Communion Message
(The draught was refused)
June 2-3, 2001
Pastor Donald Sheley

For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered unto you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Paul, to the Corinthians Church, reminds them that each communion service was a time of telling again the story of the death of Christ in a very beautiful way. So we frequently go back to the Gospels to read again portions of that great event of Calvary. Matthew records these words: Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink. Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.

Now this draught of vinegar mingled with gall, or as Mark probably more accurately expresses it, it was wine mingled with myrrh. It must be distinguished from the sponge filled with vinegar and put upon a reed in the last hour in which Jesus hung upon the cross. This draught was offered to Jesus, to Him, as He stood by the cross before He was nailed to it, and the sponge full of vinegar was given in response to His cry - I thirst. The draught was a cup of spiced wine. And it contained a drug intended to stupefy. It was the rude chloroform of the day. The other was only a sop to cool the burning fever of His tongue.

Now there was in Jerusalem at the time of Christ a society of benevolent women who with gently pity moved to a gracious ministry to the outcast, and to the fallen, and the criminal. It was their custom to provide this draught of wine mingled with myrrh that the felon on his cross might have the agony and the horror of his crucifixion dulled and his senses deadened while death was making the slow conquest of his life. Now the cup filled with this spiced and stupefying wine was set down at the foot of the cross, then it was placed in the hands of Jesus. He knew its purpose. He recognized the office its kindly donors intended to fulfill, and surely a thrill of gratitude must have filled His heart. But with perfect courtesy, with a deep regard for so beautiful a deed, He takes the cup in His hands, lifts it to His lips, and tastes it. And when He had merely tasted it the Bible says that He set it down again. He wound not drink.

Now why would not Jesus drink of this cup? He did not usually disregard any gracious service done to Him. He never disdained any ministry of kindness. He did not despise the alleviations of sorrow which were offered Him. Why didn't He drink that cup? The answer: Because He will not have His senses drugged. He will not have His mind clouded. He will not suffer any unspiritual aid to be given to His resolve. He will be fully master of Himself. He will go through the valley of the shadow of death with every sensibility of keen tension with every faculty and unclouded clearness with body, and soul, and spirit poured out in the act of dying before God.

Every theologian has wrestled with those closing moments that surrounded that cross. We often wonder what must have been taking place in the eternities of heaven when Jesus said, "My God, My God. Why have You forsaken Me?" We'll never be able to fathom the depth of that call. The theologians have wrestled with what must have taken place between death and resurrection, and the great church fathers in their creeds say that He descended into hell, but those are just words. It's hard for us to grasp what really took place. And what you find is when you come to the cross you soon come to the end of your ability to reason and to find words to express, because the depth of what took place there at Calvary is far beyond our human understanding. And all we can do is come to the cross and bow in reverence and worship Him even though we don't understand. And I'm asking you to do that with me know as we kneel together.

Jesus, we try with our limited minds and our ability of reason to grasp the eternalness and the great dimensions of Calvary. What must have been taking place that You who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might be made righteousness like unto You O God. And to try to grasp all the meaning of what took place is beyond us. We just bow this morning and worship You. To think that You would come and leave heaven's best and come to earth's worst for us, to pay the penalty for our transgression and our sin in full, so we could be given life eternal. Ah, what a glorious moment. And we kneel in your presence dear Jesus and we say thank you. Those words seem so trite, but we don't know how else to say it. We love You dear Jesus. We worship You and we acknowledge You as our Lord, and our Master, and our God. But here we are, we're sinners, there's not a one of us who kneel here at this moment would ever try to suggest that we're perfect. We've missed Your righteousness a thousand miles this week. We've thought things we should have never thought. We said things that were totally unchristian. We need Your forgiveness and we ask that You would cleanse us today dear Jesus.

Even though we say we love You, yet so often we act like we don't, and we neglect such a precious and priceless relationship that's ours with You. Please forgive us for that. And these emblems that we hold in our hands ever remind us that You love us. You died to forgive us. The bread bespeaks of Your body that was given in sacrifice as our substitute, and the cup Your precious blood that cleanses from all sin. Thank you Jesus. So we take the communion today with a deep sense of gratitude and with a heart filled with worship to You, our God. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. We love You dear Jesus, and we praise You for being our Savior. And everybody said...amen. Let's stand and greet one another, shall we?