Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?The cup of blessing which we bless, isn’t it a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, isn’t it a sharing of the body of Christ?The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ?
6 sermons cite this verse
… he says of this cup and the bread, this cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? This bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? You hear those words often when we take the Lord's Supper together. And that word translated there as participation may be one of the Greek words that many of us actually know. It's koinonia. It means fellowship. It means participation. It means communion. That's what the Catechism is getting at when it says in question 79. But more important, he wants to assure us by this visible sign and pledge that we, through the Holy Spirit's work, share in his true body and blood, just as surely as our mouths receive these holy signs in his remembrance. You know, our stomachs often assure us that we have eaten. Usually, when we've eaten something, we know it. Of course, it's true that even our stomachs can at times be misleading. Sometimes, sometimes we don't feel it, even when we have eaten. …
… This promise is repeated by Paul in these words. The cup of blessing that we bless is not the participation in the blood of Christ. The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread who we are many, who we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Let's pray together. Father, as we come to you tonight, we want to acknowledge that we are people who forget. We forget your goodness. We forget your promises. We forget just how much you love us sometimes. So as we come to you, we pray that you would meet us in your word. You would strengthen our weak faith. In Jesus' name, amen. in. We live surrounded by signs. Signs are all around us. Most days, we don't think twice about them. I'm sure in some parts of the world, a red octagon on the side of the road might not mean anything. But for you and I, we know this sign, even if it doesn't have the letters S-T-O-P on them. …
… Now pay attention close to verse 16 and 17. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Just by chance, anybody know what the original language of the New Testament is saying there, the Greek for participation? Anybody know? You said it a little louder. Koinonia. Alright, don't you feel smart? You know the Greek? All right? The Greek koinonia, what we talked about, if you weren't here last week and you feel really left out right now, we talked about the fellowship. It's the same word when we see fellowship in Acts chapter 2, verse 42, that's used here to talk about how we participate together in the body and blood of Christ. So we've got the koinonia picture here. And verse 17 says, Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. …
… in your Bible and put a line out to the side that says koinonia. This is what they had in common. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 16. Paul's talking about the Lord's Supper. He says, is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? you can circle the word participation there. That's koinonia. Same thing in the next question. Is it not the bread that we break? Is that a participation in the body of Christ? Koinonia, it's what they had in common. So we're saying, first of all, they were sharing in the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 16, the body and the blood of Christ. It's what the Lord's Supper is about, which we're going to dive into more in depth next week. But we share together as believers in the body of Christ. So that's one picture of Koinonia. Go to the right a little further and you come to 2 Corinthians. Look at 2 Corinthians 8. …
… was a participation, a koinonia in the body and blood of Christ. And of course, that's from 1 Corinthians 10.16. Melanchthon said, maybe we shouldn't try to go farther into the mystery than all agreeing it's a participation in the body and blood of Christ. Melanchthon died in 1560. And after that, Frederick moved from the sort of Lutheran, Philip Melanchthon influence over to look at Switzerland and Geneva and more Calvinist influence. It may or may not be the case that Frederick became a full-blown convert to Calvinism, but he at least was moving in that direction. So, all of this is to say why Elector Frederick thought something needed to be done and a new catechism needed to be written. He ordered for the drafting of this catechism to serve three purposes. One, a tool for teaching children. Three, as a guide for preachers. Two, a guide for preachers. and three, as a form for confessional unity among Protestant factions. Some catechisms or confessions have an aim at distinguishing, and that's important. …
… because in the chapter right before this one, chapter 10, Paul does use the word participation. Check it out. Verse 16, chapter 10, the cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Participation means fellowship. You are mingling with the presence of Christ. His presence is touching you in a special way. There are two ways that Christians go wrong with this. You ready? About to jump into the theological deep end of the pool. The first is where Christians overread this, believing that the bread and the cup become the actual body and blood of Jesus as we eat it. It's called transubstantiation. The bread and the cup literally transform into Jesus's flesh and blood, his actual DNA, as you ingest them. But that is not what Paul is saying here. The righteousness and the presence of Christ are given to us not through eating, but through faith. …