05/25/2026
Luke 22.14-20 - Honoring Jesus' Sacrifice with Our Own Sacrifice
By Lonnie Braswell, MDiv.
Memorial Day was first instituted on May 30, 1868, when the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a Union veterans’ organization, proclaimed Decoration Day as a national observance to honor Union soldiers who had died in the American Civil War.
The first large-scale Decoration Day ceremony was held at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where over 5,000 people gathered to decorate the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers with flowers, recite prayers, and sing hymns National Park Service. The date of May 30 was chosen because flowers would be in bloom across the country at that time Veterans Affairs.
While Waterloo, New York, is often cited as the “birthplace” of the holiday due to its May 5, 1866 observance, many communities had earlier local traditions of decorating war graves. Over time, the day expanded beyond the Civil War to honor all U.S. military personnel who died in service, and in 1971 Congress officially named it Memorial Day and made it a federal holiday.
Each Sunday the Lord's people in Churches of Christ around the World gather in memory of the one who fought the greatest battle any of us have ever had - that which wins our salvation. We gather around the Lord’s Supper to remember a sacrifice like no other — the cross of Christ and the love that poured out for us. The supper is more than a memorial; it is a living reminder that the great price paid for our redemption invites a response of sacrificial living. As we eat and drink, let the words of Scripture pierce our hearts, calling us to live in light of the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
We reject the idea of religion for the sake of appearance. Superficiality is condemned among faithful people as a blasphemy against the honor of God. We gather around the table of the Lord, not as mere ritualists, but as grateful followers who recognize that the Lord’s Supper points us to a great gift: the sacrifice of Jesus for us. When we remember His body broken and His blood shed, we are stirred not only to gratitude but to imitation. Scripture invites us to respond to the cross with lives that reflect that sacrificial love. Let us listen to the steady drumbeat of the gospel: He loved us, He gave Himself, and we are called to live in response. As we eat and drink, let the words of Scripture pierce our hearts, calling us to live in light of the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
The Sacrifice of Christ is the Ultimate Gift of Love
Unconstrained "Love" led to the sacrifice of our Savior - Jesus. There simply is no other Savior to honor. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 1 John 4:9-10, "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." The Lord’s Supper centers on a love that moves God to action —giving, sacrificing, redeeming. If we have received such grace, we cannot remain spectators but must respond with lives poured out in love and service.
In the supper, Jesus shapes a memory of redemption: His body given, His blood shed for many. The cross stands as the decisive act that bore our sins and secured forgiveness. Isaiah 53:5 proclaims that He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities; by His wounds we are healed. The atonement is made personal in Christ’s holy sacrifice addressing my guilt and your guilt. 1 John 2:2 declares He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but for the sins of the whole world. The Lord’s Supper invites us to appropriate this grace, to repent, and to embrace the forgiveness purchased at the cross.
The Sacrifice Calls Us to a Life of Self-Giving
Luke 22:14-20, "When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” Then he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 1 Peter 2:24, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." Hebrews 9:22, "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Isaiah 53:5, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."
The sacrificial life Jesus modeled becomes our mandate. If Christ offered his body and blood for others, we are called to offer ours — time, resources, comfort, and even life — for the good of others and the glory of God. Jesus is the model of the living sacrifice He anticipates from those who would follow in His image. Luke 22:19-20 places the supper within the covenant of grace, a model for living in response to grace: give, break, share, and remember. Mark 10:45 frames Jesus’ life as a ransom for many, a pattern for His followers: consider others, serve, and lay down one’s life for the good of others. John 3:16 grounds our motive: God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. Our sacrifice flows from the motive of God’s love, not from duty or pride.
The Sacrifice Provides Hope and Enables Perseverance
1 John 2:2, "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." Romans 5:8 and 1 John 4:9-10 already remind us that the motive and means of our hope are in Christ’s finished work. When we remember the price paid, we gain strength to persevere in a world that often asks us to spare ourselves. 1 John 4:9-10 also shows that love poured out on the cross empowers us to love others sacrificially, not as a mere duty, but as a divine rhythm living within us. Our response to the Lord’s Supper is to live sacrificially in practical ways — loving neighbors, standing up for the vulnerable, giving to the poor, sharing Christ, and choosing daily to pick up our own cross as we follow Jesus. The Lord's Supper is an institution designed to remind us of our salvation and the reason we are still in a saved state - to carry Jesus' love to the world.
The Cross is a tree that bears the most loving and precious fruit born in the lives of faithful followers. Romans 5:8 shows the love that triggered the cross: while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Our response is gratitude that compels us to live in newness of life. Galatians 2:20 puts it succinctly - "Christ lives in me, and the life I now live is by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." The cross becomes the engine of daily transformation. 1 Peter 2:24 and Hebrews 9:22 remind us that the cross leads to healing and forgiveness, not merely as a past event but as continued empowerment to live righteously and to pursue holiness. The effect is a life that participates in sacrifice: giving of time, resources, and self for others — just as Christ gave Himself for us.
The Intended Fruits of the Sacrifice of Christ
1) We need to learn regular self-reflection at the Lord’s
Table. We should contemplate what the atonement
means for your personal sin, and confess with a humbled
heart.
2) Live with outward sacrifice by reflecting the love of Christ
in acts of mercy, service to the poor, and a generosity
that mirrors the giver.
3) Share the gospel’ message that invites others to trust in
the sacrificial love that guarantees forgiveness and new
life in Christ. (John 3:16)
4) Embrace a daily cross-life by following Jesus’ example of
dying to selfish ambitions and living for others,
empowered by the Spirit (John 17; Galatians 2:20).
The Lord’s Supper invites us to remember and respond. Jesus laid down his life for us, and in doing so he opened a way for us to live transformed lives. If the cross is central to our faith, then sacrifice should mark our daily living—our choices, our habits, our priorities, our relationships. May we eat and drink at His provided table with grateful hearts, resolved to honor Jesus’ sacrifice by offering our own in service to others.
The Communion Supper is not merely a memory, it is a commissioning. As we taste the bread and drink the cup, we are reminded of the One who gave everything for us and invited us to become vehicles of that same sacrificial love in the world. May the sacrifice of Christ move us to lives that are marked by generosity, service, and unwavering devotion to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.
The Prayer
I pray for us all that the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21) To Him who loved us and gave Himself for us, be glory, honor, and praise from this day forward and forevermore. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit sustain us all as we live out the sacrifice to which we are called. Amen.
I am eternally grateful for the epic gift of the life of Jesus — the body broken, the blood shed — that brings us forgiveness, adoption, and new life. May the Lord help us to live as a people marked by sacrificial love, to give ourselves away for the sake of others, and to reflect His servant-heartedness in our homes, workplaces, and communities. Imprint on our hearts the truth that the greatest sacrifice leads to the greatest joy when we follow you. Strengthen us by your Spirit to live out Luke 22:14-20 in our daily routines, to be imitators of your self-giving love, and to proclaim the hope we have in Christ our Lord. In his name we pray, Amen.
Godspeed on your journey as you live out the memorial sacrifice made for all of us.
