Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Remembering the death and sacrifice of the LORD.

Thank you LORD for reminding me about the importance of remembering your death and sacrifice in the cross, in the proper way, being respectful and full of gratitude.  Especially, when we celebrate the Lord's Supper.   I am forever grateful LORD for the great sacrifice You gave, your own life, so that salvation and forgiveness can be given to me, for free.  Thanks for your love and grace or mercy.   Lord, help me to display my gratitude for what You have done for me. 

Text   1 Corinthians 11:23-31   NIV 

23   For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 

24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 
28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 
29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat  and drink judgment on themselves.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 
31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT:

ODB:   Following the Sunday morning worship service, my Moscow host took me to lunch at a restaurant outside the Kremlin. Upon arrival, we noticed a line of newlywed couples in wedding garb approaching the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the Kremlin wall. 

The happiness of their wedding day intentionally included remembering the sacrifices others had made to help make such a day possible. It was a sobering sight as the couples took pictures by the memorial before laying wedding flowers at its base.  

All of us have cause to be thankful for others who’ve made sacrifices to bring a measure of fullness to our lives. None of those sacrifices are unimportant, but neither are those sacrifices the most important. It’s only at the foot of the cross where we see the sacrifice Jesus made for us and begin to understand how thoroughly our lives are indebted to the Savior.

Coming to the Lord’s Table to take Communion reminds us of Jesus’ sacrifice—pictured in the bread and cup. Paul wrote, “whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). May our times at His Table remind us to live every day in remembrance and gratitude of all Jesus has done in us and for us.    By Bill Crowder

Commentary:   The Greek word epaineĊ means “to applaud—commend, laud, praise.” The word is used six times in the New Testament; it occurs four times in 1 Corinthians 11, where it’s translated “praise” (vv. 2, 17, 22 [2x]).  

Paul “praised” the Corinthians for their mindfulness of him and for following his teaching (vv. 2–16), but there was no such commendation (vv. 17–34) for the way they observed the Lord’s Supper. The self-centered indulgence that was going on among them was inconsiderate and harmful (vv. 18–22). What they were (supposedly) commemorating was the self-giving sacrifice of Jesus, yet they’d lost sight of it. Such irony and inconsistency compelled Paul to write, “So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat” (v. 20). His warning—for the Corinthians and for us—is that those who take Communion without due consideration for Christ and others do so in an unworthy manner.
by  Arthur Jackson

From me:  Thank you LORD for reminding me about the importance of remembering your death and sacrifice in the cross, in the proper way, being respectful and full of gratitude.  Especially, when we celebrate the Lord's Supper.   I am forever grateful LORD for the great sacrifice You gave, your own life, so that salvation and forgiveness can be given to me, for free.  Thanks for your love and grace or mercy.   Lord, help me to display my gratitude for what You have done for me. 
Posted September 12, 2023