Eucharistic meditation

Jesus said, This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

John assures us several times in our sermon text that our sins will be cleansed and forgiven. If we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses from sin. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and cleanse us. If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.

These are wonderful promises that assure us that our sins are wholly cleansed. The blood of Jesus cleanses us, John says, from "all sin." When we confess, He cleanses us from "all unrighteousness." God holds nothing against us, does not keep our sins in his back pocket to pull out later to beat us.

But how can you know that these promises are for you? God makes these general promises, but John didn't name you particularly as a recipient of these promises? How can you know? Jesus said that the wine of this meal is His blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. This table is a seal of God's forgiveness, a personalized promise that God forgives us all our sins.

Of course, this table is not some magic potion. If you come to this table seething with anger against your brother, you will not be forgiven. If you come to this table of forgiveness holding things against one another, it is not a table of forgiveness. If you come to this table unworthily, this table of blessing brings judgment.

But as you come in faith, having done your best to confess your sins and be reconciled to your brother, this meal reassures us of God's mercy. This is what meals are all about in Scripture. Covenants conclude with meals because the common meal is a sign of the peace that has been concluded between enemies. God invites us to His house, cleanses us, speaks to us, and then invites us to His table as a sign that He holds nothing against us, that He forgives without reproach, that He does not remember our sins but puts them as far from Him as the east is from the west.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, October 01, 2006 at 08:10 AM

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