Like My Father - Luke 6:32-36

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup

The communion meditation today is based on a passage of Scripture from the New Testament, Luke 6:32-36 (NIV). In this passage of Scripture, Jesus describes the kindness of God, and encourages all of us to be like Him in our behavior. God greatest act of kindness was asking His Son, Jesus, to give His like to save all of His children—us. As we partake of the bread and drink the fruit of the vine from the cup, we remember Jesus and how He loved us. All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV) 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 "Like My Father" I read from Luke 6:32-36 (NIV). All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version and are used with permission.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Growing up, I was familiar with the aphorism, "Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back." I believe Jesus is making the same point when one boasts about loving those who love you, doing good to those are good to you, and lending to those who can pay you back. These are not difficult decisions for most people to make. Jesus says what is hard is loving people who do not love you, doing good to people who mistreat you, or lending to people with no hope of repayment. One who acts in this manner does not do so for the praise of their fellow man, but for the praise of God. Imagine if God showed partiality or was fickle in His blessings. The sun would only shine on those who loved Him; the rest would reside in darkness. Or the rain might only fall on the fields of the faithful—the neighbor’s field would look like a desert. God's universal kindness is understandable because the children of men are His children, and He loves them all. He is hopeful that His kindness will lead all to repentance. Nevertheless, being good is not good enough when it comes to meeting God on His terms; He is also the Judge of the living and the dead. The Scriptures tell us God is holy and He cannot abide even a single sin in His presence. He gave us ten commandments to guide our behavior; however, even the best of us cannot keep them 100% of the time. In His kindness, that is why God asked Jesus to give His life for us. Jesus paid the penalty of our sin that we might have the forgiveness of sin and eternal life. When we partake of the bread and drink the fruit of the wine from the cup, we remember Jesus. We remember that our Father is merciful to those who believe in His Son. As the redeemed of God, may we reflect on how we can be like our Father and show His mercy to our neighbors. 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. You are kind and merciful to us. You have always given to us despite the fact that we do not deserve it. Even though all of us are guilty of sin and rebellion toward You, You sent Your Son, Jesus, to offer His life to save us. We remember Him just now as we partake of the bread and drink from the cup. 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 (NIV), “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you 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!