Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 26 June
2012
Hi all,
Today our meditation is all
about the breaking of bread and often referred to as Holy Communion. We are
told to “Do this in remembrance of Me! Do we do that? When? Where? Who with?
Perhaps we should!
Blessings
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 26 June 2012
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
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These devotionals are the
intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright protected. You are
welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it is for
non-commercial Christian purposes
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©
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY LIGHT EVENING
SCRIPTURES
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BLOOD,
SWEAT AND TEARS
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It was the evening before the crucifixion. Within 24
hours He would have laid down His life. He was having what would probably be
His final meal before surrendering His body to be “thrashed, bashed and
trashed.” From there He would go on to be crucified. All this would take
place on the same day as the last supper. He was speaking to and comforting
His disciples, telling them He was going on a journey but would come back
later. The fact that He was comforting them is a miracle. If it had been me,
I would have been the one to need comforting. In fact I would have stood up
and run away to Galilee as fast as I could go.
But Jesus was not panicking. He was introducing a
simple method by which His disciples should remember Him. The casualness of
the event was remarkable.
It was the custom in those days for the lowest slave
in the household to wash the feet of those who entered. The person with the
lowest status in the group was the youngest disciple, John. But he didn’t do
it. This ceremony was not a religious practice. It was done for the sake of
all who would partake of the meal. In those days men didn‘t sit round tables
to eat. They sat reclining on the floor. This means that their feet were more
or less under the nose of one of those they sat next to. The feet would be
very smelly after walking for the day. That’s why a slave washed them. No one
volunteered so Jesus took the place of the lowest slave and washed all their
feet Himself. He didn’t need to wash their hands. They would do it themselves
for practical and religious reasons. Practically, they did so because they
ate with their hands. So everyone would have clean feet and clean hands for
the meal. Traditionally, they would be “seated” in the circle in order of
their age. Thus John would have been on one side of Jesus and Judas Iscariot
on the other.
Before they ate, He took a piece of bread. Unleavened
bread because it was what God had instructed the Israelites to eat before
they left Egypt. He took the loaf of unleavened bread, broke it and distributed
among them. We are told, 24 He gave
thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and said, "This is My
body, which is given for you. Do this to remember Me."1 Corinthians 11:24 NLT There was no religious
fanfare, no trumpets’ no dancing girls and no men in weird clothes dressed up
to look like women. It was very simple and casual.
After they had eaten and Judas had left, Jesus took
the cup of wine. Many say the cup was the special “Messiah” cup placed before
the people and only to be drunk by Messiah. It’s possible but not certain. So
now they had all eaten and we are told, 25 In the same way, He took the cup of wine after supper, saying,
This cup is the new covenant between God
and His people--an agreement confirmed
with My blood. Do this to remember Me as
often as you drink it."1 Corinthians
11:25 NLT. Once again there was no
religious fanfare, no trumpets’ no dancing girls and no men in weird clothes
dressed up to look like women. It was very simple and casual. His
instructions were to do it whenever you want in remembrance of Him. All very
simple and casual. So why has it become clouded and crowed out with ritual?
He certainly didn’t do that. So why do we? Phyllida and I have begun to do
this each day at home. Just the two of us unless there are guests or
visitors. It’s done very simply. All we do is remember our Lord. Sometimes we
forget. But He doesn’t seem to mind. Praise the Lord!
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
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42 GOD kept watch all
night, watching over the Israelites as he brought them out of Egypt.
Because GOD kept watch, all Israel for all generations will honour GOD by
keeping watch this night--a watch night.
Exodus 12:42 MSG
23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord
Himself. On the night when He was betrayed, the
Lord Jesus took some bread 24 gave
thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and said, "This is My
body, which is given for you. Do this to remember Me." 25
In the same way, He took the cup of wine after
supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant between God and His
people-an agreement confirmed with My blood. Do this to remember Me as often
as you drink it."
1 Corinthians 11:23-25 NLT
41 He walked away,
about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed,
42 "Father, if You are willing, please take this cup of
suffering away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine." 43
Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened Him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and He was in such agony of
spirit that His sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.
Luke 22:41-44 NLT
14 It was now about noon
on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the
people, "Look, here is your king!"
John 19:14 NLT
16 Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus away. 17 Carrying
the cross by Himself, He went to the place called
Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). 18 There they nailed Him to the cross. Two others
were crucified with Him, one on either side, with Jesus between them.
John 19:16-18 NLT
7 Get rid of the old "yeast" by removing
this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of
dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.
8 So let us celebrate the festival,
not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of
sincerity and truth.
1 Corinthians 5:7-8 NLT
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All I have
to promise you is blood and sweat and tears.
Winston Churchill said it to the British as their
fears,
Of enemy
invasion was very, very real!
He said it so the British could be
people made of steel.
Did he
understand it? He knew that it would cost.
He had to make a statement; the war could
soon be lost.
But
Churchill never wavered. He spoke of victory,
Even though to many, the words were
fantasy.
The
families of Jacob were oppressed and merely slaves.
The thought of finding freedom; only
just the brave,
Thought
that it could happen. Then Moses came along;
And proved the God of Israel was
infinitely strong.
The
Israelites won freedom in the face of massive odds.
In ways that could be demonstrated came
to them from God.
Both these
men had passion; they knew they had to win
They battled with their “Pharaohs”;
not once did they cave in.
They both
went through a “baptism” of blood and tears and sweat
But theirs was only “child’s-play”. The
one whom Jesus met,
Was the
archangel Lucifer who’d fallen in his pride,
Along with all the others who had
taken Satan’s side.
There
within a garden, Jesus knew He had to win,
This battle with the devil and the
crushing power of sin.
It
couldn’t be avoided; Jesus had to take him on;
And thrash him so completely that all
his power was gone.
He didn’t
want to do it. And yet, His Father’s will,
Was what He Knew He had to do and He
kept praying ‘til,
His blood
and sweat were mingled with the teardrops on His face.
He knew this was the moment and was
the proper place,
For Him to
be the sacrifice. His blood would be poured out.
His body bent and broken, so there
could be no doubt,
That all
had been accomplished. There was no other way,
For Him to beat the enemy on that
Passover day.
We know
the things that happened; that He was crucified.
“It’s finished” are the final words he
said before He died.
And at
that very instant the New Covenant was cut.
Satan could do nothing except go off
his nut.
The Ram of
God was sacrificed and down throughout the years,
God’s people could remember the blood
and sweat and tears.
He wants
us to remember Him whenever we break bread.
And every time we drink the wine,
remember what He said
He said “This is my body; It’s broken just for
you.
Drink the wine My people. It’s all you
have to do.”
His
stripes now heal our body. His blood cleanses our sin.
His body has been broken and we may
enter in.
Wickedness
and evil can now be put aside.
In truth and in sincerity, we’re now
our Master’s bride.
Jim Strickland – Written 26th
June 2012
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