11:23 For I
received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus
on the same night in which He was betrayed took
bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and
said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do
this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same
manner He also took the cup after supper,
saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as
you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as
you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He
comes.
Do you see it? Some may wonder why is Paul retelling us what
we already know? I mean what Christian doesn't know that Jesus offered bread
and wine to His disciples the night before He died? What does this retelling
have to do with the fact they have turned the celebration of the last supper
into a selfish class based gluttonous party?
What did Jesus say? "This is My body broken for you...
This is the new covenant in My blood..." What's the difference between the
old and new covenant? The old one was all about us. It started with Cain
offering his own produce. It escalated from there to thousands of rams and
bulls until finally people were offering their own children. The belief that we
had to buy our way back to God is the old covenant and it was a bottomless pit
of despair. It was also an instrument of self-obsession. The price was so
impossibly high and the pursuit so devoid of peace that every person who was
trying had no energy left for anyone else because their own attempts to meet
the demands of the covenant were exhausting.
"This is My body broken for you..."
Jesus is facing imminent death and where are His thoughts?
Where is the focus of His concern? His disciples. The life of Jesus was a relentless
example of other centeredness. He lived for the benefit of others. He died for
the benefit of others. There was not one thing He ever did that was 'me
first'.
How can His followers who have any grasp of that come
together to celebrate what He did for us and turn it into a 'me first' mess of
selfishness? Do we love Him? Do we understand Him? Or are we trying to use Him?
Paul pointed them back to Jesus. Look at Jesus. Watch Him. Study Him. Think
about what He did and why. It is impossible to truly appreciate Him and remain
self-centered.
"I, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men to
Myself." - Jesus
No comments:
Post a comment