repenting from sin. It is inconceivable to take the cross apart from repentance. How could we cling to the very crimes that put Christ on the cross? How can we claim interest in Christ’s work to deliver us from sin while continuing to serve sin? How can we explain the gospel without calling others to repent? How dare we discredit His sacrifice by minimizing sin or by concealing the purpose of the cross.

The cross corroborates the need for repentance.

Communion

Participation in the Lord’s Table commemorates and celebrates Christ’s work on the cross. The bread represents His body, the cup represents His blood, given for us because of our sin.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

Jesus draws a direct line from His blood to the new covenant, the promise God makes in Ezekiel 36, to remove our hearts of stone, sovereignly give us new hearts, grant us repentance, and draw us to Himself. This is His work, celebrated at communion.

Communion testifies to our understanding of the seriousness of sin and glories in the cross. “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (v. 26). We tell the world about Jesus’ death, and that assumes He died for a reason. His death couldn’t have been due to Himself, otherwise His death is no different.

Our sin caused His death. If we desire forgiveness and communion, that is, if we desire fellowship with our greatest good, God Himself, we must repent.

That is exactly why Paul exhorted us to examine ourselves before we sit at this table.

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. (1 Corinthians 11:27-28)

There is an unfortunate misunderstanding or miscommunication affecting our attitude toward communion. It is a negative, pessimistic, legalistic approach to the ordinance. There is more suspicion and discouragement than celebration.

The danger, of course, is eating or drinking “unworthily” (ἀναξίως). In order to avoid the tragic consequences of unworthy partaking, each person is to “examine” (δοκιμαζέτω) themselves.

This examination ought to prohibit at least two types of unworthy guilt: ambivalence toward sin and arrogance in sin. It is inappropriate for a man to “remember” and “proclaim” Christ’s death for sin and yet fail to think on his own sin. Failure to consider and mourn one’s sin is inconsistent. It is equally wrong to come to the table and glory in the very thing for which Christ shed His blood. Defiance of God’s standard makes one unworthy to share in God’s substitute. Both ambivalence and arrogance make a man unworthy, and these are certainly true of every unbeliever (since failure to repent and believe in Christ is rebellion or neglect or both), and may also be true of a believe on any given day.

However, and here is the real rub, the antidote to unworthy participation is not for us to purge all our sins prior to coming. We are sinners; we are incapable of purifying ourselves. Besides, even if we could purify ourselves, there would be no need for Christ’s work. We miss the point of communion by giving it a perfectionistic flavor. We don’t eat and drink because we’re clean, we eat and drink because His body and blood make us clean.

What is a worthy manner, then? It is a humble acknowledgement (and perhaps in some cases, that acknowledgement must needs include confession and reconciliation with a brother). But we acknowledge our sin and then affirm our trust in the Savior, including an optimistic belief that He will continue to save us.

Communion is not for the pure any more than Christ came to call the righteous. Let us not come in willful disobedience, flouting our sin. And let us not come indifferent to our sin. But we must not wait, or discourage others, until we have no sin. It is a celebration of His completed, and ongoing work. In it we seriously rejoice. That is a different flavor than what we typically find around His table today.

Communion and Community

Sin destroys our relationships.

God created man in His image and, as we discussed, image-bearing includes the capacity for relationship. Even this Sunday, we will hear God say, “It is not good that the man should be alone.”

Everything served relationship and community before the fall. Differences between the man and woman were complimentary. Communication was clear. Intimacy was easy. But post-fall, differences were cause for conflict. Language was confused. And division was easy. Sin wrecks relationship and community.

In this Genesis 3 world, we rarely allow for, let alone yield to, another perspective. We quickly blame the other (or any other) person. We hardly argue that we are the problem. As such, we become increasingly insensitive to others and isolated from them. Therefore, we inevitably fumble relationship when we grip tightly to pride. Our hands aren’t big enough to carry both.

On the other hand, repentance promotes community. Repentance impedes pride–a thick wall, and invites humility–an open door. It recognizes sin as the culprit behind division, not the style of communication. It acknowledges the possibility of, and maybe even appreciates, different perspectives. It softens us. It makes us thankful that our spouses, children, friends, and sheep love us, because we know they know we’re sinners. Communities can’t help but thrive when we repent from selfishness and empty conceit, from proudly regarding ourselves as more important than anyone else, merely looking out for our own personal interests (the anti Philippians 2:3-4).

Not only do we disrupt community, we lose influence the less we repent, especially as leaders. Christlike leadership and shepherding presume that people are important, not programs. A program doesn’t care if I’m a jerk; people do.

All that to say, relationships, after the fall, cannot survive without repentance. If we are not repenting, we are isolating ourselves, ruining our testimony, obscuring both the image of God and the gospel, and eliminating the possibility of godly happiness (cf. Matthew 5:3-4).

Consequences of Unrepentance

The believer’s failure to repent results in the Lord’s discipline, sometimes even to death according to 1 Corinthians 11:30. Failing to see sin for what it is, is cause for the Father’s judgment. It is almost unbelievable that we would take sin so lightly. We have been given spiritual sight by the Spirit. We understand His Word. It is wrong. The Christian’s failure to repent is worse because the Christian knows Who he/she is offending.

The unbeliever’s failure to repent result’s in the Judges’ wrath. Every day he lives, the unbeliever presumes “on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead [them] to repentance?” (Romans 2:4) If the unbeliever does not repent, his hard heart stores up more wrath for him on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed (Romans 2:5).

Conclusion

There is hope if we repent. Sinners, who see sin for what it is and seek the Savior, will be received by Him. That makes religious people crazy.

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-2)

Heaven rejoices when a sinner repents (v.7). Angels rejoice when one sinner repents (v. 10)

So, come! Repent! Believe! And celebrate! Don’t wait like Augustine.

Like a man whose wound has been hit, I pushed aside the words of good advice like the hand loosing the bond. (VI. xii.)

The fact is, you can’t hide from God.

Indeed, Lord, to Your eyes, the abyss of human consciousness is naked. What could be hidden with me, even if I were unwilling to confess it to You? I would be hiding You from myself, not myself from You. (X.i.)

If you are not yet forgiven, please don’t wait. There will be joy, not only in heaven, but here tonight.

You will be broken, either by God’s Spirit in repentance or by the Son in judgment. You will boast, either in God’s grace or in yourself.

Christ, our Savior, died at the cross as our substitute, that we might have communion with Him at the Lord’s Supper.

If you have been forgiven, but have found yourself turned away from the Lord, isolated from others, repent. And definitely do so before taking communion.