I previously provided an introduction to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and a discussion on the bread. You can find those posts here and here.  This post focuses upon the cup.  In a future post I’ll cover proclaiming the Lord’s death until he returns. 

The Cross was not Plan B

In the previous two posts, we’ve discussed how the Lord’s Supper tells the gospel story.  We need help to better tell the gospel story.  Many people don’t know the gospel and thus cling to gospel perversions.  The lack of gospel clarity leads to a lack of gospel confidence.  You will never share a gospel of which you are unsure.  You will never correct a false gospel if you don’t know the true gospel.

Some cling to a gospel perversion, but many merely improperly tell the gospel story.  

An Improper telling of the story is something like: God created everything, and it was very good.  And then people sinned and messed everything up.  So, God had to fix everything.  Jesus came down from Heaven to clean up the mess made by humans.  He died for sins and rose from the dead. 

This telling of the gospel is not terrible, but I would label it improper. This telling of the story makes it sound as if the cross was plan b.  Wrong.

A proper telling of the story is something like:  Before He laid the foundation of the world, God knew that man would sin and perish without his redemption.  Thus, God formed a redemption plan.  

God was to be our Creator, Sustainer, Provider, and Redeemer from the very beginning.

Jesus as Plan A

The cross was not plan b.  The cross was the plan from the very start.  Everything in the Bible is a sign pointing to Jesus.  Everything in the Bible is a road leading us to Jesus’ ministry.  There are countless passages which show that Jesus and the cross were plan A.  

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. – 2 Corinthians 1:20

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me – John 5:39

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. – Luke 24:27

This leads us back to the Lord’s Supper. We now look at the cup, specifically how the Bible and redemptive history point toward the cup of the New Covenant.

The New Covenant fulfills the Old Covenant

With the cup in his hands, Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  

When Jesus referenced the New Covenant, obviously he also referenced the Old Covenant.  The Old Covenant was an earlier portion of God’s redemptive history.  The Old Covenant, like everything in the Bible, points to Jesus. 

Old Covenant Redemptive History: Exodus 12, Exodus 24, Jeremiah 31

It started back in the early stories of Exodus when God used Moses to deliver God’s people from slavery in Egypt.  The people of God were spared the 10^th plague by smearing blood on their door post.  Due to the blood, God would “pass over” that household.  Jesus initiated the Lord’s Supper during the yearly celebration of Passover.  

The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. – Exodus 12:13

Once the people were delivered from slavery in Egypt, they made a covenant with God to do everything God commanded of them.  That covenant was made with blood.

Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” – Exodus 24:8 

Further on in the Old Testament God promised a New Covenant.  Remember, God is a keeper of promises.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.” – Jeremiah 31:31

Exodus 24:8 and Jeremiah 31:31 are quoted in the New Testament book of Hebrews (Hebrews 9:20 and Hebrews 10:16-18) to emphasize how the cross of Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice.  

Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. – Hebrew 9:26-28

The Old Covenant did not get replaced by the New Covenant.  The Old Covenant paved the way for the New Covenant.

The Cup

Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice.  Jesus is the only way to forgiveness, lasting hope, and everlasting life.  His blood was spilled for our sin.  His blood was poured out to get us in – into to a relationship with God.  Death couldn’t have him. The grave couldn’t hold him.  Heaven sings of him and we will join him. 

With the cup in his hands, Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”