Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
We sometimes forget the advantage we have living on this side of the cross when we read the words of Jesus. We think it would be so easy to believe if we could have seen Him in person and listened to Him speak while He walked the earth. But was it so easy then?
Scripture
John 6:53-58
Jesus: I tell you the truth; unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not know life. If you eat My flesh and drink My blood, then you will have eternal life and I will raise you up at the end of time. My flesh and blood provide true nourishment. If you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you will abide in Me and I will abide in you. The Father of life who sent Me has given life to Me; and as you eat My flesh, I will give life to you. This is bread that came down from heaven; I am not like the manna that your fathers ate and then died! If you eat this bread, your life will never end.
Devotional
The words Jesus shares with the crowd that day were hard words for them to accept.
The last Passover supper was a long time away.
Covenant with His disciples had not yet been announced
Death on the cross that explained His sacrifice and symbolism of His flesh and blood was still in the future and unseen by all those around Him
How could they understand
Why would Jesus give these words that would drive people away from His message of love and forgiveness?
Christianity is not an easy life
Must count the cost to serve Him
More will hate your message than like your message
No watered down, easy road, do as you please religion
Prepare us for what is to come
Message He gives the crowd that day
If you consume what the world offers, you die
If you consume what He offers, you live
Hard to understand sometimes, but that is the mystery of God
Beyond our knowing because He is God and we are not
In a battle for our lives
Satan lies and is the father of lies
Listen to God’s truth
Trust His word and follow His direction
Obey and live
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 26:26-29 Jesus: Take this and eat; it is My body.
And then He took the cup of wine, He made a blessing over it, and He passed it around the table. Jesus: Take this and drink, all of you: this is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. But I tell you: I will not drink of the fruit of the vine again until I am with you once more, drinking in the kingdom of My Father.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
So, I have to ask, how many times have you gone to church, heard the words, and just gone through the motions of taking communion? If you’re like most people, you get into the routine and far too often, the Lord’s Supper become just another ritual instead of a remembrance of His sacrifice for us. So how do we keep it from become routine? How can we make sure we focus on the importance of the symbols the bread and drink that we share together represent and not the action of eating and drinking?
It’s so easy to do. I have to admit that even as a minister, I have been guilty of getting busy with responsibilities, thinking about the next part of the service, and going through the motions. Reciting the words, but not focusing on their personal meaning for me. I wanted to make sure I got the ritual right and didn’t think as much as I should have about what the ritual really meant. Terrible for a minister to do that, huh? But we’re all guilty, whether in the pulpit or the pew, we sometimes let our minds wander and forget just how important this sacred moment really is.
How do we stay focused in the moment? Think about what you’re doing. Don’t let your mind wander. Satan will do his best to distract you with everything he can to take your mind away from the sacrifice Jesus made for us and the symbols of His broken body and shed blood He pointed out to us in this simple act of sharing bread and drink together. Whether your tradition uses wine or grape juice, communion wafers or bread, doesn’t matter so much as remembering the what each of these mean as symbols of Jesus’ personal sacrifice for the redemption of your individual sins.
When we stop and just think about that symbol, bread for His body, drink for His blood, it should cause us to pause and recall the sacrifice He made. I’m not sure we can fully understand what that sacrifice was really like. Many of you have probably seen the movie “The Passion” as I did several years ago and got just a glimpse of what that week was like for Jesus. But seeing His suffering on the screen doesn’t do justice to what the experience was like for Him. We saw Hollywood’s portrayal of the scourging, the crown of thorns pushed down on His head, the beam of the cross lashed to Him as He struggled up the road to Calvary. We experienced some of the sights those in Jerusalem might have seen on those days.
But we have no idea the pain, the humiliation, the cruel punishment inflicted by the Romans, the excruciating agony of the cross. Most of us have no reference points from which to begin to compare the suffering Jesus endured as He faced death as the penalty He paid for us. But from that movie, from studies you might have made of Passion week, from medical reports you’ve heard about crucifixion, when you see the bread in your hand, remember the brutality Jesus endured for you. All that should have been mine and yours as payment for our disobedience to God. As you see the juice in the cup, think about the blood He lost as He felt the whip across His back, crown of thorns on His head, the spear in His side. That blood was shed for my sins and yours so that we would not have to pay with our blood for the sins we commit.
Is it easy to let your mind wander to what’s for lunch as communion is being served? Yes. Is it easy to think of the ballgame starting in a few hours? Yes. Is it easy to think about what will happen at work this week? Yes. But if we try, we can also focus on the bread, a symbol for His body, broken for us. We can focus on the cup filled with the fruit of the vine, a symbol of His blood, shed for us. His sacrifice ushered in a new covenant. One in which we can have a personal relationship with the creator. He promised that if we ask, He will live not just with us, but in us, to help us be the person He created us to be.
Next time you come to the Lord’s table, stop, think about the bread and the wine. What does it mean for you? Really think about it. Don’t let go of the beauty of the moment as you share this special moment with others.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 26:2 Jesus: The feast of Passover begins in two days. That is when the Son of Man is handed over to be crucified.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
What incredible timing. We celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus and sometimes don’t think about the connection with Passover as much as we should. As Christians, we sometimes throw out the Jewish holy days without much thought unless they happen to fall on the same days as our Christian holy days. Passover is the day, though! Certainly, without Easter, Passover wouldn’t mean as much to us because Easter demonstrates that Jesus’ sacrifice works, but Passover was the sacrifice!
On that day, while the chief priest and several of his henchmen were consorting with Pilate, something they should not have been doing on this of all days, the rest of the priests were really busy. This day was Passover. What did that mean? Every family was busy getting their young, unblemished lamb blessed and prepared for sacrifice. The temple roared with the pilgrims from all over the world who came to this place to share with friends and family to celebrate the day God freed Israel from slavery from Egypt and made them a nation.
Passover for them was more important than Independence Day for us. We gained our independence from Great Britain and celebrate it as the day we became a free nation, but that’s not quite the same as Passover. The day the Jews celebrate, not only created a new nation, but demonstrated God’s sovereignty over His people and the world by killing the first born of every household across the land unless they were protected by blood smeared on the doorpost of the house. That sign caused the death angels to pass over the house and spare the first born from execution at the hand of God.
Thousands of sheep died on the day Jesus died. Thousands of Jews gathered in homes around their tables clothed in traveling garb with shoes on their feet and shared the story of God’s salvation of His chosen people, rescuing them from the hands of Pharoah. Thousands listened to the message of God’s redemption and the promise of His coming Messiah, blind to the fact that on a hillside just outside the city of Jerusalem the Romans at the bequest of their priests were crucifying the Messiah while they roasted their lamb and told their story.
God brought freedom to all who followed Him. Moses served as His spokesman and led them out of Egypt. All they need to do was follow and obey God’s commands. They didn’t and all the adults who left Egypt died in the desert except Joshua and Caleb. Through the centuries, God continued to send prophets to the Jews to tell them, “All you need to do is follow My commands and you will be free.” They didn’t and God drove them into exile.
He allowed a remnant to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple and the city. The nation began to rebuild, but under the overloard of other nations more powerful than they were militarily. God continued to tell them, “All you need to do is follow My commands and you will be free.” They didn’t. God sent His Son, the Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords to free us, to redeem us from the penalty of our sins. And again God said, “All you need to do is follow My commands and you will be free.” They didn’t and instead hung His Son on a cross.
God knew all along the sacrifice would be made. And He knew it would be on Passover. The perfect sacrifice on the perfect day in the perfect place. Jesus, the sinless one, sacrificed in Jerusalem, the city of God, on Passover, the day that represented freedom, the breaking of the chains of slavery.
But there is more. Remember the other side of Passover? Remember what happened to those who did not observe the warning? Death struck every household. The sacrifice required the blood of an innocent lamb. But without the blood of the lamb, the death of the first born was the payment for God’s wrath. So blood was shed in every house. Every family saw death. The issue was whether the death was that of a lamb, a substitute, or the first born in the family.
The same is still true today. The penalty for our sins is still death. That’s what we deserve. We earned the death sentence in our disobedience to God. Every single one of us have that paycheck due us. Death stands at the door. But we have an opportunity to apply Jesus’ sacrificial blood on the door of our heart and live. His blood covers our sins and death passes over us instead of visiting us with its eternal damnation.
But the blood must be applied and that is something we must do. Like the Israelites who brushed the lamb’s blood on the doorposts of their homes, we must accept Jesus as Lord, the power of His saving grace, the sacrifice He made to pay the penalty for our sins. His blood, shed for us, applied to our hearts gives us life instead of death, freedom instead of slavery. Passover happened again the day Jesus died. It happens again every time someone in faith accepts Him as Lord.
