The Foreshadowed, Fulfilled
I am at the airport, attempting to write on my IPad which is a new experience. After some frustrating technical issues, it seems I have made it….enduring to the end.
Debbie and I are on a late flight to Atlanta to spend Easter weekend with Stephanie and her family. This our first trip together to Atlanta in about three years.
While we sitting at a restaurant here at the airport, I was working on Debbie’s computer and my IPad trying to make progress on my blog. We decided to head to the gate and finish up here. As we asked for our check the waiter said, “someone already took care of it long ago!”
I recall those types of acts being called “secret acts of kindness” opposed to random acts we hear of often. The issue is when they happen in this way, the recipients have no one to thank but God. So we say, “thank you Lord for this unexpected blessing, and reward in your love and generosity our anonymous benefactor.”
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…”…Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks…and said, “this is my body.” The he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and handed it to them; and they all drank from it. Jesus, said, “This is my blood which is poured out for many, which seals God’S covenant….” Mark 14:22-24
The Passover was the annual ritual that reminded the Jews of the Lord’s final judgment and deliverance from Egypt. A lamb was killed, the blood applied to the door posts of the home, and the “death angel” “passed over” those homes and they were saved from God’s judgment.
As Jesus gathered with His disciples for this “one last Passover meal” it also signaled the beginning of a new covenant The Lord was making with mankind to avoid God’s judgment.
Jesus was the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” As He establishes this new covenant with the “once for all” sacrifice of Himself, He tells the disciples, “this bread is my body…this cup is my blood.” When offering sacrifice under the old covenant, the one offering the sacrifice, also partook of some of the sacrifice. This made a point of identification and reflected the understanding that this animal is dying in my place. With that part of their history in view, Jesus institutes the “Lord’s Supper.”
The Lord’s Supper is a pivotal event. It looks to the past to the Old Covenant, it speaks of Christ’s sacrifice, and it reminds us of our future.
Jesus told His disciples, “I will never drink this wine until the day I drink the new wine in the Kingdom of God.” Paul would speak of “communion” and say, “…as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show the Lord’s death, until He comes.”
Jesus died for us, in our place. He died, that we might live and have the promise of a glorious future in His presence. We are reminded to serve as He served, to honor the Father as he did, to love others as He loved and to look forward to and hasten the day of His return.
Just as the “Last Supper” was a fulfillment of what was foreshadowed in the Old Testament, the Lord’s Supper is a foreshadow of what will be fulfilled on day in heaven. That should fill us with gratitude and hope.