Christ was crucified between two thieves, and the statement made by this appears to have been that He was the principal evildoer. The one who associated with sinners during the course of His life was also associated with them in His death, as His enemies tried to make it into a slander—He died with criminals, with criminals on either hand.
But there was nothing here that Christ would reject. It was the purpose of God that we Christians would have a message like this to preach—our Lord was tried by Bible-believing conservatives, by religious establishment liberals, by civil rulers concerned for the public peace, and then He was executed. This is the message that the Christian Church has been commanded to glory in to the end of the world. We gather weekly to proclaim it as a congregation, as we partake of the bread and wine. Nothing is plainer than that God did not consult with any of His PR staff or marketing experts when He came up with this. This body and blood is not a symbol of ultimate sacrifice acknowledged and applauded by everyone. This is a greater sacrifice than that. This is the body and blood of a condemned malefactor, rejected by virtually every entry in Jerusalem’s Who’s Who.
When God gave us this gospel, He gave us one that has to preached uphill. When God gave us a Savior, He gave us one who would naturally and readily draw the animus of the worldly-wise. There is an institutional drift or mindset that is at odds with the gospel. But we are commanded to bring all the nations of men to Christ. And this is where we should see the importance of partaking of this meal rightly.
We are to bring the institutions of men into this; we are not to bring this into the institutions of men. The context of all future civilization must now be a recognition of the affinity that civilizations naturally have for conducting murderous travesties—like the one that gave us this Table.