A message we all need to hear

When I was six years old, our church was observing the Lord’s Supper—and I was getting restless. I started to squirm. Then, in the middle of that sacred moment, I began laughing out loud. My mother was sitting next to me. Let me assure you, I quickly found out that was not the way to behave during the Lord’s Supper!

Back then, I didn’t fully appreciate the significance of the Lord’s Supper. But even as adults, it’s easy for us to get so caught up in the ceremony of the Lord’s Supper that we miss the point.

The purpose of the Lord’s Supper is found in two little words: for you.

Notice what Jesus said to His disciples when they shared the first Lord’s Supper the night before He was crucified:

“When [Jesus] had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you. . . .’ And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood’” (Luke 22:19–20; emphasis mine).

The Greek word translated as “for” is huper, which here means “in place of.” Christ is our sin substitute. His body was broken in place of our bodies; His blood was poured out in place of our blood.

Instead of directing His wrath toward you and me, God directed His wrath toward His own Son. The punishment we deserve was poured out on Jesus, and His righteousness was given to us.

We all need that message of forgiveness.

But there was a man sharing that first Lord’s Supper with Jesus who desperately needed to hear it: Simon Peter, the leader of the disciples.

Jesus said to him at supper, “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (vv. 31–32).

A few hours later, while Jesus was on trial, Peter denied the Lord three times. The Bible says when he saw Jesus’s face, he realized what he’d done, and he wept bitterly. Jesus knew that Peter’s faith was going to fail that night. But He prayed that Peter would accept His offer of forgiveness and turn back to Him. And Peter did.

If you feel weighed down by sins in your past, if you’re ever tempted to think, God could never forgive me for what I’ve done, remember Peter. Even though he denied Jesus, he received God’s forgiveness and became the leader of the early church. God made Peter a powerful spokesman for the gospel.

And think about the apostle Paul. He was a blasphemer and a persecutor of Christians. Yet he, too, received God’s forgiveness and became one of the greatest missionaries for Christ.

If God can forgive sinners like Peter and Paul, then He can forgive you. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done—Christ’s body was broken for you. His blood was shed for you. 

Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, you don’t have to fear God’s wrath. You don’t have to worry that your past sins will be dredged up again. As Paul wrote in Romans 8:1, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” That’s what the Lord’s Supper is all about.

I hope this reminder will be an encouragement to you and your loved ones as you prepare to celebrate what Christ has done for you. Happy Easter!

 Sharing the Truth of God’s Word,

Dr. Robert Jeffress