The Cup
God receives our offering and offers it back to us as the Body and Blood of his Son. 

Last week, we talked about the loaf as the body of Christ- we looked at the loaf and found that it was so much more than just unleavened bread. We learned that the world that we see is fallen and distorted and that we need to see things through the perspective of the Cross to see things how they really are.
This morning, let's look at unexpected connections and the Cup.

I really should be used to this by now. Whenever I do word studies, I'm usually surprised by what God shows me.

When I was looking at the word “cup”, for some odd reason, this passage struck me-
Genesis 40
 1 Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. 
      After they had been in custody for some time, 5 each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.
 6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were in custody with him in his master's house, "Why are your faces so sad today?"
 8 "We both had dreams," they answered, "but there is no one to interpret them." 
      Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams."
 9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, "In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup and put the cup in his hand."
 12 "This is what it means," Joseph said to him. "The three branches are three days. 13Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 15 For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon."
 16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, "I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread. [a] 17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head."
 18 "This is what it means," Joseph said. "The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. [b] And the birds will eat away your flesh."
 20 Now the third day was Pharaoh's birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh's hand, 22 but he hanged [c] the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.

I was drawn to this passage... and what struck me was who the servants were.... A baker and a wine taster... Makers and presenters of the loaf and the cup. Let's think on this a moment and look at it through the lens of the Cross. The Baker was condemned to death- the loaf is symbolic of the death of Christ's body, the death of his flesh.

What about the cupbearer? He's pardoned, forgiven and put back in the place he held before he angered the Pharoah. He's not only given life, his life is restored.

This incident in the life of Joseph is a pre-figurement of the Lord's supper, and of Christ's sacrifice--- but again, it's only something that we can recognize by our perspective as Christians....

Let's look at The Lord's supper again,
Matthew 26
 27Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the[b] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."

To us, since we've heard this passage so many times, we don't catch something very unusual that Christ did. He proclaimed the cup to be His blood, and instructed his disciples to drink from it.

You're all staring at me. What's the problem?

THIS is the problem:
Lev 17
 13 " 'Any Israelite or any alien living among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, 14 because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, "You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off."

Whoa. Let's back up a second- There are multiple prohibitions- lots of 'em- against Jews or anyone they associate with, drinking or eating blood. This is such a strong principal in Jewish law that even evoking it symbolically would have been a REALLY BAD IDEA.

Again, we have the advantage of perspective, but historians who lived and reported during the first and second centuries AD reported that Christians performed ritual cannibalism.
Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at the Lord's Supper- not a good one, but one...

You all are familiar with Holograms, right? You use a pair of lasers to encode a three dimensional image onto a glass plate. When illuminated with lasers, the three dimensional image is displayed. You can walk around it, and see the image as it was intended to be seen. You can examine it from any point of view.
But what happens when the glass plate that the image is encoded on breaks? What happens when it is shattered? Is the image lost?

Yes and no. It will no longer display the three dimensional image, however each individual piece carries a complete two dimensional image from a single point of view.

Let's re-examine this passage, especially the penalty

 13 " 'Any Israelite or any alien living among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, 14 because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, "You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off."

Okay, let's shift our perspective again. Holiness is defined as “to be kept separate for Godly purposes”
So, those who drink blood are to be separated- and Christ instructs his disciples to drink the cup, for it is the blood of the new covenant...

Christ, through the cup, is separating us from the law and in doing so, is making us holy; setting us apart for God's purpose.

Again, in this shattered world, it is vital that we hold to the correct point of view.
In partaking of the loaf, Christ's body, we declare that his death was real.... and in taking it into ourselves, we become the Body of Christ, the Church...

In partaking of the cup, the Blood of the Covenant, we proclaim the life (for, as Leviticus points out, life is in the blood) and the living covenant and the Holiness and separation from the world that it brings.

Communion, the Lord's Supper, is about two very different things, brought into harmony through the Cross.
And even though the Lord's Supper is vitally important- perhaps the most important thing we do during our worship service- but it is still an illustration of the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross for us.

I referred to the Cross earlier as a lens. As we look through it, we see things differently, more clearly. But just as the Lord's supper is more than loaf and cup, the Cross is so much more...

The Cross is everything. All things are summed up and completed by Christ on the Cross, just so, everything is summed up and healed in His resurrection from the Dead. On the Cross He is the serpent lifted in the wilderness. On the Cross He is the Lamb of the Passover. On the Cross He is the Offering of Atonement. On the Cross He is Moses’ staff stretched over the waters of the Red Sea. On the Cross He is the arms of Moses stretched out at the destruction of Amalek. On the Cross He is the ram in the thicket that God gave in place of Isaac. On the Cross He is Blood poured out on the Mercy Seat. On the Cross He is the love of God made manifest in its utter self-emptying. On the Cross He is the Bridegroom now come for His bride to bring her back from the dead. On the Cross He is man in His alienation from God and God in His union with man.
So, where are you in perspective with the Cross of Christ? (Freeman)

Have you been buried with Him in baptism? Have you taken his example and emptied yourself, not considering yourself a god, but acknowledging Jesus as Lord, Son of God and dedicating yourself to His service?

This time is for you to decide. The true miracle is that Christ will not force himself on you, that in the ultimate act of humility, he respects your decision.... but OH! How he wants you with him.