I share with you a Greek word that is important to this text: paradidomi. It means “to hand over or give over.” It is the same word Paul uses for, “I hand on to you” in verse 23 of our text. But it is also is the same word that is translated “betrayed.” It is the word that is used at the trial of Jesus before Pilate, when Pilate “handed Jesus over to be crucified.” So on the night when Jesus was “paradideto” (betrayed) he took bread, gave thanks…
When Jesus gathered the disciples, and celebrated with them the Lord’s Supper, it was the night of his betrayal. Now we could focus that betrayal upon Judas, but it is more helpful to see that all of the disciples were betraying Jesus. Each of them was fearful for their own lives at Gethsemane, handing Jesus over in order to take care of themselves first. Even Peter later wanted to separate himself from Jesus, denying 3 times he even knew Jesus, so that the soldiers would not think that he was one of the disciples. Jesus gathers these disciples, these betrayers, for a last supper together and then provides them with a special gift.
The Corinthian’s were a congregation divided and in this way they were betraying Jesus too. They hand Jesus and his selfless, giving ways over and get rid of him in order to serve their own needs. Instead of Jesus Christ being the center of their congregation, their focus was on themselves. Paul points out throughout this letter that they were divided between liberals and conservatives when it came to morality and sexuality. Secondly, they were divided between those who wanted to free the slaves who also worshiped with them, and those who were reluctant to grant that freedom. Third, they were divided over food; should they eat food offered to idols or not? Some believed that they could eat anything, and others would never eat food offered in sacrifice to false gods. Fourth, they were divided between those who spoke in tongues and those whose gifts were less spectacular than speaking in ecstatic speech. Finally, the Corinthian’s were divided over those who believed in the resurrection of the body, and those who believed that redemption meant a deliverance from the body, rather than a resurrection of the body.
All of these divisions were also compounded by those who formed alliances by their allegiance to Paul, Apollos, or Peter. They were also divided at the Lord’s table between those who had food and those who were poor and may have had little. When they came together, those who had food chose to go ahead and eat, taking no thought for those who had little or no food, or came later. Their divisions and factions were betraying Jesus, handing Jesus over in order to serve their own needs, denying Christ’s presence among them. In the face of their betrayal and factions that could divide the congregation, Jesus comes to them in the Lord’s Supper with a gift.
Do we also betray Jesus Christ? Are we also divided? Are there factions that separate us from one another and from Christ? Do we focus our attention on ourselves, rather than be concerned to care for the needs of the poor and those who differ from us?
Do we let our political differences, or opposing opinions about issues divide us from one another? Separated from one another and focused on ourselves and our own needs, we betray Christ by handing him over to death, in exchange for living our own lives.
But on the same night in which Jesus was betrayed he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also after supper saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” This gift is for you, for you as a person, and for you as a community of faith.
Instead of being handed over to death, Jesus hands us over to life, and forgiveness, and healing love. Jesus gives us this meal because he loves us. He gives us a new commandment to love one another, because he first loves us.
In the face of divisions and betrayal, where we are broken and divided in our relationships with God and with people of other races and cultures, those who differ with us politically, spiritually, and in many other ways, Jesus comes to die for you and me. He gives us his own body and blood, and as we receive him by faith, we receive, not what we deserve, but we receive grace and love beyond our understanding and power to comprehend. He bridges the gaps that separate us, and in drawing us close to himself, he draws us closer to one another.
As we come to the Lord’s table this evening, and as we open our hands and our mouths to receive him, Jesus invites us to “paradidomi”, to hand over to him our sin and our betrayal of Christ in our lives, all of the ways in which we hand Christ over so that we can serve ourselves and our own needs. He takes our sin and it is nailed to the cross. In this meal of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus hands over to us his own Body and Blood, forgiveness of our sins, healing and new life.
Jesus Christ gives all this “for you and for me.” As we receive Christ into us, we become more Christ-like and we seek ways to understand one another, to grow in love and care for one another as Christ has loved and cared for us. No longer to we seek to be divided from one another, but we seek ways to be united through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Jesus Christ is the center of our lives, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sin. In Jesus name. Amen.
