Received From the Lord and Delivered to Others

Received From the Lord and Delivered to Others

This is how the words of the apostle Paul begin that we usually read when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper: “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you . . . .” 1 Cor. 11:23, ff.

What was this glorious message he had received and was now pass­ing on to others? First and foremost that the Lord Jesus on the night on which He was betrayed took bread and broke it with thankfulness. He gave thanks first, and then He broke the bread. “This is My body which is broken for you.” On this dark night the One by whom all things were cre­ated, who was full of grace and truth, was betrayed by a poor man who had even been close to Him for three years. On this night He gave thanks because He really was thankful. He was the living bread that came down from heaven. He gave His flesh for the life of the world.

Whenever we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we can read these words with more or less understanding. We can also read these words with reverence and devotion, which of course we should do as long the reverence is not more of an external rather than an internal matter. It is of vital importance that we are awake to this! These are words of revival! It would be just as fitting to shout them out loud. And when we, while celebrating the Lord’s Supper, have remembered Him who with such faithfulness gave His flesh for the life of the world, when He was exposed to such shameful and unjust treatment that cried out to the high heavens, the likes of which we will never experience, then we should understand how senseless it is to be offended by the others’ words and conduct, the others’ lack of wisdom, and their folly. We are to proclaim the Lord’s death! The death that leads to life and blessedness!

“Received from the Lord” and “delivered to you.” This should also be the task of all God-fearing parents. This should also be the task of the older ones toward the youth. Receive from the Lord and deliver it to your children, to the coming generation. Yet how many can actually, with the zeal of faith and with a heavenly vision, deliver this message that we are reminded of during the Lord’s Supper? The message concerning Him who gave thanks and was broken? To be sure, we can pass on a doctrine, a tradition, a confession of faith, etc., to the next generation. But without a heavenly vision and a living faith there is the danger that the result will be as we read in one of Brorson’s psalms: “The land is full of those who are baptized, but where is the zeal of faith?” It wasn’t just a tradition that was to be passed on to the next generation, but the very zeal of faith!

Paul reminds Timothy of the genuine faith that was in his mother as well as in his grandmother. “And I am persuaded is in you also,” he writes to Timothy. Then we can truly say: Received from the Lord and delivered to you.

The words in 1 Corinthians 11:24 are, “Take, eat; this is My body . . . .” This is how simple it is. Jesus is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us. And in life’s situa­tions the word is always “eat”! You are treated unjustly? Take, eat! Is someone speaking badly about you? Take, eat! Is there something that is difficult for you to understand when it concerns other people’s behavior? Take, eat! Are there difficulties in the marriage? Take, eat. Is it difficult for you to melt together with your brother or sister? Take, eat!

This is, among other things, what we testify when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Take, eat! In #365 in Ways of the Lord we sing, “Word of the cross can set you free; ‘tis able to resolve life’s many problems.” They are solved only if we take and eat and drink the cup of sufferings which the Scriptures speak of with the following words: “The cup of blessing which we bless . . . .” 1 Cor. 10:16. We really need the Spirit of revelation, a heavenly vision, to be able to see the cup as a cup of bless­ing. And do we not sing in #102 of Ways of the Lord, “O Lord, consume me! O Lord, consume me! So, just as Enoch, no more I appear”? Did we mean it when we sang that? Was that truly our upright desire?

We can rest assured that we will have sufficient opportunities to take and eat, so that this prayer will also become reality.