The Savior of the World

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, John 4: 39-42. 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 "The Savior of the World." I read from John 4: 39-42. All quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.

39 Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” 40 When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, 41 long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. 42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”

To return to Galilee from Judea, a Jew would not take the Central Ridge Route through Samaria because Samaria was where the despised Samaritans lived. And the feeling was mutual, Jews were not welcome there. At Jacob's Well, Jesus paused for a drink of water. From there, you could see the summit of Mount Gerizim where the Samaritan temple, destroyed by the Jews in 128 BC, was located. Jesus meets and converses with a thirsty woman who came to the well for water. Jesus also sees a thirsty woman who was seeking answers to her questions about life. After a brief, but deep theological discussion, it was there at Jacob's Well that Jesus revealed to the woman that He was the promised Messiah. She believes Him because He related to her the details of her life. Despite these details, He did not reject her even though she was a sinful Samaritan woman, an adulteress. Leaving her water pitcher at the well, she goes home to bring her fellow thirsty Samaritans to meet Jesus, and upon their invitation, He and His disciples stayed with them for an additional two days! I can only imagine what the disciples were thinking and feeling in this unbelievable situation. Through His message, many Samaritans believed in Jesus and accepted Him as the Savior of the world. In the gospel accounts, Jesus is only referred to as Savior three times, once by His mother, Mary, the second time by a chorus of angels outside Bethlehem, and here where the Samaritans not only acknowledge Jesus as the Savior of the Jews and Samaritans, but the Savior of the world. Just like the thirsty woman at the well, Jesus came to offer His life to bring peace to us through the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of life after death. As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember our dear Jesus, the Savior of the world. 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 love to read these stories that endear Jesus to us. He came to save the Samaritan woman and the people who lived in Sychar, and He came to save us and the world. Like the woman at the well, we, too, were thirsty for answers to the questions confronting us in life, and we learned, just as she did, that Jesus is the answer. He is our peace. As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember Your Son, Jesus, the Savior of the world. 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!