Mark 13-14 provides for us a glimpse into some of the events that transpire in the last week or so of Jesus’ life. This section begins with Jesus foretelling His future and ends with Peter’s denial of Christ. Packed in between is a roller coaster of emotions as we read about Jesus being anointed at Bethany, Judas’ agreement to betray Jesus, Jesus’ Last Supper with His disciples, the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ’s betrayal, His arrest, and His appearance before the Sanhedrin Council.
1 Corinthians 11-13 presents us with some instructions for public worship, the order of the Last Supper, information about spiritual gifts, the importance of our relationships with each other as the Body of Christ, and of course, the “love chapter” which culminates with, “Three things will last forever — faith, hope, and love — and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13; NLT).
On the first full weekend of each month, we celebrate Communion as a church, also known as The Last Supper. What is Communion? It is a celebration of Jesus’ work on the cross for us! It is also an opportunity to connect with Christ spiritually, to “touch the hem of His garment” so-to-speak. It is more than a time of contemplation and reflection, although this is a very important part of our Communion experience … Communion affords us the occasion to press in, in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, for fresh forgiveness, a touch of healing, refreshment from the Holy Spirit, etc. It is so much more than a memorial feast or sacramental experience --- it is a moment for some to perhaps connect with Jesus for the very first time, for others it may be a juncture for re-connecting or returning to Christ after a time away from your relationship with Him. Whatever the place you find yourself in relation to Christ, I want to encourage you to join me as we fully engage ourselves in pursuing a revitalized relationship with Him during our ‘09 challenge … by doing so we will be better positioned to fulfill Paul’s words, “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, NLT).
Kevin Hoffman
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Devotionals
1 comments:
The most meaninnful Lord's Supper I ever had in my life was when I was in the hospital for bone marrow cancer in 1978. My bone marrow produced cancer in my blood and I was in bad shape. This was 1 year after I became a Christian and I was very perplexed about why God would allow this disease to come into my life right after I devoted my life to Him. One of my elders came to visit me and he brought the Lord's supper. We took it together and when we took the cup, he prayed that the LORD would cleanse my blood of all cancer and restore life to my bone marrow and my blood. I was eventually healed of that disease and now my bone marrow and my blood are fine. There is healing power in the Lord's supper. It's a physical form God has given us to minister to us spiritually. When we read Scriptures like Luke 22:19,20 coupled with actually taking the Lord's Supper, His Word becomes spirit and life to us (John 6:63b). It literally became life to me!
By: Jim on February 22, 2009 at 3:03 PM
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