The kingdom of heaven, Jesus taught, is a kingdom of grace. And this means that when we are coming into the presence of Christ, the prince over this kingdom, we are not coming into the presence of an unforgiving scorekeeper.
We too often project our lack of forgiveness onto Him. We assume that He is as bitter, or as unyielding, or as difficult to entreat, as we can sometimes be. But He is not like this at all. He forgives.
In the words of institution that will be said in just a few moments, which you have heard many times, this cup is called the cup of the new testament. This is a reference to the glorious new covenant promised by Jeremiah, and what is involved in that new covenant? Here are the words of promise: “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
God the Father will remember no more. Jesus Christ will remember no more. The Holy Spirit will remember no more. What does our triune God not remember? The answer is our sins, and our iniquities. Now iniquities sounds pretty serious, but there it is, right in the Bible. God forgets them. You are here, worshipping Him in faith, and this means that He is unconcerned with your past sins. He does not care about your previous iniquities. They do not enter into His calculations on how to deal with you.
You have, at this Table, the greatest privilege that a sinful creature could ever have. In just a few moments, a cup will be offered to you. And what is that cup? It is the cup of the new covenant, and this means it is the cup of God’s forgetfulness. And you are invited, summoned, commanded, to drink it.
Receive this in faith. You are being offered God’s forgetfulness, and only the death of His Son could make such an impossible thing possible. So swallow God’s kindness. Swallow His grace. Swallow His forgetfulness.
Shalom Aleichem,
Would you please be so kind to not take Scripture out of context. It is dangerous and very harmful.
Thank you.