These emblems picture how much God loves us. Our hands, so to speak, hold the pierced hand of broken flesh and shed blood. The difference between our hands and his corresponds with the differences between everyday love and absolute devotion.
What we contemplate here is of primary concern. Love given triggers love returned. It calls us to respond in kind and raises the bar from wherever it is to its highest level. It puts in perspective how far we have yet to go in becoming what we have the potential to become. “We have not yet resisted unto blood in striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:4).
Read Essay →Cameras, microscopes, telescopes, binoculars all need to be brought into focus to see clearly what we want to look at. This loaf and cup bring into focus an event that could become a fuzzy memory that comes near to vanishing away. Christ’s voluntary suffering to the point of death culminated his earthly ministry.
In turn, that act itself brought into focus a pattern where God provides for his people what they cannot provide for themselves. Christ as a real person embodies self-giving for the need of us weaker brothers. That is why Paul could say that “Christ” was the rock in the wilderness that provided water for people who could not provide their own (1 Corinthians 10:3). Similarly, the Hebrew writer could say of Moses that he counted the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt (11:26). The Christ principle stands at the apex of everything our faith is about.
Read Essay →As we always say, this bread and fruit of the vine represent Christ’s flesh and blood. They picture his sacrificing himself—not like Old Testament priests, who sacrificed animals, which foreshadow his self-sacrifice for us (Hebrews 7:27; 9:25). There is nothing magical in the emblems themselves nor in blood and flesh as such. The value lies in what the emblems and the flesh and blood point to.
What they point to is violent death, in which blood was shed and body was broken. Our Lord did not die from sickness or old age, but from devotion carried to its fullest extent. He did it for us; so, these emblems freshen our memory of his obedience to God for our benefit and commits us to taking up our crosses and doing likewise.
Read Essay →Paul charged his Corinthian readers to use communion as an occasion to examine themselves (1 Corinthians 11:28-31). He warned that failure to do that tended toward spiritual weakness and insensitivity. A “sickly,” “out-of-touch” condition comes from not taking opportunities to compare where we are to where we should be. Superficial religion does not bring about personal improvement; going through the motions does not glorify God.
In this observance we remember when our Lord had to face excruciating execution. It’s when we look death in the eye that things line up in proper fashion. We can use this time to reset our priorities more properly and to adjust ourselves to a healthier spiritual condition of faith and practice.
Read Essay →We return to this table as to the “altar” on which our Lord offered himself long ago. He has given us the right to even be here as in the Holy of Holies itself. Those who serve earthly pursuits and visible tabernacles do not have the right to approach this sacred place (Hebrews 13:10).
When we follow our Lord to this altar, we follow him as to an altar, but we also follow him into the true Holy of Holies, heaven itself (Hebrews 9:24-25). Coming into the experience together involves a striking combination of requirement and privilege—the highest privilege of coming into the presence of God himself and the highest demand of putting our all on the altar. Nothing less than what he demonstrated is appropriate to the most supreme calling.
Read Essay →Mankind’s basic sin lies in the quest for autonomy. Correcting that problem constitutes reversing Eden. Aspiring to be like God showed itself in a perverse way when our first parents sought to decide right and wrong for themselves (Genesis 3:5). Everyone since then has followed their lead.
We do not have the right to assume that role, because “God has made us, not we ourselves” (Psalm 100:3), and he had purpose in creating us. So, ultimate self-determination cannot be our prerogative. But more than that, we are not constituted for it. When we assume that independence mentality, we both sin and fail. We sin against his privileged position, and we fail because we are dependent beings. Death tells us that in no uncertain terms.
Read Essay →“Being a Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). It is one thing to know something; it is more to know it from experience. In an experiential sense, Christ learned what it meant to obey the Father despite the extremely painful temptation to do otherwise. That seems to be the ultimate reason for allowing evil to express itself—albeit as limited by duration and degree.
A greater degree of goodness becomes possible by the presence of evil. It is a goodness maintained despite temptation and suffering. That greater goodness our Lord learned especially during the temptation in the Garden of Gethsemane and the suffering on Golgotha. And wrapped up in that culminating obedience lies the foundation he laid for redeeming evil into good.
Read Essay →Human government has a divinely sanctioned role in society. It serves to restrict evil and keep citizens from committing crimes (Romans 13:1-7). At this table of remembrance, we observe an even higher calling, calling to do what we ought to do (a positive role), not just to refrain from evil (a negative role) or maintain what is already good (a neutral role, as in “do no harm”). The occasion that has prompted this observance set a high standard for human resolve. In doing the Father’s will, Jesus did not just further a neutral circumstance; he established a positive purpose in the face of opposition—violent opposition at that, one that took his life in horrible fashion.
Read Essay →Paul begins Christ’s words of institution by saying, “on the night he was betrayed.” Those words rivet attention on an aspect of the situation that we may overlook. The words became particularly real in the Garden of Gethsemane later that night when Judas, one of his closest associates for three-plus years, performed his betrayal with—of all things—a kiss.
At one time or another, most of us have been betrayed, something usually done by someone close to us—as in this case—someone we trusted. We know how that feels, and the Lord would have felt it too. But that broken trust did not disillusion him and cause him to “throw in the towel.” He carried through his responsibility when Judas betrayed and his disciples deserted.
Read Essay →We are holding symbols of caring. In his Son, God shows us that deity understands what it is like to be human—to be weak, though he is omnipotent; to die, though he is eternal; to hurt, hunger, feel abandoned, and be tempted like we are, yet without sin. “He knows our frame” (Psalm 103:14), but caring bridges the difference between us and the ideal.
These symbols say how much he cares. They picture his perfection standard combined with great grace as demonstrated in his Son. The Son’s last act of ministry epitomizes the value God places on us and draws us back to live to him in like fashion.
Read Essay →In Jesus’ final appearance in John’s gospel, Jesus tells Peter that when he gets old, he will stretch out his hands and someone else will carry him where he does not want to go. John explains that Christ’s cryptic comment indicated “the manner of death by which Peter would glorify God” (21:19).
In the lead-up to that prediction, the Lord asked Peter three times whether he loved him—as a reversal to Peter’s threefold denial earlier? After each of Peter’s responses comes a statement of responsibility: “feed and tend my lambs and sheep.” Then, following the prediction about the manner of death, Jesus says, “Follow me.” That command echoes the previous admonition to him, “Take up your cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). That admonition echoed Peter’s objection to the prospect of his Lord’s own crucifixion.
Read Essay →One major activity of God in the world is drawing the spiritual out of the physical. In keeping with that program, he uses the tangible to picture the intangible and to embed in our memories the acts of God in history that bear significance for our attitudes and behavior.
The physical emblems we are holding point to spiritual meanings that impact elements in us that we cannot measure. Those intangibles represent what Christ meant when he talked about coming among us to give abundant “life.”
Read Essay →We have here tokens of Christ’s life-giving life and his continuing presence. “He was delivered up for our transgressions and was raised for our justification” (Romans 4:25). The cross and empty tomb are two parts of the same final event in his life: highest obedience authenticated by divine resurrection. What Friday means is proved by Sunday’s vindication, and Sunday’s vindication opens up to a lasting presence with us.
These emblems picture something real beyond them like words indicate realities beyond them. The bread and fruit of the vine point to his real presence that is here but we do not see. They are in our hands, our mouths, our hearts; and so is he today and every day.
Read Essay →Jesus’ last words, “It’s finished” (John 19:30). His carry-through exemplified what he had told his disciples earlier about their future mission: “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. Everybody will hate you for my sake, but the one that endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:21-22).
What applied to him and his original followers applies to us who follow in their train. Accepting these emblems commits us to finishing the Father’s will like our Lord and his disciples did before us. It is a sobering thing we do here, one not to be taken lightly in prospect of what it means for us when we finish our course in Christ.
Read Essay →One set of emblems, so many reminders. After recounting Christ’s supreme example, the Hebrew writer notes that his readers “have not yet resisted unto blood in striving against sins” (12:4). The comment reminds us that we have not resisted sin to the extreme many have. Most importantly, though, Christ entered our world to make evident to us that we are not alone in this resistance.
In addition to our efforts along the way, God enters in to assist in carrying us through to the end. Our Lord’s example, pictured in this loaf and cup, supplies encouragement for dealing with challenges we face from time to time in our struggles against sin.
Read Essay →We serve God even in the face of extreme evil. The Christian faith provides a unique perspective on why a loving God lets the righteous suffer. Whatever the reason, it was important enough for him in the person of the Son to expose himself to its full force. By implication, he calls on us to persevere against evil threats.
This sobering observance identifies us with him in his final hour; so we do not participate superficially, because the emblems implicate us in our “last measure of devotion.” We cast our lot with those who even today are saying by their ultimate obedience, “Nevertheless, your will be done.”
Read Essay →The closer we are to the realities in our faith the more likely we are to remain faithful to the end. Our manner of life rests on a real Person in real events. It is not just an engaging idea; things have happened that embody ultimate principles and give them actuality.
This meal is the next best thing to being there. The communion elements picture the real event that we want to “exist” in our minds and hearts. We want it to “exist” there because we love the One who endured such cruelty to show how much he loved for us. Knowing that spurs us on to continued faithfulness.
Read Essay →In the beginning God created us in his image with the capacity to relate to other persons like he does. Furthermore, he demonstrated how persons relate to each other by how he does. He did not create us to worship him as if he needed something (Acts 17:25), but as those on whom he could bestow himself. In so doing, he established in the natural image the capacity for the ethical image expressed as outward-directed behavior toward others. That pattern scripture calls “love,” even saying, “God ‘is’ love” (1 John 4:8).
Read Essay →We have all done something for someone that really needed it. We were not sure he would appreciate it or take advantage of the opportunity it afforded. He might not keep his word to repay what he asked to borrow. He might try to take further advantage of our generosity.
Christ came here because we really needed help. He was willing to endure his brutal death at the end, even though he knew many of us would not take advantage of the opportunity it afforded, even though he knew some of us would try to take advantage of his grace.
Read Essay →The emblems graphically picture what has to happen for joy to come. The pattern holds for life as a whole and for its segments. Meantime, living for him calls for effort, struggle, even suffering for there to be a “not yet” that is worth it all. The harder the labor, the more fulfilling the results. If we’re not willing to deal with the humiliation, we’re not worthy of receiving the exaltation.
Read Essay →The familiar hymn says, “Take Time to Be Holy.” A command requires the choice to obey, which means doing something; and that takes time. So in the song, we sing about something we do deliberately.
“Holy” means set aside for a special use. Even the vessels of the Jewish temple were holy; they were not used for anything else. But that holiness was something decided by others. Furthermore, we agree that, strictly speaking, we are holy because God considers us holy. There remains, however, a holiness that comes from us, from doing what it takes to become holy—like God, who is holy. (Leviticus 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7, etc.; 1 Peter 1:16.)
Read Essay →Have you ever wondered whether somebody loved you? “Loves me, loves me not.” You weren’t sure. You were looking for times when the person paid attention to you, took time for you, helped you with something. We are hardwired with a desire to be loved; we want other people to care about us.
This loaf and cup tell us in no uncertain terms that God cares, that Christ cares; otherwise, he would never have laid down his life for us. That is the best thing one person can do for another (John 15:13), and that, in fact, is how he chose to show us that, yes, he cares; we can be sure he cares (Romans 5:5-11).
Read Essay →“God’s Love Made Visible” (David Brubec) aptly describes God’s taking on human form. His experience of human existence removes our tendency to feel that God does not really understand what it is like to be human. He “learned obedience by the things he suffered,” being tempted in the human condition; so we can more easily relate to him as a merciful and faithful “high Priest” and be more inclined to respond to his help (Hebrews 3:17-18).
Read Essay →Christ learned obedience by the things he suffered (Hebrews 5:8). What we think we can handle is often less than what we can. The Savior qualified himself to be Savior (Hebrews 5:9) by carrying out in human reality the Father’s will for him. His was perfect in intent and in its fulfillment.
We stand in the same relation to the Father’s intentions as our older Brother stood, and take the emblems of the commitment fulfilled completely by the One we are remembering. The emblems make visible our vows to be like he was and do as he did.
Read Essay →Look “to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarded the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
The Hebrew writer’s statement combines unlikely things: joy and crucifixion. He can do so because of a third factor: “the joy that was set before him.” The positive frame of mind called joy, unlike “happiness,” does not depend on what’s “happening.” It is rooted in understanding more than in feelings. Joy comes from positive personal associations—as with the Father beside Christ on the throne as well as with others that look to him as their example. The more obvious point in this text, however, is that focusing on the future fosters present faithfulness.
Read Essay →“He trusted in God; let him deliver him” (Matthew 27:43). This taunt highlights an unwitting compliment to Jesus. The religious leaders said it about him when he was on the cross.
There is no greater trust than agonizing in the face of death for the one you trust to deliver you. Here is an example of Christ’s taking every virtue and pushing it to the absolute. There is no better place to see the pattern than at his death. In that event, all previous virtues come to their highest expression.
Read Essay →The truth is, we need more than we can provide for ourselves, especially true in reconciling with others. The decisive matter is always the choice by the other to relent if we repent. We cannot control that, and for that reason we are greatly relieved and very appreciative when the other person willingly removes the barrier to our friendship.
What holds true for overcoming alienation with other people holds true for overcoming alienation with God. But there is, as well, a significant difference. In this case the offended party has taken the initiative; that does not usually happen between estranged people. But God broke pattern in our case and did so in the most amazing way imaginable. He sent his Son among us to call us back to him, and that Son was willing to go to the point of violent death to make it happen.
Read Essay →“We are partakers of Christ if we hold fast to the end.” We are if we will (Hebrews 3:6, 14). That is a way of saying that it does not do any good in the end if we don’t carry through to the end. Our final condition in God’s eyes determines how we end up. What went before whether bad or good does not figure into how things are with God in the forward-moving “now,” the “today” of our friendship with him. Some things may be measured on an average or how we were for some period of time—as in our reputation as an athlete because of how we did during our playing years.
Read Essay →We run life’s race, “looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2). He originated trust as our basis for sonship to God, and in himself he carried that approach to God to the highest level in faithful obedience to the Father. So he could say, “It’s finished” (John 19:30) both in that his mission was completed and that his faithfulness had reached that highest level.
“We don’t know him any longer after the flesh” (2 Corinthians 5:16), but he left behind these physical reminders of what he did when he was “in the flesh.” It remains for us to regard these emblems of his character and commitment demonstrated while incarnate, and to participate in this observance as a stimulus to our own service to God in this realm of living.
Read Essay →Christ’s dying words: “It’s done.” The last thing someone says tends to carry added significance. Those words teach what it means to do God’s will: faithfulness to the end—perseverance. Practical living calls for carry-through because most things have little use if they are not finished.
That format holds true in social relations as well. How we conduct ourselves with each other is as relevant toward the end as it is at any time earlier. The way things were does not determine the way things are. Friendship with God is not an average of faithfulness figured over a lifetime; it’s a matter of how things are at the moment—especially at the moment of the end.
Read Essay →A servant does not rank above his master, so we are to adopt his pattern of letting go of rights and privileges to help those in need like he did. As a result, exaltation comes from outside us rather than from self-advancement. That approach avoids the negatives that come from using competition to achieve prominence and self-esteem.
As we observe these emblems, we identify with Christ and consequently with the mentality he demonstrated in giving up the free exercise of his rights as deity. Likewise, we do not give up who we are when we serve others. Instead, we gain a sense of satisfaction, we receive honor from those we’ve helped, we experience exaltation from God for exhibiting the attitude of his Son.
Read Essay →Ancient works of art deteriorate over time. Colors fade, and their beauty is subdued in the process. A skilled technician can restore them to their original beauty by cleaning away the dirt to enhance the pigment in the painting.
Taking part in this supper has something of the same effect as restoring a work of art. The fading memory of Christ’s ancient portrait of self-giving brightens again in these emblems of body and blood. We see afresh what it means to care.
Read Essay →We are probably willing to help good people with something they need. Even for a person that is not so good, we might go out of our way to lend a hand. If need be, for someone especially good we may even be willing to give our life—for a son, a mother, a close friend. But for a bad person, would we be willing to go that far? Would it be worth it? What sense would it make? Yet that’s exactly what Christ did for us. He did not come so much to call good people, but sinners, to repentance (Matthew 9:13b).
Read Essay →Jesus had a short time to accomplish what he came to do for all of history. He lived but thirty-three years and ministered only three years or so. The records of that work focus on the final week before his death. Under such time restraints, he needed to concentrate on what was most important, on what could generate solutions to other needs in the human condition.
He centered his work on reconciling broken relationships, first with God and then between people. Reconciliation is the closest thing to a cure-all for the world’s ills. And he gave his life to that end. Finances, health, social welfare, psychological peace, and the like are, in turn, corrected or at least greatly helped by getting rid of estrangement between people and the behaviors that cause it.
Read Essay →We are grateful for love. When we experience it, we become part of something eternal. There are not many things like that, and it resides in the highest realm as well as here. So the greatest of all experiences is this all-inclusive virtue.
Even before the foundation of the world—even before we existed, God loved us and in his mind’s eye gave his Son for us, fulfilling that love in due time, commending his love toward us. Maybe for a good person someone would go out of his way to do something good; maybe he would even give his own life, but God gave his Son’s life on a cross for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:7-11).
Read Essay →“For the joy that was set before him, Jesus endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). Among the host of things scripture teaches us is how to deal with adversity. One mechanism for coping is remembering that “this too shall pass,” and even more that future good awaits us when we endure hard things meantime.
We carry in our hands emblems of his hands, representations of his life poured out for us as an example to us. Taking these elements into ourselves visually portrays a valuable lesson learned and makes tribute to the Teacher who demonstrated the truth we profit from.
Read Essay →The guilt feeling is the most uncomfortable feeling we can have. That is evident from all the things we do to avoid that “pain”: hiding it from others, denial to ourselves (repression) and to others (lying), blaming someone else or something else (projection), withdrawing from the offended and from others that are aware of our actions (separation), hardening ourselves (desensitizing), keeping our mind off of it (busyness, masking, substitution), laughing it off (minimizing it), defining sin out of existence (no standard, no breach of standard, no guilt).
Read Essay →The most important issues call for the most attention. The biggest difficulties call for the most adequate solutions. The hardest problems call for the most extreme measures. In observing these elements, we note that the most important issue and the hardest problem are one and the same.
Our Lord bypassed ruling the world, thereby choosing the cross instead. That shows what he considered most important, the biggest difficulty, the hardest problem. At the same time, it shows how much God is concerned about our friendship with him and each other. Overcoming alienation is an appropriate purpose of love. Since alienation comes from behavior that’s not appropriate to relationships, getting rid of the sin is the main thing in the world.
Read Essay →The greatest responsibility goes to the most capable person. The hardest work leads to the highest honor. Those superlatives come together at this table. God could not assign Christ’s role to just anyone, because it had such widespread importance; there could be no risk of failure. No one else qualified.
We acknowledge here that we’re benefactors of special greatness. He took the perfect life and produced a perfect life in the human condition. He took life in the human condition and produced a perfect life in the face of the worst opposition. So it’s no off-handed sign of appreciation that we give a nod to on our way to other things. It’s a focal point of worship, a culmination of prepared hearts and minds and wills.
Read Essay →The accounts of institution say that Jesus took a loaf and a cup and blessed them; they were two elements present at the Passover meal. That was the occasion on which Jesus instituted this memorial of his upcoming crucifixion.
The connection between communion and Passover draws attention to a singular point about Jesus’ life and death. His body and blood given for us in crucifixion correspond to the Passover lamb sacrificed at this time. Jesus’ death is to the Christian system what the paschal sacrifice was to the Mosaic system: they had to do with getting rid of sin.
Read Essay →“He is our peace. He has made us both one and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing in his flesh the Law comprised of commandments and ordinances so he could create in himself one new united mankind, making peace, and might reconcile both of us to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end” (Ephesians 2:14-16).
Paul is dealing particularly with the peace that comes from uniting Gentiles and Jews into one body of Christ (cp. 3:4-6). That was accomplished by connecting them with the same One and his most outstanding act among us. It’s reconciling people alienated from each other and from the One who makes us one by uniting us with him.
Read Essay →The church is called the body of Christ in part because the church continues Christ’s operation in the world. The church is to the world now what Christ incarnate was when he walked here (1 Corinthians 3:9-17).
Likewise, the word of God written is comparable to the Word of God alive among us. The words of scripture point to events that occurred before the very eyes of Christ’s first witnesses (2 Peter 1:12-21).
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