Here’s Hope: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fear relieved, how precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.” “Amazing Grace” by John Newton
Bible Reading: Matthew 26:26-30
Consider this: When I was in college, I remember my Old Testament professor, Dr. Donald Keiser, telling us one day in class that one of the most intimate things you can do with another person is to share a meal together. I really did not grasp what he was saying at that time in my life. After 37 plus years of life experience since those college days, I think I understand a good deal more about what my professor was trying to teach us.
When we consider the Bible reading today from Matthew 26, I think we can understand that when Jesus was sharing the Passover meal with his disciples, He was teaching them a truth that would take them several years for them to fully grasp as well. Jesus was telling his disciples then and now, “I am the bread of life.” This bread represents my body which will be sacrificed for you and the cup represents my blood which will be shed for the forgiveness of your sins (and begins a New Covenant, New Testament.) Little did the disciples realize at that moment but Jesus was sharing with them, I am laying down my life so that you may have eternal life with the Creator of the universe, if you choose to follow him. That was a meal that changed history and we can still share that meal today when we celebrate The Lord’s Supper together. Let us be grateful when we can share that meal together once again.
Prayer: Gracious and loving God, we thank you for that Thursday night of Holy Week when Jesus shared that Last Supper together with his disciples. We thank you that we too can share that meal with our brothers and sisters in Christ. May we be even more grateful in this time of crisis that one day soon, we will be able to come back together as the family of God and celebrate the gift of your Son Jesus.
Amen