"The Lord's Supper" - Greg Laurie Daily Devotion - Apr. 19, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The Lord’s Supper
So if anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, that person is guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking from the cup. —1 Corinthians 11:27-28
Matthew 26 contains one of the most well-known events in human history and certainly the most famous meal ever eaten, the Last Supper.
As the disciples sat together, Jesus said, “ ‘Take it and eat it, for this is my body’ ” (verse 26). He then gave thanks and offered them the cup and said, “ ‘Each of you drink from it, 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’ ” (verses 27–28).
Jesus, as He often did, was speaking symbolically. To say He was speaking literally here does not fit with the word pictures He often used. After all, Jesus said He was the Bread of Life. And didn’t He say that He was the Door?
So, do we insist that Christ is an actual loaf of bread or a door? Of course not. Nor should we insist that the bread and the contents of the cup are actually Christ’s body and blood. There is no evidence of a supernatural process that transforms the cup’s contents into Jesus’ blood and the bread into His flesh.
Therefore, as we participate in Communion, we don’t want to overly mystify what it represents. We don’t want to think of the bread as flesh and the cup as containing blood.
On the other hand, we don’t want to devalue Communion by thinking it means nothing. Clearly, the Scriptures warn us about taking part in Communion without recognizing its significance (see 1 Corinthians 11:23-30).
The bread and the cup are not holy elements in and of themselves. But they do represent something that is very holy. So it is with great respect and reverence that we come to the Communion table, recognizing it is a symbol of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross.
Explore:
- Listen to and download today’s free song by the Harvest Worship Band, “It Is Finished!”
Share:
- Today’s devotion was about The Lord’s Supper. Make plans to share in a time of Communion with fellow believers sometime before Easter, if you can.
Access more devotions and downloads by visiting the Road to the Resurrection at risen.harvest.org.
Copyright © 2011 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
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