Last Supper

Remembering

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment 
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Luke 22:19 KJV

Just before Jesus went to the cross, He invited His friends to a private dinner, and there began to explain to them what was going to happen next by using bread and wine. Afterwards, Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”

“But if we are saved by faith.” You might ask, “Why do we need to follow a ritual?” We ask that because we think of remembering, as simply recalling facts, as when we memorize formulas so that we can pass the math exam. But the kind of remembering Jesus talked about was not just keeping all the details straight. Receiving communion is more like, when I remember my dad, every time I glance up at a photograph of him. That photo isn’t my dad, but it reminds me of seeing his smile, hearing his voice, and feeling His gentle hand on my shoulder. In the same way, we are doing more than just eating a piece of cracker and a drinking a cup of juice. Holy Communion reminds us of His sacrifice, helps us remember His voice in the words of scripture, and even gives us the sense of His hand on our shoulders giving us the strength to live our lives for Him.

Two Cups

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
And said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. John 2:10-11 ESV

I have sometimes wondered why the first miracle Jesus did was to fill wine cups by turning ordinary water into delicious wine. Why didn’t He cleanse a leper, give a blind man sight, or raise someone from the dead? But then I remember another cup and another dinner table, where Jesus sat down to eat with His disciples, He took a cup, but this time He didn’t change water into wine. Instead, He told them that the wine in His cup was His blood, and then He passed it to them to drink. Today we receive that cup when we take communion. Our communion cup is different from the ones the people drank from at the wedding because even though Jesus gave them miraculous wine, eventually their cups ran dry. Just like the blood of the Old Covenant never really worked, those people, just like us, have lied, stolen, lusted, or hated. But the good news for us today is that Jesus didn’t come to fill our cups with old wine. He came to miraculously transform the ordinary water of our old life into the wonderful wine of something new. The cup that Jesus offers us is filled with the new wine of His blood, and each time we receive communion we are reminded that His blood paid the price for our salvation and set us free from sin. And this cup is not reserved only for special guests but for anyone who comes and drinks and then follows the Lamb of God who came to take away our sin!

And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Luke 22:20 ESV
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He Wants to Sit With Us

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments 
And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer: 
Luke 22:15 KJV

When I was in Junior High, (more than a few years ago!) one of the most important things of the school-day was finding who to sit with at lunch. If, as a seventh grader, I could sit with the older cooler guys in 8th I knew I would be set for life! Considering the fact that Jesus already knew that Judas would soon betray Him, Peter deny Him and the rest turn tail and run, it is astonishing to read that He was looking forward to sitting down with them all for dinner. Adding to those disturbing details, a few verses down we learn that while Jesus is giving them the bread and the wine and telling them that it represented His body and blood, they were arguing over which one of them was the greatest. This sounds like the worst possible family get together that we could ever imagine! But as bad as the events occurring around that dinner table sound, it gives me hope! It gives me hope because there are times when every one of us has acted like one of those guys! We have been far less loving, more proud and unkind, yet Jesus still says, He is longing to sit down at the table with us. So, the next time you receive communion, remember that night, when it all began. There, Jesus gave His body to suffer for our sins and His blood to pay the price for us to begin a new life with God. What a loving Savior we have. How amazing that He wants to sit down at the table and share His life with us!

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