Through the Noise

Welcome to the Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast. The communion meditation today is based on a passage of Scripture from the New Testament, Luke 23: 26-31. All Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.

As you listen to the episode today, my hope is that you will be encouraged from the time spent meditating on what Jesus has done for you. You are a special person; the one Jesus died to save!

Transcript

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "Through the Noise." I read from Luke 23: 26-31. All quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.

26 As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. 28 But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ 30 People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ 31 For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Jesus is condemned to death by crucifixion. Weary and near death from the torture He received at the hands of His Roman executioners, He is forced to carry His cross to The Skull, a place outside the gates of Jerusalem, and the site of public executions. He stumbles along the way, and Simon of Cyrene is compelled to carry His cross. Jesus is followed by a large crowd, "including many grief-stricken women." Despite all He has endured to this point and the noise of the crowd, Jesus is able to tune in to the heartache of grief-stricken women and speaks directly to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children." The remainder of His words echo those from a lesson given earlier in the week at the Temple and those of the prophet Hosea (Hosea 10: 8). Jesus is the "green tree," a solitary and innocent man who will die today in Jerusalem. In the future, there will be a day when the "days of God’s vengeance, and the prophetic words of the Scriptures will be fulfilled" against Jerusalem, the dry tree, for rejecting and killing their Messiah, Jesus, the Son of God. That will be the day for the women to weep! What is common to death of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem is the justice of God. For the sins of humankind, Jesus willingly died a cruel and painful death on a cross that the requirements of the justice of God be met. For rejecting God and killing His Messiah, God's patience with the sins of His chosen people comes to an end, and Jerusalem and Judea are destroyed. But God is not without mercy! Jesus warns us about the wrath of God and how we might escape death and save ourselves through faith in Him. Likewise, Jesus warned His followers, and those willing to hear His words, about how they could escape the destruction of Jerusalem and Judea. Those who listened to Him saved themselves. We are surrounded by the noise of life, and we need to take a few moments and tune in to Jesus. Partaking of the bread and drinking from the cup are about remembering Jesus' suffering and death on the cross. We are thankful that His death is not the end of the story, He is alive today, and so are we who trust in Him! 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, we are horrified by the pain and suffering endured by Your Son, Jesus, in His last hours. The passage of time has not dimmed the reality of what happened to Jesus. Thank-you again, Abba, Father, for saving us. We add our voices to the psalmist, "Blessed be the name of the Lord now and forever." 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!