One Man's Resolve

The communion meditation today is taken from the New Testament, Matthew 26: 36-46. All Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.

My hope is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!

Transcript

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "One Man's Resolve." I read from Matthew 26: 36-46. All quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission

36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”

In the garden of Gethsemane, we see Jesus grappling with the consequences to His own person if He goes forward or to humankind if He does not. How would you feel if the fate of humanity depended on the decision you make in the next few minutes? This is how Jesus described it, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death." He asked His Father three times if He had come up with an alternate plan that would save Him and us. Each time the answer was that He must drink the cup of suffering prepared for Him from eternity! This mental anguish is just the beginning of the suffering He would experience over the next day, yet He resolved to walk the path set before Him. The author of Hebrews gives us insight into Jesus' final decision, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne." In the end, He set aside His will in favor of the Father's will. He chose us! When we assemble to partake of the bread and drink from the cup, Jesus asks us to remember what He did for us. He was an innocent man and had done nothing to deserve the sentence of death. This was the cost for our redemption. In response, may we resolve to be like Jesus and follow the will of the Father. Let us pray.

Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Abba, Father, I cannot imagine the pain You and the heavenly host experienced as You watched events unfold for Your only Son. How much You love us that You would send Your Son, Jesus, to die in our place. The pain of those events is still in our memories as we remember Jesus just now. We are grateful, Abba, Father, that His death is not the end of the story! He was resurrected from the dead and now sits at Your right hand. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28 (NLT).

26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.

27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.

And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"

Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26, "May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."

Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories, and I invite you to add my podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. There is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!