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24 May: Lord’s Supper
Mtt 26:26-29; Mk 14:22-25; Lk 22:14-18; 1 Cor 11:23-26
A few weeks back during one of Eddie’s readings for the Lord’s Supper the passage that he read caught my attention, so I want to look at that. The passage is 1 Cor 11:23-26 (paraphrased) “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that in the night which He was portrayed took the bread and broke it, and in the same way He took the cup and blessed it and proclaimed ‘as often as you do this – do this in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
First, I want to look at the last portion of the passage: “you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” In partaking of the Lord’s Supper, you can see that we are remembering and holding preeminent the death of Christ. And the reason that is so important is because that is the ultimate reason for His coming to this earth as man. He came to die for us in order to procure our salvation: Eph 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” Rom 6:3-5 “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His.
“To proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” means that every Communion service is a living sermon: believers, together, publicly proclaim the atoning death of Jesus as historic reality and with saving power; it proclaims the covenant we have with His risen life, and anticipate His visible return to claim us. The phrase declares Christ’s mission and His offer of salvation to all those who believe and follow Him.
Now when you look at the first part of the passage it says: “This is My body, which is for you, do this in remembrance of Me, …. This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, in remembrance of Me.”
You will notice that it does not tell us to remember His death or crucifixion but rather He tells us to remember Him. Chronologically speaking, Christ existed before anything and everything. John Chapter One: ‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made…. The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” Luke 1:30-32 “But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will birth to a son and will call Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” Luke 2:1-6 (paraphrased) “Now in those days a decree went out that a census must be taken, and everyone was to register from his own city. So, Joseph and Mary traveled to the city of David which is called Bethlehem. While they were there, the days were completed for Mary to give birth to her son. She gave birth to her firstborn and wrapped Him and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.” Heb 2:17,18 “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Heb 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin. Mark 16:19 “After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven, and He sat at the right hand of God.”
So, we see in these verses the nature of Jesus Christ. He was God, became human with a purpose, fulfilled that purpose and then returned to His rightful place and is now sitting at the right hand of our heavenly Father. So, in our remembering – we should remember Christ’s deity as well as His humanity and what He accomplished for us in each aspect. We should have a grateful and appreciative attitude expressing thanksgiving for all that He gave, did and accomplished for us.
During Jesus’ time here on this earth, He encountered many different situations. In one instance He comes across a funeral service. Luke 7:11-15 “Not long after that, Jesus went to the village Nain. His disciples were with Him, along with quite a large crowd. As they approached the village gate, they met a funeral procession — a woman’s only son was being carried out for burial. And the mother was a widow. When Jesus saw her, His heart broke. He said to her, “Don’t cry.” Then He went over and touched the coffin. The pallbearers stopped. He said, “Young man, I tell you: Get up.” The dead son sat up and began talking. Jesus presented him to his mother.” We also know of Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, who also died and who was also raised back to life. In this scenario “Jesus wept.”
Mark 8:1-3 “During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said. ‘I have compassion for these people; they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way because some have come a long distance.’” And we know what happens, as with the 5,000 earlier, He proceeds to feed them. Mark 1:40,41 “Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." Mtt 20:30, 34 “Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they hear that Jesus was going by, they shouted, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us! … Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed Him.” In Mark chapter 4 Jesus is asleep in the back of a boat when a storm comes up and the disciples are in fear of their lives and when called upon for help - Jesus calms the wind and the waves. And in chapter 19 of Luke, he records Jesus’ compassion and tears for the future of Jerusalem and its destruction.
Time and again Jesus responds to the suffering of the people so in our remembering of Jesus we should remember His compassion and love for all of God’s children – to include US!
In Jesus’ human form not only did He forego His deity and accept His human circumstances, He also accepted the mission which His heavenly Father sent Him on: Mtt 1:18ff Joseph is told that Mary, his fiancée’, is going to have a child and he is told – “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” 2 Cor 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness’ of God in Him.” Eph 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”. 1 Peter 1:18,19 “know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Rom 6:4 “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Luke 22:42 ““Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but Your will be done.”
So in our remembering Christ -- we remember the price He paid for us in order that we might receive eternal life.
A final aspect of Christ is where He is now: Mark 16:19 “So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” Heb 12:2 “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Rom 8:34 “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
So, as we gather together each week, to praise, pray, commune and share in the Lord’s Supper, let us gladly proclaim all that the Lord accomplished on our behalf through His suffering, sacrifice, compassion, death and resurrection for each and everyone of us. We have so much to remember, praise and honor about our Savior and Mediator Jesus Christ.
The Lord’s Supper is truly a feast and not a fast. The ‘bridegroom’ is with us in a special and personal way (cf. Mark 2:19). Tears of repentance speedily give way to tears of joy. ‘We also rejoice in God,’ says Paul, ‘through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation’. (Romans 5:11). Where in this world can there be greater joy for those whom Christ has saved, than at the Lord’s Table?
The Lord’s Supper, however, as a lively means of grace, calls the communicants to lives of continuing obedience and devotion. ‘As often’ as you eat the bread and drink the cup, believers are impelled, and empowered, to testify with heart and life to the Lord who has bought them with the price of His own blood. As we contemplate the cost of the cross, we surely see, emblazoned across its stark cruelty, the magnitude of God’s mercy, love and grace. And from that comes an easy decision to truly, daily, take up our cross and follow Him.
17 May: There Will Be Persecutions: John 15:20 “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”
Last week we looked at the story of the paralytic who was let down though the ceiling in order for Jesus to heal him. In that lesson we saw in Mark 8 that the crowds who came to Jesus often times traveled long distances and stayed with Him for long periods of time.
My response to that was to ask that we consider our own lives and see if we show the same devotion and desire to know the Lord and have Him be an integral part of our lives – teaching us and guiding us in our daily lives and the decisions that we must make.
Last week we received our quarterly bulletin from the church that is supporting a missionary program in India and, as luck would have it (or maybe as God wanted it), a number of the articles spoke of the struggles that our Christian brothers and sisters are having to endure in their Christian walk. I want to share those situations with you:
A) Jeremiah, a new team leader, teaches classes in a city 2 hours away. I don’t know how many days a week he does this but to do so he must catch a bus at 4:30 a.m. and arrive there at 10 a.m. due to the many stops the bus must make. A local preacher picks him up on a motorcycle and takes him to the class. He teaches from 10 – 4 p.m. and then rides back to the bus stand where the bus takes him back home around 9 p.m. suffering
B) Due to persecutions in one city a local church was forced to close its doors by the government. They moved to another location and after they built another structure the government then forced them to tear it down until all the ‘red tape’ was completed. When it was approved, they constructed a permanent building. When it was completed, they had a preacher class on the 1st day. Two days later it was demolished by one local government official because of a ‘loophole’ he found in the registration law. They are meeting in a bank until the matter can be resolved.
C) See first page/article: Persecuted But Not Forsaken: read
D) Scriptural warnings:
1) Are We Being Persecuted/Mistreated Because of Our Faith?
: mistreated because of your faith
Mtt 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Luke 6:22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.”
Acts 14:22 - "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."
2 Tim 3:12 “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
2 Cor 12:10 “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
1 Peter 4:12-13 - "Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you, but rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings."
2) Are We Suffering Because We Are Christians- being Christ-like: giving up time, money, resources because you have been given and opportunity to help others.
Mtt 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Mark 10:29,30 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.”
Acts 4:32,36,37 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and should and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. . . .. Now Joseph who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles; feet.”
Ananias/Sapphira; Good Samaritan; Sheep; collections taken up for Jerusalem
Eph 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Phil 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
3) What Is Our Response to Persecutions/Suffering: how do we react to painful/costly situations/opportunities?
MTT 5:44 “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Rom 12:14, 21 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.. . . .Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Col 3:1 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
4) Reward: Why enduring is a benefit to us!
Rom 8:18,35 “For I consider that the suffering of this present time is not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. . . . . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . . If we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."
Col. 3:23,24 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
5) Summary: Does our lives illustrate that we have taken up the Lord’s cross?
John 15:8 “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”