'And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb,
his disciples said to him,
"Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?"
And he sent two of his disciples and said to them,
"Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.
Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,
'The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?'
And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready;
there prepare for us."
And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said,
"Truly I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me."
...
And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said,
"Take; this is my body."
and he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.
And he said to them,
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many..."
Mark 14:12-18, 22-24
Imagine......
Thirty three years of wandering this dusty planet as a misunderstood, accused and disliked man,
God--the Creator of the Universe, the Defender of the weak, the King of kings, Lord of all lords, the Giver of all good things--confined to a human body, the Creator becomming created...
was all coming together.
The grand finale was about to begin.
The groaning of creation longing for redemption was about to be answered.
Christ was about to be delivered.
betrayed.
beaten.
mocked.
denied.
stripped.
humiliated.
crucified.
The final players were being put into place as a God's beautiful plan of redemption began to unfold.
Humanity stood oblivious.
Families made plans for their own celebrations.
The food prepared.
The tables set.
People unaware of the Messiah for which they had long dreamed of was not only among them, but preparing to redeem them.
A common man. An unlikely group of common men, with little in common except for their Teacher.
A common celebration.
An eternity changing, life redeeming, sin forgiving celebration was about to begin in this small upper room and culmiate near a common tomb.
Sitting among the common was the Divine.
Sitting and reclining with sinners was the Spotless Lamb of God.
Those in need of redemption, dining with the Redeemer.
unaware.
It didn't start in this room. It didn't start in a stable, thirty three years prior.
It started before the formation of the world.
God set out to glorify Himself through the redemption of His fallen creation
through the blood of His Son.
As they gathered around the table to celebrate Passover,
undoubtedly Christ was overwhelmed with emotion...
knowing what lay ahead of him and knowing what lie behind,
He humbled Himself,
took the form of a servant and became obedient--
even to death.
He took the bread, broke it as a symbol of his soon to be broken body on their behalf and shared it with the oblivious and undeserving sinners sitting around Him.
He took the wine, poured it out and passed it around...
"This is my blood poured out for many..."
Poured out for those that will choose to accept it
and poured out for those that would choose to deny it.
Poured out for the undeserving, the slefish, the lustful, the needy, the arrogant, the shamed, the fearful, the angry, the broken.....
poured out for you.
poured out for me.
There isn't a single life on earth that is not in need of this blood of the covenant.
Tonight, as you dine, let the somber truth of tonight wash over you.
Let Christ meet you where you are.
Turn your eyes upon heaven, and gaze into His wonderful face.
Allow the things of earth to fade away.
Take the bread and remember that His body was broken for you.
Drink of the cup, and allow the all sufficient sacrificial blood of Christ cover it all.
All of your strivings. All of your fear. All of your shame. All of your achievements. All of your regret. All of your hopes. All of your dreams. All of the broken dreams.
Whether you are a in beautiful church of stained glass or whether you are wandering with no place call home, Christ's body and blood was shed for you.
What will be your response?
"Take and eat; this is my body.
Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
~Jesus Christ
Matthew 26: 26b,27b,28a
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you summed it up rather nicely Tiffany. It is so hard to even fathom a tiny speck of the anxiety that lay ahead for Christ as he prepared to redeem His fellow man, as he prepared to be tortured, to be laughed at, to be spit upon, to be stripped naked in front of the eyes of sinners. No human can even begin to understand how he must have felt. How scared of a Man must he have been to have sweat blood prior to his cruxification, think about it, he was so scared he sweat BLOOD. Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord for dying for my sins.
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