The Weekly Perspective
by Burke Shade, Associate Pastor
How do we best understand Jesus’ statement when he declares at the Last Supper, “This is my body, which is given for you; do this as my memorial”? His mentioning of “memorial” takes us back to the sacrifices instituted by the Lord in the Old Covenant and how the appointed animals were substitutes for men and their sins until the Messiah, the Savior, should come. So, Jesus is saying that he is that sacrifice that all the animal sacrifices pointed to.
Jesus strengthens this sacrificial tie by further stating in John 6 that “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” Jesus is declaring that “man could only partake of his humanity by accepting His sacrifice; that is, eat His flesh and blood and accept the sacrifice of His humanity for their sins (John 6:30–63). Man’s membership in the body of Jesus Christ, His Church, as set forth in the sacrament of the Lord’s Table, can thus be only a membership in His perfect humanity!” (Rushdoony, World History Notes, p. 49).
What Rushdoony is saying is that in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, we are incorporated into the humanity of Christ; we become glorified humanity, but not divine. There is no bridging of the human-divine gap by man, an affront to all pagan religions seeking to be divine or on the totem pole to divinity. As the Chalcedon Creed says, there is “no confusion of the two natures.”
The Satanic lie was that man could “be as God,” but the grace of the Gospel is to be glorified man, living in the presence of God, without sin and arrogance.
So, rejoice when you eat the Supper! By feasting on the body and blood of Jesus, you are being united to the true glorified man and so share in his glory. Through his humanity you come into the fellowship of the glorious Trinity!